Untold Story of Curl Fest: Black Women Plan to Bounce Back After Shutdown | DEI, Hurdles & Funding

Summary

Earn Your Leisure Podcast Summary
Episode: Untold Story of Curl Fest: Black Women Plan to Bounce Back After Shutdown
Release Date: July 31, 2025
Hosts: Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings
Guests: Melody and Simone, Co-founders of Curly Girl Collective and Curlfest

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1. Introduction of Guests and Organization

In this special episode, hosts Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings welcome Melody and Simone, the co-founders of Curly Girl Collective and Curlfest. They delve into the origin story of Curlfest, highlighting its growth over the past decade.

Notable Quote:
Rashad Bilal [01:25]:
"It would start out with five women. How, how. What is the situation now?"

2. Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Melody discusses how Curlfest, which celebrated its 10th anniversary, was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally attracting tens of thousands of attendees, the pandemic forced the organization to postpone events and reconsider their operational strategies.

Notable Quote:
Simone [03:01]:
"The pandemic hits. So you have the kind of put things on a hold for that because you can't do events in New York, especially at that time."

3. Decision to Pause and Overcoming Challenges

Facing economic hardships and a challenging political climate, the co-founders decided to pause Curlfest for 2025 with plans to return in 2026. They emphasized the increased complexity and expenses associated with scaling live events, which made continuing operations unsustainable without adequate sponsorship.

Notable Quote:
Melody [04:26]:
"The political climate, with the rollbacks in DEI, the economy, all these things make the perfect storm."

4. DEI Rollbacks and Sponsorship Challenges

The discussion shifts to the rollback of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which directly affected their ability to secure sponsorships. Major sponsors withdrew their support, citing budget constraints and shifting priorities, leaving Curlfest to seek alternative funding sources.

Notable Quote:
Melody [09:48]:
"This year we decided it was important to kind of just take a pause, take a beat and restrategize a bit."

5. Community Support and Restructuring Plans

Melody and Troy emphasize the importance of community support beyond purchasing event tickets. They encourage the audience to engage through sponsorships, sharing content, and participating in community initiatives to sustain Curlfest during its restructuring phase.

Notable Quote:
Troy Millings [12:36]:
"Support looks like, you know, bringing us up in rooms that we're not in support."

6. Challenges with Partnerships and Competition

The founders recount losing long-term sponsors, some due to business acquisitions. They also address the emergence of competing beauty festivals, underscoring Curlfest's unique position rooted in authentic community engagement and its profound impact on attendees.

Notable Quote:
Melody [21:10]:
"Authenticity is part of our differentiating factor. And there's no one that can recreate that."

7. State of Black Women's Hair and Business

Melody provides insights into the enduring significance of black women's hair in cultural identity and the thriving beauty industry. She highlights that black women continue to lead in beauty and personal care expenditures, emphasizing the market's resilience and growth.

Notable Quote:
Melody [23:09]:
"Black women spend nine times more than any ethnic group in beauty and personal care. And it's just continuing to move in that direction."

8. Business Model and Future Initiatives

Looking ahead, the co-founders discuss diversifying their revenue streams beyond events. They plan to expand merchandise offerings, develop a membership community, and enhance online initiatives to create sustainable income sources that complement Curlfest.

Notable Quote:
Melody [29:34]:
"We are working on having a membership community and ancillary things like merchandise to support us."

9. Investment and Partnership Challenges

Melody shares their experiences with investor interactions, emphasizing the challenges of maintaining full ownership and confronting biases in valuation. They strive to ensure that any partnerships align with their core values and the mission of Curlfest.

Notable Quote:
Melody [34:27]:
"We still own 100% ownership of our business. But it's a learning curve for us."

10. Logistical Challenges

The conversation touches on the unpredictable nature of outdoor events, including severe weather conditions like hurricanes. Melody recounts a disastrous event in Prospect Park where a hurricane caused significant chaos, underscoring the importance of safety and preparedness in event planning.

Notable Quote:
Melody [38:05]:
"When Curlfest was about to be over, the sky opened up and it was literally a hurricane that came through."

11. Expansion to Other Cities

Curlfest's expansion beyond New York to cities like Atlanta and London is discussed. Melody reflects on the positive reception in Atlanta, labeling it the "hair capital of the world," and expresses enthusiasm for further international growth.

Notable Quote:
Melody [42:11]:
"We always loved, like, it's the birthplace of Curlfest to have at least one Curlfest here. But, yeah, Curlfest on the road for sure."

12. Conclusion and Upcoming Plans for 2026

As the episode wraps up, Melody and Simone promote Curlfest 2026, encouraging listeners to pre-purchase tickets, share the event, and engage with the community. They highlight ongoing community initiatives and reaffirm their commitment to returning stronger.

Notable Quote:
Melody [42:56]:
"We need your support early. Buy a ticket, tell your friends, share that Curlfest is coming back."

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Key Takeaways

• Resilience Amid Challenges: Despite setbacks from the pandemic and DEI rollbacks, Curlfest aims to return in 2026 by leveraging community support and diversifying revenue streams.

• Authentic Community Engagement: Curlfest differentiates itself through genuine community connections and a focus on black women's hair and cultural identity.

• Future Strategies: The organization plans to expand its business model beyond events, incorporating merchandise, memberships, and online platforms to ensure sustainability.

• Navigating Partnerships: Maintaining ownership and aligning with like-minded partners remain central to their strategy in facing investment and sponsorship challenges.

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Support Curlfest 2026:
Pre-sale tickets are available at curlfest.com. Engage with their community initiatives and stay updated through their Instagram and mailing list.

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This summary captures the essence of the "Untold Story of Curl Fest" episode, highlighting the founders' experiences, challenges, and future plans to sustain and grow their influential event in the beauty and cultural landscape.

Transcript

[Rashad Bilal]

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[Troy Millings]

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[Melody]

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[Troy Millings]

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[Simone]

All right, guys, welcome back. Special episode of earn your leisure. Yes, we have two of the co founders of Curly Girl Collective and Curlfest, Melody and Simone and Simone. Somebody that's been on the show early.

[Rashad Bilal]

Early, like episode maybe 15. Yeah, I got the number right.

[Melody]

I think so. I'm not sure the number, but it was early.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah. Shout out to the hometown.

[Simone]

So first and foremost, thank you guys for joining us.

[Troy Millings]

Thank you for having us.

[Simone]

So, okay, so for people that might not be familiar, right before we get into it, can you talk about what Curl Girl Collective is and Curlfest?

[Melody]

Yeah.

[Simone]

And how it came about, like how it. Origin story.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah. Okay, so Curly Girl Collective is a organization that we founded and created with our business partners. And what we're most notably known for is Curlfest, which is one of the largest natural beauty festivals. And essentially we created a space for a population that literally had no exposure to. And really it's an opportunity to be educated, celebrated, provide resources for women with natural hair.

[Rashad Bilal]

So this is. I know, last year celebrated. Year 10. Yeah, year 10.

[Melody]

Yes, it is.

[Rashad Bilal]

Which is a huge accomplishment. Some congratulations to that. It would start out with five women. How, how. What is the situation now? I know you two are here and there are other partners. What do we look like now? Present day?

[Melody]

Yeah, sure. So there are. There'll always be five founders, five beautiful black women. Right now we have three operating members. Melody, myself, Simone and Sharice, who couldn't be with us today.

[Rashad Bilal]

Gotcha, gotcha.

[Simone]

So, okay, so you started it and it got really big. I went, I think like three years Ago in Randalls Island.

[Melody]

Yes.

[Simone]

Right. So tens of thousands of people there, a bunch of sponsors, and then the pandemic hits. So you have the kind of put things on a hold for that because you can't do events in New York, especially at that time during the pandemic. And a lot of stuff happened. So now we're in 2025. You'd made a decision to postpone it this year and reconvene next year. Right. So what happened in that timeline and what was the decision to actually, you know, put it on ice for this year and look at 2026?

[Melody]

Yeah, so a couple of things happened in the timeline. I think since COVID events, business and industry has been quite difficult.

[Simone]

It has changed and never fully recovered. You know what I'm saying?

[Melody]

Never fully recovered. And it's becoming increasingly more difficult. And this specific year, I think with the political climate, with the rollbacks in dni, the economy, all these things make the perfect storm. While it's becoming almost impossible to have events kind of that scale without certain levels of like sponsorship backing. And so when we saw a lot of our big ticket sponsors saying, you know, we're not moving in that direction and being very black and white about not having a budget for events that look like ours.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Melody]

We had to make a decision that we have to shift, take a pause and shift and see what Curlfest could look like maybe without that level of sponsorship backing, really pull the veneer away and. And talk to our audience about support and what it looks like with entrepreneurship. Because there's a narrative out there that is like super easy. And we have this like big, big company and we're, you know, doing this with our eyes closed and we're all like super wealthy and rich. But we. It's still been a passion project even for 10 years later. And so this specific year we decided to. It was important for us to kind of just take a pause, take a beat and restrategize a bit.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah. It's important that it's a reschedule. Right. So it's definitely going to be back in 2026. But most people don't understand the business of live events. And I was telling you, Mel, I was telling you, I said Mel, because we friends now that, you know, when you get into this space, it looks, it looks great on day of.

[Troy Millings]

Yes.

[Rashad Bilal]

But it's a full year process to get to show day. Sponsorships is one way that you get money, obviously, selling tickets to the event. Break down the business of how it looked for you from year One when it was sitting in the living room to leading up to Covid, I think we did in 2019, I think right before.

[Troy Millings]

Massive.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, that was a massive one. It was in New York Times and I was like, so proud. I'm like, I know she from our high school, so talk about the business structure and how it's changed. Obviously, pre Covid. Post Covid.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think, yeah, pre Covid. Post Covid is literally a thing. Right. And it's like, I think especially anyone from an entrepreneur stand, trip or business standpoint could understand sort of the magnitude of, of what that created. That created for us. I think when we think about our scale, our scale is the biggest thing. Like, I think our first one maybe had like, we had two sponsors on the lawn.

[Melody]

A thousand people.

[Troy Millings]

We had a thousand people, maybe mostly, you know, friends and friends. And then, you know, you scale to, let's say 2019, where there's over 40 sponsors on the lawn, there's activations, there's people flying in from Ghana, from South Africa, everywhere. And I think what we noticed was that it scaled quickly. And so when you have something and you build the infrastructure, you almost need to have that foresight of like, how far can it go? And it wasn't something that we could have ever imagined that it got to that. So we had to adapt as it scaled and figure out, are there different ways to work? When it came to the pandemic, I mean, we were the largest natural beauty festival in the world. Right. And you're like, okay, wait, the whole thing is about being person and connecting in person. What does that look like when we can't do that on a global scale, like the world is shut down. That year we actually did a virtual curlfest, which was a success. Erykah Badu came and so it taught us. What it taught us and validated was that what we were doing was still needed. Right. Even in the midst of not being able to have it. But when you break it down in terms of like, what does that mean to produce a live event? Skyrocket costs skyrocket. Everything from Porta Potties to vendors, all the behind the scenes stuff, Right. That doesn't look like, okay, day of beautiful sunshine, beautiful people, but there's a lot of, a lot of actual work logistics that go into pace and everything is a dotted line to our finances.

[Melody]

Yeah. And as we've gotten bigger, there's been more and more expenses that we never thought. Right.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Melody]

Increased insurance, all sorts of things that pop up as line items that Never existed before when we were a couple thousand strong. So as the expenses continue to increase, the line item for those expenses. Also there's inflation in those things too, but the. The income doesn't necessarily inflate at the same level. You know, sometimes we have this, like, you know, dichotomy where we have to decide and make a decision what things need to be cut, what. What needs to be kept, how do we keep people safe, et cetera. Those are the tough decisions.

[Rashad Bilal]

And y' all are five. This is. I'm pre Covid. This is five working women. And this is not your. Was this full time or did this ever become full time?

[Melody]

No, that. A lot of people think this is full time for us, but no. And entrepreneurship looks different for everyone. But yeah, it was. We were still working women with, you know, seasoned careers.

[Troy Millings]

Yes.

[Melody]

Also doing this on the side. So it was, you know, working 9 to 5 in your day job and then, you know, the 6 to 4 in the morning the next day. Right. Especially in Crawlfest season.

[Troy Millings]

Especially in Crawlfest season. Yeah. Yeah.

[Simone]

So talk about the DEI cutbacks, like, outlaw. When did that hit? Like, walk us through that whole thing. Because a lot of people, when they heard about it, it didn't. They couldn't relate to it. So that was a narrative that was pushed a lot where it was like, this isn't something that even affects black people because we never benefited from dei. Only people that benefited from DEI was, like, white women. That was. That's. That's popular on the Internet.

[Troy Millings]

Right.

[Simone]

So you guys actually been. Has been affected by it. So can you, like, walk us through that?

[Melody]

Yeah, that's a good point. I think it affects people in different ways. Our direct impact would be kind of sponsorship impact. And we saw it before a little bit trickling in before kind of the. The. This widespread rollback. We saw, you know, shifts in, like, oh, we don't have budgets for you guys this year. Or, you know, our budgets are tight. You know, what can you do for $10? Right. So, I mean, some ridiculous conversations we have to have. Right. Like all the time. We're justifying our worthiness all the time. But it's been like, a little bit egregious sometime this year. This year and last year about, like, what. What they are offering or not offering anymore. And then this year was a complete. We're just not moving in that direction at all. We don't have a DNI budget. We don't have a budget any longer for multicultural events. It just doesn't no longer exist. And They've been pretty like black and white about it. And we've seen it, and we've seen it quietly happening to a lot of our fellow kind of event producers, but nobody's really talking about it. So that's why we thought it was important for us to kind of have this conversation. Conversation. Because a lot of people are suffering in silence and no one is talking about it. So for us, our direct impact was just sponsorship. And sponsorship for us is more than just money. That also is. Are as a part of the activations that are part of Curl Fest. Right. And so folks come to the event to experience these activations, you know, like the big box brands, like the Targets, et cetera, will come and build out these beautiful spaces for our guests to interact with, provide input, all of these things. And even, and I'll also add, it's not just like folks who are also rolling back with DE and I, there are also other smaller brands that are affected by just the economy in general and are unable to, you know, the, maybe the mom and pop beauty brands are also unable to. To participate in Curlfest because they just don't have the funds.

[Troy Millings]

The funds.

[Melody]

And they're also not being funded by other partners that they've had in the past, like the Targets, etceter.

[Rashad Bilal]

You're in a unique space. And it's interesting because when we talk about who is a prime target, and we've seen this in, in the UAE for consumers and people of wealth and it's black women.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Rashad Bilal]

And when you go to Curl Fest, I mean, it is sea of black women. Yeah.

[Melody]

Beautiful.

[Rashad Bilal]

And so you said you had to explain to your audience what support looks like. Yeah, can elaborate on that. Are you talking from a standpoint of like, hey, it's not just come to the event. It might be, hey, we need to have community initiative. What does that look like? What did you have to explain to the audience?

[Troy Millings]

Yeah, I mean, I think it's layered. Right. So first, first I want to say we have gotten to where we've gotten because our community. And so at the onset, when we created this, it was all in service of our community. What do we need? And the good part about it is we look like our community. We are literally a reflection of what we've built. And so when we talk about what we might need from our community, I think, you know, people probably aren't really thinking about it. Like, they're thinking, oh, tickets out. I'll get a ticket. Come to the event. But support looks like, you know, bringing us up in rooms that we're not in support. Looks like maybe just taking a little beat to understand what it takes from a financial standpoint to put on something at the magnitude that we're putting it on. Right. And so support looks like sponsorship, you know, support looks like understanding. Right. Giving grace when we have to make a very difficult decision to, you know, have to postpone. And so I think. I think if we got granular, support is a ticket, literally as purchasing a ticket if you can't come, maybe purchasing a ticket for a friend or. Or bringing a school. And it's only a fraction of it, but it actually is. Like, it's really important for us to continue to support bias for us. And so with the rollbacks with dei, yes, a lot of large corporations are not able to fund things that we've been doing. However, what does it look like if we just funded it ourselves as a community? Right. And so we know we've been validated by our community that what we've created is like magic. And it just feels good. And it feels good. But it's also education. Right. We're very, very mindful of the thumbprint that we're putting on for, you know, the next generation. Right. The little girl who will wear her hair natural because now she sees that. And so how do we keep that going?

[Simone]

So what's the pathway forward? Because, okay, in the climate, Donald Trump's still president for the next three years. Right. So the DI thing probably is not going to get any better.

[Troy Millings]

No.

[Simone]

And it's also a recession, so spending habits is actually decreasing as well. Right. Like that's having an effect on events across the board also. So from consumers spending less money and corporations spending less money, how do you see a pathway forward to actually ramp back up?

[Melody]

Yeah. So, I mean, we are working through what that looks like. I think it's just setting expectations that Curlfest may look a little different in the years. I think a big thing that Melody mentioned was having grace. And part of these conversation is to kind of humanize what it looks like to be an entrepreneur. And it's not this big corporation. These are three black women who are trying and, you know, carrying this business on our backs because it's bigger than us. And so when Curlfest does look different. Right. And, and, and the reasons why. Let's have these conversations now proactively about why it's looking different. It may not have, you know, 35 sponsors on the lawn. We may have three. Right. But what we do have, and we'll always have is community, which was the heart of the event anyways. And, you know, we'll just build it back. I think we. We've got through. We've got through Covid. We've got through a pandemic. Right.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Melody]

All of these things, and the economy, inflation, all of these things, and we'll get through this, too, is just, you know, being for us. I think for. For the last several years, we've gone through so many hurdles that we haven't even talked about everything. Yeah, everything that we could happen has happened. But we've always kind of take the stance, like, let's have, like, this very polished message, PR message to the audience and a little bit, like, ambiguous about what's happening. But I think we wanted to take a shift away from that this year and be a little bit more transparent about the process and the struggles and where we need support. Because it's not a victim story. It's really just like, this is what it is. This is the reality. And we know everyone also has their own reality, because if you have to decide between a curlfest chicken and buying eggs, obviously you buy the eg. Right. But we're not asking folks to do that. But support could look like a different. A number of different things. If it's not a ticket, it's a like on a post. Because also the algorithm has changed from a few years ago, too, back from when we used to launch the event and used to sell out 30,000 tickets in two days. Now a post could be out for a month and no one sees it.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Melody]

And so resharing, you know, using, you know, the different ways to have organic reach is also a way to support us as well.

[Rashad Bilal]

Was there anything that surprised you? I mean, you're very much grounded in reality, but you've had, I don't even want to call them sponsors at this level. Right. Because somebody's with you for more than five years. This is partnership.

[Troy Millings]

Partnership.

[Rashad Bilal]

So, like, were there partners who you were with and you come to, you know, the past couple years and they're no longer there? Was there a surprising factor? Or you just like, this is sometimes how the cookie crumbles a little bit.

[Melody]

Some we were surprised.

[Troy Millings]

Some we were very surprised.

[Melody]

Some were very surprised. Folks who have been with us since the beginning, day one, and said, all of a sudden they can't work with us, and sometimes it's not their decision. We also saw a lot of businesses get acquired in the last several years, and that's just the nature of the way you do business sometimes, too. Nobody talks about, like, exit strategies and like, the goal is sometimes to get acquired, you know, and maybe if that does happen, you may not have the say to say, I really want to do Curlfest this year. You may not have that level of power anymore. So we've seen that happen with a.

[Troy Millings]

Number, a number.

[Melody]

Beauty brands in the past that have been with us since day one.

[Rashad Bilal]

So the other part of it, it was like a second part of the question is that from a competitive landscape, obviously Curlfist was for me, the first and the biggest, and I'm still gonna look at it that way. But from a competitive landscape, as you start seeing people pop up with beauty festivals and beauty conferences and they don't look like you tell me the realities that you face when you see things like that happen.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah, I mean, it's just the reality, right, of if you've built something at some point, at some turning point, there will be something that perhaps maybe mirrors it or it touches it. I think one of the things that has also been interesting for us is, you know, we talk about, obviously our women are our number one supporter, but the men are there too. And. Right. And so we've, you know, we've had events where we've had activations specifically for men, for hair and beards and things of that nature. We also have an empowerment stage. Right. And there we talk about very real activities, aspects of our community that isn't necessarily centered on hair. But is it about, you know, empowerment? Is it about self image? Is it about, you know, mental capacity? And so I say that to say that when you look at the aperture of who our audience is, it actually is larger than just the black female with natural hair. And because of that, that means there's competitive when sponsors, depending on who they are, if it isn't just a black hair brand, there's choices for them to where they spend their money. Right. And so I think one of the challenges that we've had over the years because we were fortunate enough to be trailblazers in this space is, you know, brands are now seeing the importance of the black female, the importance of the billions of dollars of money that is spent on hair care. So they'll maybe have a little portion of their regular event in a pop up of a hair, a hair moment. And I think everything can still coexist. I think what makes Curlfest different is literally the community. I think it's our community. I think it's the need, the voids that we're filling that at scale. I feel like some of the other places or touch points that hair Brands may show up. It's not. It doesn't feel quite the same as when you support Curlfest.

[Melody]

Yeah, and I think we get that question a lot. You know, what's your differentiating factor? Somebody else could come up with a festival that looks. And we've had a number of, you know, cease and desist going out last several years. Yeah. Folks are coming out with the exact name. Right. Curlfest, Diana, Curl Fest. Right.

[Troy Millings]

All over.

[Melody]

Right.

[Troy Millings]

Logos, everything.

[Melody]

So that's another conversation. But I think it's, you know, authenticity is part of our differentiating factor. And there's no one that can kind of recreate that. And there's something special about the fact that this. This is for majority. Our demo is black women, and it is created and founded and run by black women. I think that's also something that sets us apart. But it's. It's a. It's a challenge. I'll be lying if I say it wasn't a challenge. That when somebody does come up with an event and we're like, wait, this looks like Curl Fest, you know, and then we question, like, are we doing the right thing? Do we need to add something different? You know, will our fans know the difference and all of these things? And we have these conversations all the time. But there's also something, you know, that you. I think there's. There's. There's a level of. Like, I was. There was a level of comfort in knowing that what you created was created by us, and no one else can recreate that magic. Something that's might be not even tangible, just like no one could create another Invest Fest. It would never be another Troy and.

[Rashad Bilal]

Return looking the camera.

[Melody]

Create another Invest Fest. Right. Like, they could try, but it'll never be the same.

[Rashad Bilal]

So I'm with you on that.

[Melody]

Yeah.

[Simone]

So what's the state of black women's hair like, as far as when we first talked? I mean, obviously there was a lot of attention. I think Chris Rock did that documentary.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Simone]

You know, billions of dollars. Is it the same level of enthusiasm in regards to the business of the hair, or has that kind of died down a little bit?

[Melody]

Yeah. So the business of hair, I want to say it has died down. There's ebbs and flows about, like, the natural hair movement when it had, you know, just caught. And I think we're a little bit spoiled being in New York. You know, it's just kind of the norm now, you know, and everybody is so fluid. It's not the norm, though, around the world either. There's still conversations. There's still conversations being had in. In boardrooms and corporate, you know, walls as well, about hair and what is deemed kept and unkempt. And so there's still work to be had. But I think the business of hair care in general hasn't died down at all. It's actually increased. Right. I think. I think this last stat I read was like, black women spend nine times more than any ethnic group in beauty and personal care. And it's just continuing to move in that direction. What that looks like with beauty, whether you're wearing curls or 20 inch, you know, bust down, it really doesn't matter. Like a black woman. I think hair is an identifying factor for black women much more than just aesthetics. It represents, like, who you are. It represents where you come from. It represents my mother and my mother's mother, you know, and. And stories and creativity. Creativity and growing up. And I remember this. You know, there's a nostalgia with, you know, your hair as well. So I don't think that's going anyway. Going anywhere.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah. I'm not sure if 20 inches is a bust down. Gotta be like 30.

[Melody]

Yeah. It's been a long time. I know I'm overdue.

[Rashad Bilal]

You know, when you. When you give those numbers, obviously have a wife, have a daughter.

[Melody]

Yeah.

[Rashad Bilal]

Braids is expensive.

[Troy Millings]

Everything.

[Rashad Bilal]

It's just expensive.

[Melody]

Yeah.

[Rashad Bilal]

And like you said that that number is going to continue to increase as more people look at opportunities for entrepreneurship to create in that space.

[Melody]

Yeah.

[Rashad Bilal]

I want to talk about something that is important, and it's something that we've actually had looked into when we were creating the event, is the timing of it. Because summer is usually when you see a lot of music festivals, a lot of people are going on tour, a lot of black events are happening. And so you're right in smack in the middle of that. And so talk about the timing of it in terms of why you chose to do it when you did and competing with some of those people who are fighting for those same sponsorship dollars that you are looking for.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah, yeah. Well, when we think about. When we think about New York Curlfest, it. You know, it's funny, right? When we first. First conjured up the whole idea, we called it a picnic in the park. Like, if I. If I gave you the. The flyer that I made back then, we literally said curlfest, a picnic in the park. Which is kind of ironic. Right. Cause we called it Crowfest. So it almost manifested itself before we even realized what it had the potential to be. And I only bring that up because the grass aspect of it, the summer aspect of it, is actually a pillar for what we've been able to create. And so that puts us in the summer month for New York, obviously, you know, goals and aspirations to expand to other countries and continents. You know, we'll have a little bit more leeway in terms of that. When we did Atlanta, Atlanta was in. Was it September? That's great.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah. September twenty. Was that 2019? 2019.

[Melody]

2019 as well.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah, yeah, 2019. And so, you know, when we think about, okay, what, you know, what's the formula for Crowfest, like, what has to be true for it to feel like Crowfist, to not feel like maybe a convention inside, right. Or a symposium. And so the outsource, the outside sort of grounding of the earth is a part of it. So what, you know, what that means is tough decisions. Right? What that means is early pitching. What that means is continuing to try and to be honest, convince some partners that there's a need. Our audience is a spending audience. They come with intention. We have stories for days of, you know, partners that come on the grass, whether that's a small business or a large business, they bring in boxes and boxes and tons of product. When it's time to load out, they're loading out with nothing. And so I think when we think about it from. There's an economic part of it that we can deliver. We know that we have a primed audience who is in need of service. And so you're gonna check that box. When you come to Curlfest as a sponsor, I think when you think about there always will be something. So. So. So it's like, okay, well, if we don't do it in June, what if we do it in July or something else? Oh, okay, how about August? There's always gonna be something. And so I think for any entrepreneur out there, yes, there's ebbs and flows, there's things you have to ship. You have to be fluid. But at the same time, at some point, you have to feel confident in what you've created. Otherwise, why wake up and do it.

[Melody]

Yeah, I was gonna say the same thing. There's every month we've entertained. We moved Curlfest from July before. But there's always something, right? There's always something. There's always proximity to another event. And in the boardrooms where we're not in, you know, they probably have conversations like, listen, we only have money for one black event this year.

[Troy Millings]

Which one is it gonna be?

[Melody]

Right? And so it's really just being steadfast in like what you offer, keeping and maintaining those relationships with the partners that you have so far and just moving forward with what you believe that you feel like is offering the most value to your audience and your consumer. Everything else like this, there's. There's always going to be competition. There's nothing really much we can do about that. But it doesn't. I want to say that it's easy either, like.

[Troy Millings]

Oh, it's not.

[Melody]

That's probably part of like what is part of the. The nature of business ebb and flowing over the last few years as well for us and not really kind of getting back to where we were in 2019 yet. We will, but not yet. But that's part of the conversation too.

[Simone]

So what is the business model to expand, like even outside of a physical event? Like are there like tangible products? Is there an online community? Like, is. Is there anything outside of just the one event?

[Melody]

Yeah, so that's a great point. We do have, you know, some merchandise that we offer. What we are working on this year and part of the kind of strategy is to like put more time and effort into the other, you know, ancillary things like having a membership. We already have a community. Right. But we want to like amplify that in a bigger way. So we're working on that and hopefully that'll be launched also with next year. All of the other things I always say to Melody that, you know, Curl Fest may not be. Is our biggest, you know, identifying part of our brand, but sometimes festivals and things of that space may not be the money maker. Somebody can have an event that large and bring in millions of dollars. But the money maker are. Is the T shirt sales and the food and beverage and your membership community and whatever ancillary things that you can branch off of your main kind of like identifying brand position.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah, yeah. I think, I think we have a plethora of ideas.

[Melody]

Yeah, no shortage.

[Troy Millings]

We are no shortage of ideas over the years. I think if we having a real conversation, it's the capital and so even the non. Yes. Crofis is our tentpole. A physical event is our tent pole. I still will forever think there's such power in human, in person contact. Right. And so, you know, I don't see a world in which that doesn't exist. But when you talk about the other pillars, right, Whether it's a product, whether it's merch, whether it's, you know, online sessions, there's still capital that's needed to make those happen as well. They're almost little Subsets of businesses. And so some of the work that we have been continuously doing is strategizing on how do we increase capital.

[Rashad Bilal]

One of those ways is, you know, and I'm sure as you're growing this business and people are seeing the size of the audience, I'm sure people are approaching you, trying to figure out how they can acquire the brand, perhaps merge with the brand and add it to their portfolio. How have those conversations going for you? Post and pre Covid?

[Melody]

Yeah, we've had conversations fairly early on even I think prior to Curlfest, maybe on our first year of Curlfest, we had investors probably approach us and those, those we've gotten pretty close with conversations with investors. We've never, we still own 100 ownership of our business, which is also, you know, I want to make sure that it's clear. But the. It, it's difficult. Right, because you. I, it's a learning curve for us. We have been built. We didn't start out this business thinking it was going to be a business. We started out this business. It was a. Something that we felt like we needed. It was a hobby. Let's do this fun thing. We need this community. And it turned into a business. So it was. And sometimes it happens that way. And so there was a little bit of like learning and unlearning that had to happen. We're building the plane as we fly it. And so if you asked us maybe six years ago, like, what's your valuation for your business? There'll be some off the wall numbers like our partners probably would have said at the time, like, I'm not getting an investor until we get, you know, $200 million valuation, which is not realistic. Right. And so I think part of the conversation is really, you know, what, what are the real valuation numbers that you can assess? What is, is it, is the exit strategy or something that you thought of? That is probably something that we think of more lately than we have in the past because you, we built this baby up and we, we start to stop saying, calling our business the baby because there's a, there's a connection there. As much as we, we feel like it's much more than a business, it's still a business. Right. And so there's still impact that you can do even if you move in different directions. So I think the investor conversation is something we still get approached daily. We are working on making sure that we have, we have the best numbers to back up any valuation that folks kind of try to offer us. I think as black women, we also have the barrier to have to over prove our worthiness in those spaces. And so we'll get lowball numbers all day. Right. And our counterparts may get, you know, like some crazy, you know, nine figure valuation for something that hasn't made a dollar in profit. Right. And so it's, it's a, it's a space that we are still kind of navigating and yeah, it's still a learning curve for us. But. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Troy Millings]

I mean the only thing I would add is there's also when you think about any partnership in any capacity, if you're still going to be a part of it, whether it's, you know, sometimes the approach where the offers were majority. Right. And so we know, we do know to a certain degree what that means. Right. And so knowing communities at our center and what we've done to build this empire that we've been able to create this movement that we've been able to create, how do you scale grow potentially? Do you know, a shared, a shared investment, but also keep the integrity of it. And that's a very real thing. And I mean most, you know, within our community, specifically black community specifically, we can all think of numerous brands that were for us by us and they've, you know, sold to big corporations. And you know, there's mixed feelings from the, you know, community as to whether or not was right, choice or not. Has their product changed? That's a big headline. It's no, this is no longer the same. They sold out.

[Rashad Bilal]

They changed the formula.

[Troy Millings]

Changed the formula. And so of course life is about change. We're not expecting to look and be exactly what we were. However, I think when we think about something about a big decision like that, because when we started it wasn't a business, that means the drive, the passion, all of that, what our core is isn't just a money driving thing. Right. And so I mean if it was, we would be doing it full time. But this hasn't been, we haven't been able to do it full time. Right. In terms of paying our sal. Our personal salaries and things of that nature. But what we know is what we created is bigger than us and that's the fuel that keeps us going. But when you think about, you know, a potential investor, I think it is important that like whatever that partnership is, that there's core values that are shared, that we feel as if the next evolution of what we built will at least come from the same space.

[Melody]

Yeah.

[Simone]

What about like the elements as far as rain, stuff like that? How does that play in insurance and, you know, doing an event. We never did an event outside. And one of the reasons why is because of that. Right, so how does that play in.

[Melody]

Yeah, it's tough, sleepless nights. I'm like the director of operations. Right. And she's the creative director for the business. It's super tough. There's so much unpredictability in events in general. And adding the weather is another element that you. We. It's sleepless nights. We've had, you know, oftentimes venues that we work with, you can't. There's no rain day. Right. That's it. And then, you know, we have insurances that, you know, that are enormous numbers that we have to pay for in case that there's a natural disaster or weather condition where folks have to evacuate. And then they may get some of the portion of the tickets sales back. We may get that. But we wouldn't get fully 100% reimbursed at all. It would be a significant loss. Even with the insurance and some weather conditions. We've. We've. We've gone through every weather. Oh, yeah, the first one, the monsoon, right? Yeah. I mean, it was literally like. I mean, through God's grace, no one got hurt. But probably one of our very first crow fest back in Prospect Park.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Melody]

We don't really talk about it much, but we have pictures of those times. And right when crowfish was about to be over, when it was. We had a great day, and then the sky opened up and it was literally a hurricane that came through. Trees falling, things where everybody had to run to safety and we couldn't clean up the place. The. The. The cleaning crew had to leave. Right. And everyone had to go run to safety. Like, things flying literally everywhere. We get back to. Should I tell the story? It's over. So we get back to, you know, like four in the morning. Okay, guys, the skunt stopped raining. Let's go clean up. And it's a disaster.

[Troy Millings]

Disaster.

[Melody]

It is a disaster. There are things everywhere. At that time, Curlfest was free, and so folks could bring in whatever they could bring in. Right. And the one thing they called it in Brooklyn was they. They called them the dog walkers. Right? There's demographic of folks that would be up at 5 in the morning, just make sure the place is clean, that Prospect park is back to where it used to be, what it looks like before the first dog walker hits the grass. And that did not happen. And all. All we saw were the dog walkers out there with pictures with our brand on the ground. Right. Taking pictures and sending them to all these communities all over social media, all of their, you know, not in my backyard. Communities that were like, we don't want this kind of debauchery back in our space. Even though we. It was literally a hurricane, Right? And so those are the types of things that started curlfence. And it was like, we can never get through this again. We were, like, in tears, picking up trash with our hands, you know, like, they might have been like, you know, we didn't have security at that time, so there was a liquor bottle next door. Crowfest from Banner. That's what they associated, right. That they didn't associate community and like, beautiful spaces and family event. They associated, you know, this. This event of color that came into our backyard and destroyed our park. So we had to get through that. You know, we did. We had to rebuild the brand and move. Right. We begged and begged and begged to stay in Brooklyn. We still here to this day, 10 years later. We hear people saying, it's never been the same since you left Brooklyn. Right? And the fact that the thing about it is, I mean, listen, I'm such an open book and I've gotten spanked for saying too much, but I don't care. Like, you know, we have tried. We went all the way up to, you know, the tops of the offices to beg to stay in Brooklyn and Prospect park specifically. And they just won't. Don't want our type of event in that space.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah, well, they wouldn't allow us to enclose.

[Melody]

They wouldn't allow us to enclose.

[Troy Millings]

And so, obviously, once we scaled beyond, you know, 800 people, there's safety, Right? And so every human that touches on the grass, we are responsible for.

[Melody]

Right?

[Troy Millings]

And so, yeah, the sea of crowds when you see our videos and you actually don't see the grass, because it's humans, Every single human we're responsible for. And so we had to make decisions that have their safety, our safety at the forefront. Yeah, but, yeah, I mean, I think the great part about a story like that is when that happened, it felt like there was no return. It felt like close up shop. How are we ever gonna come back? And we did, and we will continue to do it. So when we talk about, like, what is the landscape now? Okay, Di, the Orange man, like, all of it. It's roadblocks. It's roadblocks. And we will figure out a way to push past it.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, yeah. Does Crowfest, is it synonymous with New York? Does it have to stay in New York? I know you did Atlanta. What did we learn? What did you learn from moving it to a different city? Right. We did Invest Fest London. We learned a lot.

[Troy Millings]

Yes, right.

[Rashad Bilal]

Like, it was like, okay, obviously it's a shortened, more concise event, but there was a lot of different things. You're doing something international. Is that an option as well?

[Melody]

Oh, for sure. Yeah. We always loved, like, it's the birthplace of Curlfest to have at least. At least one Curl Fest here. But, yeah, Curlfest on the road for sure. What we learned in Atlanta is that we have a beautiful community in Atlanta, too, that loves us there. Right. It's probably like the hair capital of the world, of the United States, at least. And, you know, they loved us there. They opened us with, you know, open arms in Atlanta. And we love to come back. We'd love to be in a lot of places. And, you know, that's on the. That's on the. The. The map.

[Simone]

Well, thank you guys for coming. Before we leave, tell her, what can they expect as far as, you know, 2026? Is there any waiting list website, like, you know, pre sale? Yeah, all of that.

[Melody]

Yeah, all those things. So there's a Pre sale on curlfest.com C U R L F E S D. Should I talk to you guys? There's a Pre sale on curlfest.com special for folks who are writing for us for Curlfest 2026. We need your support. We need your support early. Right? And. And if you can spare, you know, buy a ticket, tell your friends, share that Curlfest is coming back. You know, understand, like, the who is behind the brand that we're here for y', all, and we're. We. We're not going anywhere. We're also working on smaller kind of community initiatives this year as well, so look out for announcements on Curly Girl Collective, our Instagram page. Sign up to our mailing list on curlfest.com and buy a ticket.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah. And I want to say that we appreciate y'.

[Melody]

All.

[Rashad Bilal]

And, Mel, I told you this before, Simone, we've probably had this conversation that watching you guys create an event helped inspire us creating events. And there was some details when we went to Curlfest, when you bought the kids from the community center. Right. And I was like, wow, that's incredible. I was like, we're doing an event. We got to do the same. And so we've been flying kids down from the community center to invest for us. So we appreciate y' all for kicking down the doors.

[Melody]

Thank you.

[Rashad Bilal]

And we gonna support you any way we can.

[Melody]

Thank you. Thank you for having us.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, of course.

[Simone]

All right guys, thank you for rocking with us. We'll see you next week. Peace.

[Rashad Bilal]

Peace.

[Troy Millings]

No offense, but your brain is a.

[Melody]

Terrible place to keep your big idea. It belongs in the world. But you know that already.

[Troy Millings]

You have a calling, a voice that.

[Melody]

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[Melody]

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[Troy Millings]

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