On this episode of Shop Essence Live, in Partnership with The New Voices Family, we talk to Khadijah Robinson, the founder of AQUA Waterproof Headwear.
Born and Raised in West Philadelphia, Khadijah is on a mission to protect our hair and fashion style. AQUA Waterproof Headwear is unique, combining multiple protective headwear options into one stylish, patented design. The magic is in the technical fabric, it's soft, stretchy, breathable, and 100% waterproof, without latex, silicone, or plastic. By offering one multi-use product, AQUA reduces waste and empowers women to enjoy water activities or inclement weather worry-free. Functional and fashionable, AQUA lets women embrace life’s adventures without a hair out of place!
Watch the video for more info!
Born and Raised in West Philadelphia, Khadijah is on a mission to protect our hair and fashion style. AQUA Waterproof Headwear is unique, combining multiple protective headwear options into one stylish, patented design. The magic is in the technical fabric, it's soft, stretchy, breathable, and 100% waterproof, without latex, silicone, or plastic. By offering one multi-use product, AQUA reduces waste and empowers women to enjoy water activities or inclement weather worry-free. Functional and fashionable, AQUA lets women embrace life’s adventures without a hair out of place!
Watch the video for more info!
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Ladies, what if we did not have to be held hostage
00:05to what our hair was doing?
00:07It's raining outside, I wanna get my hair done,
00:10but it's raining outside.
00:11Well, guess what?
00:13Stick around right now because this incredible black woman
00:17has created a solution for us.
00:19If we wanna go on vacation
00:21and we wanna participate in water sports
00:23but look stylish at the same time,
00:25that has been a choice.
00:26Now it doesn't have to be a choice.
00:28Everybody, welcome to the show, Khadijah Robinson.
00:33Hello.
00:34Hey girl, hey.
00:35I love it, hello.
00:37I am so excited to have you on Shop Essence Live.
00:40Please do let everybody know
00:43about the story of aqua headwear.
00:46Okay, I am so excited to be here,
00:48so thank you so much, Stephanie.
00:51Aqua headwear started out of a need.
00:53I was on vacation, I was with a boyfriend at the time,
00:57I had extensions, I didn't want my leave out
00:59to get separated from my weave,
01:01and then I ended up looking crazy
01:03because he wanted to go snorkeling,
01:04and I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't.
01:06So I put on a baseball cap and hoped for the best.
01:09Of course my hair got wet, I looked crazy.
01:12When I look crazy snorkeling with a baseball cap,
01:14then I look crazy when I try to just take it off.
01:16So I went home, it took hours to do my hair
01:18when I got back to the room,
01:19and I said, there has to be a better way to do this.
01:21And then I said, light bulb moment,
01:23waterproof turbans and head wraps.
01:25And honestly, that's how the story started.
01:30Oh my goodness.
01:32Love, love, love.
01:33And you have, we're gonna demonstrate them right now.
01:37What I also love about it though,
01:40it's a lifestyle because we don't always worry
01:43about our hair, we don't only worry about our hair
01:46on vacation.
01:47Facts.
01:48Also, you know, raining outside or depending,
01:50I'm going to Essence Festival and it's humid.
01:53Humid and crazy.
01:55When you, moms, we have octopus arms.
01:58So if you have little ones,
01:59they're worried about the umbrella.
02:00You don't have an umbrella on yourself and them
02:02and you're carrying bags.
02:04So it's like, it's a sense of freedom that it gives you.
02:07Can you talk about the other ways that people can use it?
02:10Absolutely.
02:11So of course it started out of a need
02:13when I was on vacation.
02:14And then as we thought about it and I went through
02:17the process and figured out, you know what?
02:19I need this in the rain.
02:20I need something cute to wear in the rain.
02:22And so I can go to the salon on a rainy day.
02:24I need something cute in the shower so that, you know,
02:26and it doesn't stretch out and doesn't give out.
02:29I can even wear it and deep condition my hair.
02:31I actually wore my aqua headwear to happy hour.
02:35I was deep conditioning my hair and my husband was like,
02:37can you, you know, I want to go to happy hour.
02:39And I literally just put the conditioner in.
02:40And I'm like, you know what?
02:42No problem.
02:43I'm there.
02:44I put on my aqua headwear and I went to happy hour
02:47and nobody knew the difference.
02:48And honestly, it has been a life changer because now women
02:52no longer have to make life decisions around not wanting
02:54to get our hair wet.
02:55We can literally live our lives, be fabulous, be pretty,
02:59be cute, and still protect our hair at the same time.
03:03I love it.
03:03Okay. Speaking of pretty and cute,
03:05we got to give the people this demo and let them know
03:10just kind of like the style.
03:11So you're wearing.
03:12I'm wearing the twist.
03:14So I'm wearing the first design that we did,
03:15the vintage twist turban.
03:17And I believe you have the sun bun and the luxe bandit.
03:20Oh, that's the luxe bandit.
03:22Yes. That's actually our bestseller.
03:24Light. It's very lightweight.
03:26And the magic is the fabric.
03:28It's soft and stretchy.
03:29It's breathable.
03:30There's no latex.
03:31There's no plastic.
03:32There's nothing.
03:33You can literally fill it up like a balloon
03:34and no water will come out.
03:37I need you to pull it down.
03:39There you go.
03:40Yes, you look so cute.
03:42Oh my goodness.
03:43I love it.
03:44You look so cute.
03:46Oh my gosh, you look so pretty.
03:47It really is like super lightweight, super breathable,
03:51super comfortable.
03:53And knowing that my hair is protected underneath it.
03:57In fact, like I would legit,
03:58nothing going on, nothing wrong, no rain.
04:01I would just wear this because my hair's not done.
04:03Yes.
04:04And that makes me so happy to hear that you said that
04:06because like, as the product has grown,
04:10women write in and say, I wear it on my Zoom calls.
04:12I wear it just because my hair's not done
04:14and I want to look cute at the same time.
04:16I even wear it that way.
04:17So I'm just happy to see the evolution of the product
04:20from just being, from when I thought,
04:22oh, I just want something to protect my hair
04:24when I want to go jet skiing or something like that
04:27to an everyday item that's a must-have
04:29that can be used in so many different ways.
04:31You buy one and you can use it in 10 different ways.
04:34They even wear it at Juvé.
04:35Like when you go to the Juvé and there's the paint.
04:37Talk about it.
04:38Yeah, and you just put it on, take it off,
04:40wash it and call it a day.
04:42This I love.
04:44All right, can you talk about some of the other styles
04:46that you have?
04:47Yes, so this is our sun bun,
04:51which is one of our other best sellers that she's wearing.
04:55And it has an elastic band at the back.
04:57So it can fit so many different hairstyles and head sizes.
05:00And honestly, with every product,
05:02you can literally bend it and form it
05:04into any head size and hairstyle.
05:08So we love the sun bun because,
05:09and that added protection that we got from our customers.
05:12Our customers suggested this.
05:14So I added the elastic back.
05:17And then of course there is our Luxe Bandit,
05:21which is our best seller and the one that you had.
05:23And also, honestly, a lot of people love this one as well.
05:27So the vintage twist that I have on,
05:29it also has elastic at the back.
05:31So you can stretch it, if you can see me,
05:33stretching it to any size.
05:35It can fit so many different hairstyles and head sizes.
05:38And it's so versatile.
05:39And this one was our first design
05:41because it just gave me that glam Beyonce,
05:44Catherine Hepburn kind of look.
05:45Hello.
05:47Dorothy Dandridge,
05:48like I thought Dorothy Dandridge would totally love this.
05:51Dude, absolutely, Eartha Kitt.
05:52Oh my gosh.
05:53Eartha Kitt, everybody.
05:54I can just so see it.
05:55So yeah, we have a versatile wrap
05:58that you can literally style any way you want.
06:00So the wrap is super light, super thin.
06:02You can style that for those girlies
06:04who love to style their own head wraps.
06:06You can do that with the wrap.
06:08So you don't only have black too.
06:09We got-
06:10Oh no!
06:11No, so we have,
06:14and that print that you have there is our renaissance print
06:17and you're wearing the sunbun.
06:18So I named that print after Beyonce.
06:21Come on, Beyonce, what would Beyonce do?
06:25So that is our renaissance print.
06:26And as you can see, look, you have braids.
06:28You can literally fill that up and your braids are long.
06:32You can literally put them all up there, see?
06:36And still be cute.
06:36And honestly, when I had my faux locs or braids
06:39and you don't want to get your braids soaking wet,
06:42it definitely protects your braids as well
06:44when you're out and about.
06:45And look, oh my gosh, you look so pretty.
06:47Oh my gosh, you need to take pictures.
06:50I love that.
06:51I will definitely take pictures.
06:52Oh my gosh, I love it.
06:53And then we have,
06:55I'm coming out with our Divine 9 collection.
06:57So look out for that.
06:58I'm an AK, so I, we have to, I have to represent.
07:02So yeah, so our Divine 9 collection
07:04is coming out in the spring.
07:06So I am so excited to offer all the things
07:09and I am doing children's and men's coming up.
07:12So stay tuned.
07:14Oh my gosh.
07:14Okay, yes.
07:15The children's, so, so needed.
07:17Matching mommy and me would be so cute.
07:19So yes, I'm definitely doing that line.
07:23And we also have our hair tools.
07:25So we have a silk hair curler that you can see over there
07:29and yeah, and a detangling brush that I'm so excited about.
07:33I mean, you just, first of all,
07:35Khadijah has us covered, okay?
07:38All the things you possibly need.
07:40This is like the ultimate freedom
07:42to be fly and functional at the same time.
07:45I absolutely love.
07:47No, I'm taking that.
07:48As long as you have that on your shirt,
07:50on a AquaWear shirt.
07:51Y'all know it came from shop at Cezanne.
07:53I'll give you credit.
07:54I love that.
07:55It is so good.
07:56And I don't want to skip over
07:57cause I don't think you, you had it with you,
08:00but you have the versatile wraps as well.
08:03So if you wanted to wrap it yourself
08:05or just kind of, you know, drape it over you.
08:08I do, I have it.
08:09I just got to go.
08:09It's right over here.
08:10I can get it.
08:11Go get it, go get it, go get it.
08:12So as she goes to get it,
08:14if you guys are just tuning in,
08:16this is Shop Essence Live.
08:18I am your host, Noni Donovan.
08:19And we do this every single week.
08:21We bring you guys brand new entrepreneurs to check out.
08:25These products are made for us, by us.
08:27And the intentionality is just something I love.
08:30And we do it in partnership with the New Voices family.
08:32Okay, Khadijah's back.
08:34I am and this is our wrap.
08:36So as you can see, it's big
08:38and you can literally style it any way you want.
08:41So I can literally, well, I have on a turban already,
08:44but like, you can like style it,
08:46like any way you want, turn it around.
08:50And a lot of people,
08:51like different ethnicities wear it this way
08:53and different religious backgrounds.
08:58You can literally just like style it and you're all good.
09:02That's so dope.
09:03Yeah.
09:04That is so dope.
09:06Let me put up this website again.
09:07You guys, when you're watching Shop Essence Live
09:09and shopping these brands,
09:10everything that you purchase goes directly to these brands.
09:13And these products are, they're tested,
09:15they're tried and true.
09:16I get all these products
09:17and they are part of my everyday life.
09:19So when y'all see me excited about it,
09:21because I'm legit excited about it.
09:23We put up the website one more time, aquaheadwear.com.
09:27She has a ton of products that will take care of everything
09:31that you could possibly need.
09:32And remember, you don't have to wait
09:34until you're going on vacation.
09:35This is for every day.
09:37We do not have to be held prisoner
09:39to worrying about our hair, y'all.
09:41We are fabulous and fly and functional at the same time.
09:45So I did mention this is in partnership
09:47with the New Voices family.
09:49Khadijah, can you talk a little bit about
09:51what it has been like for you
09:52to be a part of that incredible community?
09:55Okay, first of all, New Voices is everything.
09:59And I being a part of this,
10:02I recently became a part of it
10:04as part of the Madam C.J. Walker Pace Bootcamp
10:07growing scale cohort.
10:09And I cannot be more thankful.
10:12The network of founders that you are surrounded with,
10:15it's lonely to be an entrepreneur, right?
10:17So to be able to tap into a network of friendly people
10:20who are willing to help you,
10:22willing to share resources,
10:24willing to just be a listening ear has been everything,
10:27like just everything.
10:28And I'm so grateful for that.
10:30Also the mentorship and the resources,
10:33the different trainings that they offer at New Voices,
10:34the mentors are amazing.
10:37I cannot, cannot, cannot be more thankful for that.
10:40Mentorship is everything as we know.
10:42And without access to mentors as entrepreneurs,
10:46especially young like companies,
10:48meaning young like an age of how often,
10:50how soon you found it and launched,
10:53it's extremely important to have a resource network
10:56of people who you can pull from
10:58and get education and knowledge
10:59and just pick their brains about
11:01whatever it is that you need to do.
11:03So I have been extremely grateful
11:05and I'm so excited to be part of the New Voices family.
11:09So thank you.
11:11It's so, so great y'all.
11:12So if you're an entrepreneur and watching at home,
11:15I know just as many entrepreneurs watch this show
11:17as people coming to consume,
11:19go and check out New Voices family.
11:22This is a resource that is available to us
11:26and it is free 99 to join.
11:28So make sure you guys go and check out the website.
11:31They are there.
11:31You will be taken care of, fill out a business profile
11:33and I could be talking to you a month from now.
11:35It has happened.
11:36I say this all the time, but bet on yourself.
11:40A lot of the times we say, oh, that's not for me
11:42or I'm not there yet.
11:43This is a great resource to help you get there.
11:46Yeah.
11:49Thank you so much.
11:50This has been amazing.
11:51Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
11:54Headwear, this is life changing y'all.
11:57So make sure that you guys check out her website.
12:00She's got a ton of products,
12:01a ton of things that will just make our lives
12:03so much easier.
12:04And without out in the streets fly,
12:06you can get your hair done whenever you want.
12:08Am.
12:11But Khadijah it's been so great to have you on the show.
12:13Thank you so much for joining us this week.
12:16Thank you so much, Stephanie.
12:17Thank you everyone.