How the Dominican Sisters Behind Ocoa Beauty are Empowering Curly-Haired Latina Women
Story written by Marivette Navarrete
Cory and Nicol Varona are Dominican sisters who founded the curly-haircare brand, Ocoa Beauty
We grew up thinking our hair was “pelo malo” (bad hair). Hearing your hair being described as a negative trait at an early age created a trauma we carried throughout our lives.
Ocoa Beauty is a hair care brand that empowers women to embrace their natural beauty. Founded by sisters Cory and Nicol Varona, who immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic, Ocoa Beauty was born to honor their cultural heritage and promote self-love. Growing up, Cory and Nicol felt ashamed of their curly hair and believed that straightening it was the only way to be beautiful.
In many cultures, there's a societal expectation that straight hair is more beautiful than curly hair. This expectation is no different in the Latino community, where curly hair is often referred to as "pelo malo" (bad hair). For years, women with curly hair have been told to straighten it, to look more presentable and professional. But brands like Ocoa Beauty challenge these stigmas and empower women to embrace their natural beauty.
Drawing on the land and culture of their homeland, the sisters have created a brand that reflects their journey as immigrants and celebrates the beauty of curly-haired Latina women. Ocoa Beauty goes beyond hair care. They want to stop hair assimilation so future generations embrace their authentic beauty.
Ocoa Beauty is not only a brand that promotes self-love and cultural representation but also a business recognized for its potential to make a significant impact. The founders, Cory and Nicol Varona, were recently selected to participate in Square's inaugural FORWARD Accelerator for Black and Latino Entrepreneurs. Even more exciting, they will participate in mentorship sessions by 1863 Ventures, Dwyane Wade, Rosario Dawson, Ayesha Curry, Troy, and Rashad from Earn Your Leisure.
Join us as we explore the story behind Ocoa Beauty and how Cory and Nicol's mission to stop hair assimilation is changing the beauty industry.
(M) Marivette for The Mujerista
(OB) Cory and Nicol for Ocoa Beauty
M: Can you tell us about your personal journey as Latina entrepreneurs and how it has influenced your business?
OB: Latina entrepreneurs have unique traits and talents that we are born with. As immigrants, sisters, and women we saw the road of entrepreneurship as hard and unachievable. However, our lives always involved problem-solving as kids or being able to be flexible when moving from one country to another.
Our culture also teaches us that when you do something with love and passion everything else will just fall into place. Being an entrepreneur in other words is being a problem solver. Every day is unique and you have to deal with failure, challenges, and plenty of no’s. We feel like we have been training for that our entire life and doing business as Latinas and sisters has been the best experience in our lives. It has made us even closer, stronger, and more confident in our talents.
M: Ocoa focuses on empowering women to embrace their natural beauty. How did your personal journey with accepting your curly hair lead to the creation of Ocoa?
OB: Like many Dominican girls, we grew up ashamed of our natural hair texture, and we thought straightening our hair was the only way to be beautiful. It wasn't until our mid-20s we decided enough was enough and we wanted to recover her curls. Nicol started first and in her journey, she shared it with Cory who had just gone through a very hard pregnancy with preeclampsia. Together we started to transition from damaged/fried hair to healthy curly hair. During this time, we learned to accept and embrace our curls, but we struggled to find premium products with clean ingredients that worked well on our hair.
Eventually, we took matters into our own hands and created Ocoa. Along the way, we discovered our passion for helping others nurture and celebrate their natural beauty. Our purpose is to honor curly Latina women while we help them transform their lives and find confidence in their authentic natural beauty.
M: What are some of the negative stigmas or stereotypes that exist around curly hair within the Latino community? How have these stigmas affected how Latinas view and care for their curly hair?
OB: We grew up thinking our hair was “pelo malo” (bad hair). Hearing your hair being described as a negative trait at an early age created a trauma that we carried throughout our life. Latinos, especially in the Dominican Republic, see curly hair as unprofessional, unattractive, and unruly. Still to this day, in the Dominican Republic girls deal with being taken out of school if their hair is curly or coily. Women in the workforce are forced to straighten their hair to look professional. All of these stigmas make Latinas feel like their natural beauty is not enough and they aim to follow Eurocentric looks to feel accepted and beautiful. Not being able to embrace who we are born to be, not only affects our mental health but how we opt to follow standards just because society tells us to follow them. Domincanas and many Latinas go to extreme lengths to straighten their hair. Using harsh chemicals, high-heat tools, and spending hours at the hair salon multiple times during the month. We become tied to these standards and do not feel free to just be ourselves.
M: How can we work to break down these stigmas and promote self-love and acceptance of all hair types within the Latino community?
OB: We can help break down these stigmas by promoting self-love as early as possible in our community. As a small business, Ocoa is not just about curls. It is a brand that reflects cultural representation, self-love, and the discovery of who you are born to be. We want to stop hair assimilation so that future generations embrace who they are and love themselves in their authentic beauty. We need to be role models for those who do not see curly hair being embraced and encourage our community to learn more about different textures and how we are all beautiful in our own natural selves.
M: What challenges did you face as Latina entrepreneurs in starting and growing Ocoa? How did you overcome them?
OB: We faced a lot of challenges starting our small business. In fact, we started our project in 2018 and it wasn't until March 1st, 2021 that we were able to launch with one product. In the beginning, we faced many challenges. It took months to find the right manufacturer. Our first one caught on fire weeks before starting our production. We had to start from scratch and look for a new partner. After finding our current partner and with an expected launch date of Spring 2020, COVID-19 hit and closed down the world. There were lots of tears and feeling defeated. However, our passion and perseverance was stronger than all of the challenges we faced.
We also decided to rebrand on our second anniversary as a business. Our current branding truly reflects our values, our mission, and our love for curly hair. Having family and each other to count on was the biggest motivation that pushed us to overcome all the challenges we faced and the ones that will follow in the future as we continue to grow.
M: What advice would you give other Latina entrepreneurs just starting their own businesses?
OB: Our biggest advice to other Latina entrepreneurs is to just start, you don't have to have all your ducks in a row at first. You can start, pivot and make it better. Also, to remember to use your unique point of view as your superpower. It doesn't matter which industry you venture in. Your uniqueness will help you bring a different kind of business to the world. With our story, we want to inspire others to dream big and use their creativity to start the leading brands of the future. We are two sisters who moved to this country without knowing what the future was going to look like for us. We didn’t let that stop us from going after our dreams.
M: What do you see as the next step for Ocoa in growth and development? Can you tell us about any upcoming product launches or collaborations that you have in the works?
OB: Our next goal is to increase brand awareness so more curly women can discover our products. Within the next year, we plan to introduce new products with a goal to be in retailers soon.
We are working on more innovative curly hair care products inspired by rich and nourishing ingredients from the Dominican Republic. We have two in the development process and hope to have them available in 2024.
M: What message would you like to send to Latina women still struggling with accepting their natural hair or feeling confident in their appearance?
OB: You are #BornToBe you! Start small, taking baby steps to accept your curls and let them flourish. Having patience in the journey is the first step and being kind to ourselves as we go through the transition. Also, know your curls are unique, and we don't have to compare them to others or what you see on social media. It's your own unique journey, so give yourself grace and enjoy the process.
M: How does Ocoa give back to the Latina community and support other women entrepreneurs?
OB: Our main goal is to empower our community to embrace who they are #BornToBe and along the way inspire others to follow their dreams. This year, we had the honor to teach a webinar about personal and business branding to local professionals and entrepreneurs. This event was hosted by our local Chamber of Commerce women’s group, De Mujer a Mujer. We are not from a big city and being able to reach a national audience has been an inspiration to many local women from our hometown Reading, Pennsylvania. We love sharing business tips and experiences to help them accomplish their dreams. In addition, last year we led presentations about self-love, confidence, and small business in local colleges and universities. Sharing our stories with future generations is very important. We want young women to go out into the world reaching for their dreams and goals while staying true to their unique selves and what makes them special.
In addition, we have donated our curly hair products to local initiatives that support women and wellness efforts. We want women in our community to experience our clean and effective curly hair products wherever we can contribute.
M: Lastly, can you share some tips for maintaining healthy and beautiful curly hair?
OB: Curly hair needs hydration, having a routine where we wash our curls every 3 to 7 days with gentle yet effective cleansing products is a must. Avoid sulfates and silicones. When you apply styling products make sure your hair is wet so the product can be easily absorbed. Apply products from ends to roots. This will help with volume and reduce product build-up at the roots. When drying your curls with a diffuser, always try to start drying with medium/cold heat and medium speed. For more tips and tricks, take our curl quiz by visiting us at ocoabeauty.com.
