Is Shea Moisture Black Owned? The Truth & History Revealed

When it comes to black haircare, there is no company doing what Shea Moisture does. And knowing Shea Moisture’s history makes it that much more remarkable.

This unique brand has become so popularly for good reason. Many often wonder, however, is Shea Moisture black owned?

Which is why in this article, we answer this and many other questions about the company for you.

Who Is The Owner Of Shea Moisture?

In order to understand Shea Moisture’s history better we need to know a little bit about the people behind the brand.

The brand’s current CEO is Cara Sabin. She is a black woman who has done remarkable and influential work in the beauty industry for a while.

Cara Sabin has had over twenty years of experience being a Marketing Executive and having managerial positions in the consumer goods industry.

She attended the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University from which she holds and MBA.

And Cara Sabin is not only the CEO of Shea Moisture. She is the CEO of Sundial Brands, a bigger parent company that owns Shea Moisture as well as other brands.

Sundial Brands includes other brands such as Nubian Heritage, Madame C.J Walker and Nyakio.

Sundial Brands makes products with natural and organic ingredients.

Before she was CEO of Sundial Brands, Cara Sabin previously worked at other big beauty companies. For instance, L’Oreal, Clique, Neutrogena and Nars.

Cara Sabin has since taken on her work at Sundial with great enthusiasm.

With Shea Moisture, she prides herself on being focused on providing good haircare products for black people.

Having a black, African American CEO at its forefront definitely helps Shea Moisture achieve this mission.

Sundial Brands is however owned by Unilever, which is a European company that supplies a wider array of consumer goods.

Unilever’s CEO is Alan Jope who is a British businessman.

How Did The Company Start?

Shea Moisture’s history goes much deeper than what we’ve established about its current management. Shea Moisture’s story actually started back in 1912.

In Sierra Leone, a young entrepreneur named Sofi Tucker started selling shea nuts in the markets of her village in Bonthe.

By the time she was nineteen years old, she was selling organic shea butter, soaps, hair and other bath products. All of these were homemade.

Later on in her life, Sofi would pass on her knowledge to her grandchildren. Over summers, her grandson Richelieu Dennis would visit her.

And it was in this time that he began to learn about the process of creating organic beauty, hair and bath products.

However, when a civil war broke out in Sierra Leone, the family moved to the United States. And it was then that they began to make and sell Sofi’s products in the United States.

And under the guidance of Richelieu Dennis as CEO, the business has grown. Since, 1991, Shea Moisture has grown and expanded exponentially as a company.

Their line of products has gone past just the few kinds of haircare and bath products they created initially.

Who Does Shea Moisture Employ?

As we have seen from Shea Moisture’s history, it started out as a family business. But what is more interesting is to see how the business has evolved over time and who it involves.

At present, the CEO is not part of Sofi Tucker’s family who originally started the business. Cara Sabin came in as CEO after the acquisition of Shea Moisture by Unilever.

Before Cara Sabin was CEO, the business was run by Richelieu Dennis as CEO. And so since this change, Shea Moisture has moved out of the realm of being a family owned-business.

However, Shea Moisture has kept the business rather small in terms of the number of people who keep it running at a high level.

Shea Moisture at present has about 12 top employees. These employees work in areas such as Marketing, Business Development Management and Media Content production.

Shea Moisture of course has more employees at lower levels of the company that produce its products. However, the executive work of the company is done by a small group of people.

A few key members of the Shea Moisture top team are black. For instance, Shea Moisture’s Brand Ambassador Maeling Murphy is a black woman.

Which is an advantage the company has that puts the company in a good position to provide great quality hair and bath products for black people.

What Kind Of Products Does Shea Moisture Make?

So now that we have talked a little bit about Shea Moisture’s history, there is still more to be discussed about the company.

The kinds of products Shea Moisture makes is something that people often wonder about.

Shea Moisture began with a small selection of products when it was a smaller company. It sold hair, bath and body products that were all mainly shea butter based and had a small variety of ingredients.

Then as the business expanded, their collections expanded too. Now Shea Moisture sells products that are based on a wild variety of ingredients.

You can get products based on ingredients such as apricot and honey. These are great for those who like fragrances and really rich formulas for hair and skincare.

You can also get products based on other ingredients like avocado butter if you want a bit of variety from shea butter.

Some products are also based on essential oils such as olive, coconut and mafura oil.

There are also vitamin rich products that are based on ingredients like vitamin E.

Shea Moisture also has various categories of products. For instance with haircare, they sell shampoos, conditioners, stylers and more.

And they also sell products such as body washes and moisturizers for skincare. There is truly something for everyone who Shea Moisture caters to.

Who Does Shea Moisture Cater To?

Another thing some people wonder about after discovering Shea Moisture’s history and their range of products is who specifically the company caters to.

Well, besides having a wide range of products to choose from, the company also adapts their products to different demographics.

Shea Moisture sells products for black people across different ages and gender.

They have a main collection that is made for any and everyone. And this collection is actually mainly popular with black women.

But they also sell products under a specifically men’s collection. And they also have a collection of products for babies and kids.

The Shea Moisture men’s collection contains products such as skincare and haircare products.

You can find products based on rich ingredients such as mafura oil, olive oil, coconut oil and more.

There are also avocado and shea butter products that are great for moisturizing. And there are a variety of body wash products too.

The babies and kids collection contains a variety of haircare and skincare products for kids.

Many of the products are based on ingredients such as honey as well as a variety of fruits.

The collection has products like the mango and carrot conditioner for kids that is designed for nurturing a child’s hair growth while also making the formula pleasant to a child’s sense.

What Are The Benefits Of Shea Moisture Products?

As mentioned earlier, in all of Shea Moisture’s history they have thrived to create quality organic products. As such, their products have many wonderful benefits to them.

Shea Moisture’s products are infused with ingredients that are rich and very beneficial for black haircare and skincare.

The haircare products are made to really promote hair growth and strength.

With ingredients such as olive, avocado and other essential oils, Shea Moisture products promote healthy hair.

These hydrating ingredients allow your hair to strengthen and they protect your hair from breakage. Which allows it to flourish and without hindrance.

Other ingredients such as E vitamins and B vitamins also provide strength and resistance to breakage and hair loss.

Shea Moisture’s range of bath and body products are also incredibly beneficial.

With ingredients such as Shea and avocado butter, they are designed to really moisturize and nourish the skin.

With Shea Moisture’s body washes, lotions and other formulas catering to black skin, your skin’s health is guaranteed to improve.

Not only are Shea Moisture’s products great, but the company’s commitment to keeping their products organic and black centered is too.

With Shea Moisture’s history of having black people at the forefront of creating its rich and natural formulas, they have really managed to build an array of products that being true value.

Is Shea Moisture Black Owned?

Now that we have learned all about Shea Moisture’s history, their products and the people behind it, one question remains unanswered definitively. And that is whether or not Shea Moisture is black owned.

We have already established that Shea Moisture is at present under the management of a black woman, Cara Sabin.

And not only that, some of the top positions in the company are also held by black people.

Furthermore, the company’s original CEO, Richelieu Dennis is a big part of the company’s current status and how it has evolved.

But at present, the company is no longer in Dennis’ family name in terms of ownership.

The company was sold to Unilver in 2017 and has since been run under Unilever’s subsidiary, Sundial Brands.

And Unilever is a European company run by a white, British CEO. So Shea Moisture does not at present qualify as a black owned company anymore.

Although in the past it was black owned because it was originally Sofi Tucker’s and then it was Richelieu Dennis’ company. Some may be disappointed to know this.

In fact, when the company’s acquisition by Unilever happened, some spoke out about it. This includes the current CEO Cara Sabin.

However, the company has not strayed much from its original goals to provide quality, organic products for black people.

And so despite it not technically being black owned anymore, the company is still a great one with a great mission.

Is Shea Moisture Black Owned? Conclusion

Shea Moisture is a very interesting company with a special history. And they have created a phenomenal array of products.

They are also black owned and they cater to the black community. Which makes them a brand to really champion.

Hopefully this article has answered all of the questions you may have had about this great brand’s history.