She is self-affirmed, walking to nobody’s tune but her own. She rejects conformity and seeks only her own truth. She is ungovernable, and just the kind of woman we love. In the latest in our series profiling women whose paths and minds we admire, we speak to Ms. Taryn Gill, Founder of the Perfect Hair Company, the beauty & grooming brand giving love to women of colour’s natural curls and coils.
From humble beginnings, fighting against a tide of harmful products designed to tame – rather than nurture and celebrate – black women’s hair, the former magazine publisher’s natural hair products have built up a cult following around the country, with wholesale scale. On the eve of the launch of her men’s beard and shaving range, we spoke to her about her singular journey in business and womanhood.
When did you realise you were a girl, and what that meant in this world?
I was never told by my parents that I could not do something because of my gender. And that is how I choose to raise my daughter.
What, to you, is an Ungovernable woman?
The many shades, shapes, sizes and splendor of women the world over who feel the fear, the prejudice, and the glass ceilings – yet push through anyway to do what they love.
When did you fall in love with yourself and why?
I began to feel my own power during my university years, it was 1993 and everything was shifting, anything was possible. My mind blown wide open and I found my voice.
When was the last time you felt vulnerable and why?
I feel vulnerable all the time! As a mother letting her children go out into the world, as a business woman subjected to tough economic times and a rough retail landscape. And as a woman. It (the solution) is in choosing not to be governed by that vulnerability.
“I feel vulnerable all the time! As a mother letting her children go out into the world, as a business woman subjected to tough economic times and a rough retail landscape. And as a woman. It (the solution) is in choosing not to be governed by that vulnerability.”