Cincinnati is full of so-called local celebrities; they grace nightly newscasts and are shown in The Enquirer on a regular basis. Founder and CEO of RaJean Beauty, Megan Seard, just might be considered one – after all, she estimates her products are in more than 1,500 tri-state homes! However, when taking into account the way one feels after using her shower scrubs and shea butters, the title “local goddess” might be more appropriate.

With a passion for self-care, a relentless customer-first mentality, and a hell of a lot of determination, Megan has been to nearly every corner of Cincinnati and Indiana – with her famous backpack full of products in tow. RaJean Beauty has gone from kitchen table concoctions to a beauty empire that brings out decadent skin with a cult-like following. We sat down with Megan at her favorite partnering location, Aladdin’s, to discuss what’s important to her in these unprecedented times.

Interview by Blaire Bartish. Photography by Nicole Mayes.

What was the beginning of your business journey like?

In 2018, I was living in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and approaching 30 [years old]. I always felt that there was a higher purpose for my life, and I just wasn’t pursuing it – and I didn’t really know how to. But I knew my thirties needed to look entirely different than my twenties. I needed streams of revenue that did not require me clocking in and out for somebody else; I needed to be free to be creative, be my best self, and actualize whatever my higher purpose is.

So, my best friend and I sat down and took inventory of all the things I loved doing: cooking, singing, writing (both songs and stories), and making my shea butter. Earlier, I had been working on a music project called “Perfume” – the intention was to create a scent for every song. So, I started learning how to make perfume. But I wanted expensive, Estée Lauder-style perfume. I realized, eventually, that it was a lot more difficult than I had thought, and I had probably bitten off more than I could chew [laughs]. Thankfully, I was introduced to shea butter around this same time. I started mixing fragrance oils with shea butter because I loved how it felt. I loved how it made me feel – just taking that moment to do something special for myself. It's kind of like a form of meditation for me, spending a moment on myself.

People started asking me “What do you have on?” and “Can you make some for me?” I never thought I could do that professionally; I thought I would climb up that corporate ladder and play the game. But when we took inventory of all the things [that go into shea butter], I realized this was something I could do that didn’t require a lot to get it off the ground. When I started out, there was no logo; I was literally handwriting labels. I typed up a pricing sheet, took a backpack full of products to work, and made about 300 to 400 dollars’ worth on that first day. That was the first time I took it seriously enough to realize, “Okay, I said this is what I wanted to do, but we should really do it.”

Blackness is such an important thread in Americanness.

For Black Friday 2018, I bought a backpack, filled it with products, and started going to stores at the mall saying, “Hi, my name’s Megan. I have this product – could you just try this? You don’t have to buy it; I just want you to try it. I want your opinion.” This is not what you’re supposed to do, by the way! [Laughs.] I was literally soliciting people inside the mall! But so many people loved it and bought it that I realized I could make a few hundred dollars in a couple of hours.

Then, I decided to start incorporating barbershops and beauty shops – foot-to-the-pavement type of thing because people don’t know what you’re doing unless you tell them. And people are not only buying your products – they’re buying you. If they happen to find out your product is amazing after they’ve bought you, then you’ve got a customer for life. And I think that’s the majority of my customer base because that’s my approach.

In February of 2019, we came out to Cincinnati with a trunk full of stuff. We figured out where the barber shops and beauty salons were and tried to map it out by zip code, like, “Let’s just make a trip, move around the city, and see what happens.” And the response here was so incredible – it was more than I could have ever expected. None of these people know me; I’m not from here. But the city was so welcoming – it just spoke to me. The spirit of Cincinnati was like, “Yes! Come here! Do this with us!”

So when my lease was up in Fort Wayne, it just made sense. I moved here officially in June of 2019 and have continued to solidify the brand here in Cincinnati. At this point, I have customers all across the country that order online. But I have a special love for my Cincinnati people who are consistently there. We were in negotiations for a retail space on Main Street two weeks before the governor shut the city down [due to the pandemic], so that put a halt on everything. I still want that to be a thing, because no matter where I go, Cincinnati will always be a part of the RaJean story. It’s going to happen; I’m just waiting to see how things play out.

Why is it so important for people to support Black-owned businesses?

Blackness is such an important thread in Americanness. The very core of our existence is what this country was built on: our creativity and our innovation. Because when you don’t have anything, you figure out a way to make something from nothing. I think that our strength and ambition as a people is really at the core of what America says it is.

On one hand, it’s sad that Black-owned businesses have to be designated that way because if this weren’t a thing, it’d just be business. But because it is, I think it’s great to respect and honor Black creatives and that energy of innovativeness, because a lot of us are doing it from nothing.

I will also say that support and actually living a life that is making space for Black-owned business are two different things. You can easily share a post during those 28 or 29 days of February during Black History Month. But what happens for the other eleven months of the year? These people are still trying to feed their kids, move up in the world, and realize their dreams.

Where do you see racism most prevalently?

I think we all know that bias and prejudice are not innate; it’s taught. So even if you’re someone who wasn’t born into a racist family, you can’t tell me that you don’t see it. Turn on the news or look on Facebook... it’s all around you. And if you’re not that way, have that conversation with some of your friends and peers without being abrasive, because it’s going to sound different coming from me. I need for you, as a person who already has privilege, to say, “Guys, we might be doing this all wrong.”

I also want to say that as difficult as it is, there is a need for us, as Black people, to stop needing outside of ourselves. There’s a microcosm and a macrocosm. Validation outside of yourself is not useful. It’s cool; it helps jolt your self-esteem a little bit. But if you don’t love, push, and support yourself, it doesn’t matter if someone outside of you says, “Hey, you’re great.” So, until we get to a point where we ourselves realize our greatest strengths and the value in our creativity and collaboration with each other, then it doesn’t matter if anyone outside doesn’t feel that way. And that’s not to take anything away from systemic racism or the institutions that allow things to be the way they are. But we have to take care of ourselves before we expect anyone else to take care of us.

What are you reading right now?

The Complete Guide to Chakras by April Pfender. I’m also listening to When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost by Joan Morgan. It’s an approach to feminism that reconciles with hip-hop. I don’t consider myself a feminist, but being able to listen to her viewpoints and take inventory of myself helps me think about how I’ve treated other women – specifically other Black women.

What does self-care look like for you?

Self-care is first and foremost awareness: paying attention to what’s good when it’s good and what’s bad when it’s bad. What are the things that trigger you and what are the things that make you happy? And those things that make us happy sometimes – our “guilty pleasures.” I am all about sensuality and pleasure. And if the texture is good, or the food is good, I am great! [Laughs]

So when I’m in a funk, sometimes a really greasy cheeseburger is just what I want! Sometimes I feel guilty going to get it, but I have to stop that and not feel bad about it. When we beat ourselves up, it’s a vicious cycle. And it’s the little things we beat ourselves up about that lead to the big things. Self-care is about figuring out who you are and loving her.

What’s your favorite product that you make?

The Softest Touch shea butter and the scrub. It’s lavender and lemon, but after you’ve put it on and it takes on your fragrance, it just comes to life. It’s the second scent I made. What’s funny is that the very first one I came up with was Soothe Me Baby, and that’s the bestseller by far. But I like Softest Touch because I wanted something lighter. [Author’s note: Megan kindly gifted me with a Softest Touch scrub and shea butter, and my family is now RaJean converts! Both make your skin decadent and deliciously fragrant.]

Who is an influential woman in your life?

The generic answer would be my mother, but because she’s influenced me in ways that I see what I don’t want. That’s not to say that she’s not great, but she’s creative as well and didn’t do anything [professional] with it. When I was a child, I remember her sitting in bed mixing all her stuff because there were never any Black hair products for us on the shelf. She would take her Vaseline, her aloe, and her cocoa butter and would create whatever concoction to oil up with every night. She’s very creative, but she used to get on me for being a dreamer.

The absolute most influential person in my life, though, is my best friend, who’s a man! But he saw everything I was capable of. And he told me, “Be whatever you are for a good reason and it’ll work out for you.”

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RaJean Beauty’s Megan Seard on Self-Care, Shea Butter, and Realizing Your Dreams