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Brand Strategy · Product Marketing · Creative Direction

ULLA Hair®

Building a textured hair brand from customer insight to market

01

Context / Challenge

ULLA Hair® is a textured hair business I founded in June 2025, taking it from initial research through product development, launch and ongoing operations.

I saw a gap for textured hair products that felt natural, versatile and accessible. I also felt the industry had room for more innovation beyond the product itself, particularly across technology, product development and hair education.

02

Insight

ULLA started with a simple question: how could textured hair products better reflect the women actually wearing them? What began as a product idea developed into a wider business focused on improving both the product and the experience around it.
03

Strategy

The initial scope was to take ULLA from concept to market, covering customer and competitor research, product development, supplier sourcing, sampling, pricing, branding, ecommerce and launch.

The wider scope has since expanded into three areas: SOFTwear by ULLA, exploring a more digital ownership experience; Fibre Engineering, researching new approaches to textured hair fibres; and ULLAVersity, focused on natural hair education for young women.

04

Idea

Build a commercially viable textured hair brand while creating space to test new ideas across product, technology and education.
05

Execution

My role

As founder, I have led the business from initial research through product development, manufacturing, launch and ongoing operations.

My responsibilities have included supplier relationships, product decisions, customer experience, content, ecommerce and the development of new projects around the wider ULLA vision.

I started with market and customer research before defining the initial product requirements.

Product development was iterative. I worked through samples and production cycles, communicated directly with manufacturers and used customer response and product performance to inform changes.

I also travelled to China to meet manufacturers in person, communicate product requirements and move production forward.

  • Product research and specification
  • Manufacturer sourcing and negotiation
  • Sample testing and product iteration
  • Brand and visual development
  • Ecommerce setup and operations
  • Content and customer communication
  • International supplier management
  • Development of SOFTwear by ULLA and other ULLA projects
  • A launched consumer brand
  • Textured synthetic hair products brought from concept to market
  • Product specifications and manufacturer briefs
  • Ecommerce and customer experience infrastructure
  • Brand identity and digital content
  • SOFTwear by ULLA in development
  • Wider concepts across fibre research and education
06

Impact

More than 1,000Customers
More than one millionViews across digital platforms
Reflection

Building ULLA taught me that the original idea is rarely the finished answer. Product development has required testing, listening to customers, working through manufacturing problems and being willing to change direction when something does not work as expected.

It has also shown me the importance of turning a wider vision into smaller projects that can actually be tested and delivered.

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