When Emily Pomroy-Smith, 37, from Wiltshire, started her hair wrap business for curls, BamBonn, she didn’t think it would end up becoming her full-time job.
Back in January 2020, Emily made – with her bare hands – the first prototype of her product. After wrapping her curls in a towel, she had a lightning bolt moment, realising she could make a much better product designed for curly hair, which is typically more fragile than straight hair.
Prototype in hand, it hadn’t been an easy feat. She was also carrying a newborn, the confidence knock of being made redundant whilst pregnant, another confidence knock in the form of an unsuccessful first business attempt, and the knowledge that she relied on her tax credit benefits to get by. But things can change quickly, and 18 months later, life looked very different. Emily is proof that just because the first idea failed, it doesn’t mean the dream of being an entrepreneur has to end.
‘I’ve gone from benefits to boss, which is pretty cool,’ Emily tells Metro.co.uk, who had a background in fashion design before starting her business.
‘I was in my studio with fabric thinking, “gosh, I have to do something”, and I was wearing a wrap on my head to protect my hair and I literally took it off my head and knew I could make something better.’
The curly hair world was a growing market at the time, and Emily had been in Facebook groups for people sharing curly hair tips. She shared her first product design in one of the groups asking for testers – and they all loved it.
‘My goal was to earn enough to qualify for 30 hours of free childcare, that was the height of my ambition,’ she says. Today, Emily has sold nearly 30,000 units of the £15 handmade hair wrap, with weekly restocks.
‘I was working seven days a week, I couldn’t keep up with demand with constant sellouts, and it grew beyond my wildest dreams while I was making everything still on my own by hand. At first, I was making £10,000, but a year later I made £100,000 turnover which I had never anticipated happening. Consistently it’s been in six-figures and has grown year on year.’
Business-savvy Emily protected the design of her product early on, which has been key to the brand’s continuing success in a growing market. She spent £8,000 on legal fees, design registration and a US design patent (which makes up 50% of her market). People have attempted to copy her product, and one particularly lengthy battle in her third year of business cost around £20,000 to fight. Another challenge has been the impact of Brexit, GPSR regulations, America’s tariffs, and the changing costs around shipping worldwide.
Looking to the future, the next goal is to set up an apprenticeship programme to help other women get back into work after having children.
‘When I started the business, I just wanted to pay the bills and be a good example to my son. The business has grown beyond my wildest dreams, but it doesn’t serve the moral purpose I would like it to have.
‘Women do face the “motherhood penalty”, and I want to help people who’ve found themselves in the same position I was in, because it felt very isolating.’
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