Lydia Macharia

Lydia Macharia co-founded The Good Hair Co., a two-sided online platform that makes hair care consultation more accessible, affordable, and straightforward for women with textured hair. Lydia has been passionate about her business ever since she and her co-founder had the idea, but life always got in the way.

Our programme helped her to feel that it is truly possible to achieve what she has set out for in her business and validated that her foundational work before starting the programme was not in vain.

Lydia gained a vast support group she feels she can reach out to when needed, and she is no longer afraid to put herself and the business into the world. She shared that the feedback she received from the programme’s experts was to put herself more into the company because there is power in personal stories. She never knew what that looked like nor felt confident doing it.

Lydia gained a vast support group she feels she can reach out to when needed, and she is no longer afraid to put herself and the business into the world. She shared that the feedback she received from the programme’s experts was to put herself more into the company because there is power in personal stories. She never knew what that looked like nor felt confident doing it.

Having fellows on the programme share that they would use her services gave her the encouragement she needed to keep going. The one-to-one sessions, in particular, provided Lydia with the knowledge to tighten her pitch while also developing a greater understanding of the financial side of her business.

Something that she found was challenging when doing general research because that research was not personalised to her problem. Lydia learnt how to calculate her budget/expenses and unique ways to seek support for different aspects of the business such as market strategy and funding.

"From the one-to-one support, the team energy and amazing facilitation, I loved everything about this programme, and I am so grateful to have found it. I'm more excited about the future of The Good Hair Co. than I was a few months ago, and I can't wait to share the programme with others who are looking to start their entrepreneurial journey."

She finished the programme feeling proud of her business, especially as she won first prize during the programme's Demo Day.