We all know that people can do amazing things, but there are many people out there who get overlooked and just aren’t talked about enough. One of those people is Richelieu Dennis.
Who is Richelieu Dennis?
Richelieu Dennis was born in Liberia and is known for being an entrepreneur and a philanthropist. Richelieu Dennis’s biggest accomplishment is being the CEO and co-founder of Sundial Brands, which is now known as SheaMoisture. His mom is the other co-founder, and they carry the same professional business partnership that Richelieu’s father had with his grandmother.
How did Sundial Brands come to be?
The business ran through his blood and clearly ran through his family since his father and grandmother were business partners for many years. It didn’t just stop there, though.
Richelieu Dennis originally wanted to be a citrus farmer and attended business school at Babson College to help him achieve that goal. But while he was in college, a different business opportunity landed at his feet.
In Libera, it was part of their culture to use shea butter to protect their skin from the sun. So his mom started making shea butter products, and Richelieu would take these shea butter products and sell them to his colleagues. His mom would then take the profits that he had earned and throw them back into buying more supplies to make these shea butter products.
When Richelieu Dennis graduated from Babson College, it was only the beginning of his business adventures. He continued to sell his mom’s shea butter products on the streets of Harlem, and they even gained so much business that they were able to start delivering to some of their customers.
It seemed like once the business started to progress, it just didn’t stop. Delivering to customers led to selling people their products for county fairs and flea markets. This was also their entryway to selling their products in grocery stores and supermarkets and is essentially how Sundial Brands originally came to be.
What other accomplishments does Richelieu Dennis have?
Of course, all businessmen have great accomplishments, and it’s usually not surprising that their main business isn’t their only project or part of their career. This is also true for Richelieu Dennis.
Richelieu Dennis was the CEO and chairman of Sundial Brands for many years until December of 2019, but Sundial Brands eventually became SheaMoisture, which Richelieu was also the founder of. He also took on being the CEO of a company called Essence Ventures LLC, which is an independent consumer technology firm of which he is also the founder. This is just a look at his entrepreneurial accomplishments.
Richelieu Dennis is a huge supporter of philanthropy and is quick to be a leader in showing support for his community. Richelieu has come up with three projects to give back to the community:
- Sundial’s Community Commerce
This is an investment company focused on improving certain aspects of the community, such as healthcare access, infrastructure, employment opportunities, education opportunities, etc.
- New Voices Fund
This is a program dedicated to assisting black women to become entrepreneurs and learn the various skills and leadership qualities they need in order to run their own businesses and carry their own success.
- Social Mission Board
This is a project associated with the Community Commerce, which has the goal of expanding the reach of the Community Commerce around the world to support more communities.
Why is Richelieu Dennis important?
Richelieu Dennis is a very successful entrepreneur, but he also offers many valuable lessons that can be learned about the world of business and making money. If you’re in it just for the money, it will never work, but if you are wanting to help other people and provide for the community, you will be successful.
It’s also important to recognize that your fame and money didn’t just come from you and you may be providing other people a service or product, but they’re also helping you by giving you their money for said services and products. In other words, if you’ve reached fame and fortune, you didn’t do it by yourself and it’s important to recognize that and give back to the community that assisted you in living a life of luxury.
By providing resources to your community and funding projects that improve your community, you are also putting yourself in a good light, which then helps in gaining more consumers and encouraging current consumers to maintain their loyalty to the brand. It’s a win for everybody if you provide a product or service, get money for said product or service, then use that money to create more businesses, projects, etc, gain a good reputation from the community, and continue to make more money. It’s just important to remember how it starts, which is by making it all about the people.
