Eleora Ogundare is the founder of Eleora Beauty Inc, a company inspired by her own health issues. Eleora was born with sickle cell anemia and had to undergo a difficult stem cell transplant.
She also had chemotherapy, which caused her hair to fall out. Eleora, as a young girl, found her situation traumatic and a blow to her self-esteem.
“My hair was my confidence because the kids I was around, they had like the long, nice long hair,” Eleora told CBC. Nonetheless, she decided to cut her hair in response to the treatment she was going through.
After a successful treatment, Eleora decided to use her predicament to assist people facing similar challenges. This led her to start the Eleora Beauty line with the help of her mother. Eleora Beauty specializes in making hair and beauty products that promote healthy hair growth, the company says on its website. “Our products are all-natural and are inspired by a driving desire for men and women alike to express beauty and confidence through strong and healthy hair.”
According to Eugenia Ogundare, Eleora’s mother, they determined the formula for their hair product after experimenting with several different oils, butter, and creams geared toward Black hair types.
“One of the problems Black women actually face would be the edges, so that’s the first thing we get, that, ‘Oh, it actually works for my edges’,” said Eugenia. “And then we get the mothers who say, ‘Oh, my daughter’s hair was hard to manage. It’s more manageable [now]’.”