Application-Only  ·  100 Spots  ·  Opens Twice a Year

The beauty industry
is built on
relationships.
We open the doors.

Black Beauty Founders Private Access is a curated membership designed to connect founders, executives, creators, and operators to the relationships, conversations, visibility, and insider intelligence that accelerate growth.

Applications reviewed personally  ·  Selective admission

Success in beauty is not just about having a great product. It is about being
in the right conversations, with the right people, at the right time. That is what Black Beauty Founders Private Access is built to deliver.

BBF Private Access is the operating ecosystem for beauty founders who want to move faster than they could alone.

Featured In
Ebony
Essence
Forbes
Business of Fashion
Black Enterprise
Yahoo Finance
Beauty Independent
Glamour
Elle

The industry knows who we are.

Apply Now →
Beauty Independent

Black Beauty Founders was interviewed as an expert source on the $1.4 billion Olaplex acquisition.

“Olaplex built something real: a devoted professional ecosystem, patented technology and genuine consumer trust. What it struggled with was the pressure of scaling as a public company in a category that moves at the speed of culture. Henkel brings the infrastructure to stabilize that.”

Black Beauty Founders

Quoted as industry expert in Beauty Independent coverage of Henkel's $1.4B acquisition of Olaplex

The BBF Effect

BBF has placed Black beauty founders in Forbes.

Janell Stephens. Monique Rodriguez. Mahisha Dellinger. Jesseca Harris-Dupart. Robyn Atwater. Raynell Steward. And many more. BBF pitched, built the narrative, and made it happen — including Monique Rodriguez of Mielle Organics and Raynell "Supa Cent" Steward, whose first Forbes interviews came through BBF. Inside the membership, we share that strategy.

Janell Stephens
Janell StephensCamille Rose
Monique Rodriguez
Monique RodriguezMielle Organics
Mahisha Dellinger
Mahisha DellingerCurls
Jesseca Harris-Dupart
Jesseca Harris-DupartKaleidoscope Hair
Robyn Atwater
Robyn AtwaterCurl Daze
Raynell Steward
Raynell StewardThe Crayon Case
Janell Stephens
Janell StephensCamille Rose
Monique Rodriguez
Monique RodriguezMielle Organics
Mahisha Dellinger
Mahisha DellingerCurls
Jesseca Harris-Dupart
Jesseca Harris-DupartKaleidoscope Hair
Robyn Atwater
Robyn AtwaterCurl Daze
Raynell Steward
Raynell StewardThe Crayon Case

These founders trusted BBF with their story.
Are you next?

Apply Now →
Our Cover Stars

Get access to the biggest and most successful beauty founders in the industry.

Inside the membership, you gain access to the intelligence, relationships, and strategy that shaped the brands you admire.

Cynthia Bailey BBF Cover
Cynthia Bailey Supermodel & Co-Founder, Glowissima VOL. 1 · DECEMBER 2025
Tia Mowry
Tia Mowry Co-founder, 4U by Tia VOL. 6 · MAY 2026
Shontay Lundy
Shontay Lundy Founder, Black Girl Sunscreen VOL. 4 · MARCH 2026
Tisha Thompson
Tisha Thompson Founder, LYS Beauty VOL. 3 · FEB 2026
Shaina Rainford
Shaina Rainford Founder, Bask & Lather VOL. 2 · JAN 2026
Stormi Steele
Stormi Steele Founder, Canvas Beauty VOL. 5 · APRIL 2026

This is the editorial platform Black beauty founders trust.

Apply Now →
Stormi Steele, Founder, Canvas Beauty Brand
Stormi SteeleAs Told to Black Beauty Founders
The Problem

Even the most talented founders
can only move so fast when they’re building
in isolation.

Every month you wait is a press opportunity you didn’t get, a buyer you didn’t meet, an opportunity you didn’t know existed.

These are the questions Black beauty founders are navigating alone right now:

Which editors are actually covering Black beauty brands right now?
What are retail buyers actually looking for in a pitch?
How do I get my product in front of a retail buyer?
How do I land on national television?
Where do I find funding opportunities built for me?
How do I build media relationships before I need a press hit?
How do investors evaluate my brand?
Am I retail-ready? How do I even know?

The answers exist. BBF Private Access closes the gap.

Shontay Lundy, Founder, Black Girl Sunscreen
Shontay LundyAs Told to Black Beauty Founders
200K+
Consumer Reach
2,000+
Founders & Executives
6
BBF Magazine Volumes
100
Seats. That’s It.
Tisha Thompson, Founder, LYS Beauty
Tisha ThompsonAs Told to Black Beauty Founders

Why It Matters Now

Why Access Matters
More Than Ever

The beauty industry is changing.

AI is changing marketing. Retail is becoming more selective. Media organizations are getting smaller. Consumer attention is harder to earn. The volume of information available to founders has never been higher.

The challenge is no longer finding information. The challenge is knowing what matters, who to trust, and where the real opportunities exist.

The founders who move fastest are not necessarily the founders with the biggest budgets.

They are the founders with the best information, strongest relationships, and earliest access to opportunity.

One buyer conversation.
One editorial placement.
One television appearance.
One strategic introduction.
One investor relationship.

Any one of these can create more value than an entire year of membership.

We cannot guarantee your outcome. We can guarantee this: you will no longer be building without access, context, or direction.

The Problem Nobody Talks About

The Founder Gap

The beauty industry has resources for brands at the beginning.

The beauty industry has resources for brands doing millions.

The hardest place to be is in the middle.

Too advanced for beginner advice. Not yet large enough to have an executive team opening doors.

That is where BBF Private Access was built to help.

What Members Receive

What lands in your inbox.
What opens on your calendar.

This is what active membership looks like — built into the ecosystem every single month.

In Your Inbox

Beauty Intelligence Briefing

What is happening in beauty before it is public. Buyer movement, trend signals, retail shifts, and insider intelligence delivered directly to members.

In Your Inbox

Press Opportunities Report

Actual journalist names, what they are working on, and exactly how to pitch each live opportunity. Not a media list. Action-ready intelligence.

On Your Calendar

Members-Only Sessions

Fireside chats, webinars, and industry sessions with founders, executives, retail buyers, editors, and decision-makers. Small rooms. Real conversations.

In Your Library

Opportunity Alerts

Brand partnerships, funding opportunities, pitch competitions, retail opportunities, and industry stages — surfaced as they emerge, with context on how to position for them.

BBF Original Research

The Quarterly State of
Black Beauty Report

Original BBF research delivered every quarter. Category analysis, market signals, retail movement, and industry intelligence compiled exclusively for members. Nobody else has this. This is BBF’s own analysis of where the industry is going — before it gets there.

Original Research Members Only Every Quarter
Inside the Membership

Where beauty founders get ahead.

All designed to give members direct access to the intelligence, relationships, and opportunities that typically take years to build on your own.

01
Fireside Conversations
Intimate, off-the-record conversations with founders, executives, and insiders. Small rooms. Real talk. No PR filter.
02
Insider Sessions
Deep-dive sessions with attorneys, investors, retail buyers, national TV bookers, and brand builders who know this industry from the inside.
03
Executive Roundtables
High-trust roundtables for founders at your stage. Strategic, honest, and focused. Every brand in the room has earned their seat.
04
Beauty Intelligence Reports
Original research, category analysis, and market intelligence — including NielsenIQ data. Know where the industry is going before everyone else does.
05
Industry Briefings
What’s actually happening in beauty before it’s public. Buyer movement, trend signals, retail shifts, and insider intelligence delivered directly.
06
Access Rooms
Direct sessions with retail buyers, editors, investors, and commerce editors — curated and facilitated by BBF. The kind of sessions that typically require years of industry relationships to access.
07
Monthly Press Opportunities
Not a media list. Actual journalist names, contact information, what they’re working on, and exactly how to pitch each live opportunity.
08
National Television Strategy
What producers and morning show bookers look for. How to pitch, prepare, and turn one TV segment into lasting brand momentum.
09
Retail Deck & Pitch Education
Exactly what goes into a retail pitch deck. What buyers need. How to walk in prepared and walk out with a real next step.
10
Affiliate & Commerce Intelligence
How to get into gift guides at Vogue, Allure, Glamour, and Essence. Affiliate strategies from LTK to ShopMy that build real revenue.
11
Funding & Opportunity Intelligence
Pitch competitions, accelerators, and funding opportunities surfaced as they emerge — with context on positioning and eligibility.
12
Rotational Mentorship
Monthly direct access to a different industry expert — beauty editors, retail buyers, investors, attorneys, and founders who have scaled.
Isan Elba, Founder, Beauty Access & Beauty Forward
Isan ElbaAs Told to Black Beauty Founders

One membership. One seat waiting for you.

Apply Now →

Included In Your Membership

The BBF Workshop Library

Self-paced virtual workshops built around the four pillars that determine whether a beauty brand grows or stalls — each paired with a downloadable strategy guide so you can apply what you learn directly to your business.

New workshops added every quarter  ·  Active members access the full library

Brand

Build a Brand That Sells

How to develop a brand identity, positioning, and story that resonates with buyers, editors, and consumers — before you spend a dollar on marketing.

Includes downloadable strategy guide

  • Brand Identity & Positioning
  • Storytelling for Press & Retail
  • Visual Brand Standards That Scale

Scale

How to Scale Without Breaking

The operational and strategic framework for growing a beauty brand into retail, media, and new markets — without losing the integrity of what you built.

Includes downloadable strategy guide

  • Retail Readiness & Buyer Pitching
  • PR Strategy for Growing Brands
  • National TV & Media Placement

Manage

Run It Like a Business

The behind-the-scenes infrastructure that keeps a beauty brand moving — team building, systems, legal basics, and the operational decisions that protect what you have built.

Includes downloadable strategy guide

  • Operations & Team Structure
  • Legal Foundations for Founders
  • Protecting Your Brand & IP

Fund

Find the Money to Grow

Where funding actually comes from for Black beauty brands, how to position for it, and how to walk into any investor conversation knowing your numbers and your narrative.

Includes downloadable strategy guide

  • Investor Positioning & Pitch Prep
  • Grants, Accelerators & Capital Sources
  • Bootstrapping & Revenue-Based Growth

The BBF Workshop Library is an active and growing resource — new workshops are added every quarter. Active members have full access to the complete library. Strategy Guides you download are yours to keep.

Your strategy guide. Your strategy.
Your next move.

Apply Now →

Visibility & Industry Opportunities

Do you want to know how to get booked
on national television?

BBF has done it. We share exactly how inside the membership — the strategy, the pitch, and how to get in front of the talent bookers who make it happen.

Camille Rose on The Sherri Show

BBF Booked Camille Rose on National TV

The Sherri Show

The View Your Deal

BBF Booked Taliah Waajid on The View

Taliah Waajid · The View · View Your Deal

L'Oréal Learning Lab

BBF Booked Taliah Waajid for the Black Beauty Roster Panel at L’Oréal Headquarters

L’Oréal Headquarters · Black Beauty Roster Panel

Panels & Brand Partnerships

Do you want to know how to get booked
on panels and brand partnerships?

AT&T Dream in Black. Beautycon Los Angeles. Essence. L’Oréal Headquarters. These are the stages and partnerships that change a founder’s trajectory.

Inside the membership, BBF shares the exact strategy — how to get booked for beauty panels, how to pitch brand partnerships, and how to get in front of the industry talent bookers and decision-makers who can put you on the right stage.

Beautycon LA Panel with Sabrina Elba

BBF Booked a Client on a Panel with Sabrina Elba

Beautycon Los Angeles

AT&T Dream in Black Main Stage

BBF Secured a Brand Partnership & Main Stage at AT&T Dream in Black

AT&T Dream in Black · Brand Partnership

With Tina Knowles, Founder of Cecred

In the Room with Tina Knowles, Founder of Cecred

AT&T Dream in Black

BBF Booked Monique Rodriguez of Mielle at Essence BeautyCon

BBF Booked Monique Rodriguez of Mielle at Essence BeautyCon

Essence Beauty Carnival

One conversation could change the entire trajectory of your brand. One introduction to a buyer. One opportunity you didn’t know existed. One investor conversation that unlocks everything. Any one of those outcomes is worth more than a full year inside the membership.

Monthly Access  ·  After Acceptance $147 Per Month  ·  Cancel Anytime
  • Monthly Beauty Intelligence Briefing
  • Monthly Press Opportunities Report
  • Members-Only Fireside Chats
  • Members-Only Webinars
  • Sessions with Industry Decision-Makers
  • Invitations to Members-Only Industry Events
  • Priority Access to The BBF Table
  • BBF Workshop Library + Downloadable Strategy Guides
  • Retail Buyer Intelligence & Pitch Guidance
  • National TV & Media Placement Strategy
  • Gift Guide & Commerce Editor Strategy
  • Live Shopping Strategy
  • Affiliate & Commerce Marketing Intelligence
  • Funding, Partnership & Opportunity Alerts
  • Investor Positioning & Pitch Intelligence
  • Wholesale & Retail Distribution Intelligence
  • Social Commerce Strategy
  • PR Pitch Templates & Strategy Guides
  • Quarterly State of Black Beauty Report
  • Beauty Industry Trend Reports
  • Rotational Mentorship with Industry Experts
  • Early Access to BBF Editorial Features
  • New Workshops Added Every Quarter
Apply for Membership →
Samantha Dorisca
Samantha Dorisca As Told to Black Beauty Founders
Member Results

What founders are saying.

I got my first editorial feature within 60 days of joining. The Monthly Press Opportunities Report gave me the journalist’s name, what she was working on, and exactly how to pitch. I sent one email. She said yes.

Kira M.
Skincare Founder

The Access Room with the Ulta buyer changed everything. I walked in not knowing what I didn’t know. I walked out with a real understanding of what they need — and a clear path forward.

Danielle T.
Hair Care Founder

I’ve paid for masterminds, courses, and coaches. Nothing gave me what BBF Private Access gave me in month one. The intelligence alone is worth it. Everything else is a bonus.

Simone A.
Body Care Founder
Shontay Lundy, Founder, Black Girl Sunscreen
Shontay LundyAs Told to Black Beauty Founders
What Happens Next

Three steps.
Twenty-four hours.

Here is exactly what happens the moment you apply.

01
You Apply
Complete the application. You receive an immediate confirmation.
02
We Review
Every application is read personally. You will hear back within 24 hours.
03
You're In
Access activates within 24 hours of approval. Your seat is confirmed and your membership begins immediately.
Your Questions, Answered

Everything you need
to know.

I’m just starting out. Is this right for me?
Yes — and joining early is the smartest move you can make. The intelligence, press opportunities, and access inside BBF Private Access will save you years of learning the hard way. You don’t need to be at a certain revenue level. You need to be serious about building.
I’m an established founder. Is there still value here?
Absolutely. Established founders tell us the Access Rooms, Executive Roundtables, and the national TV and Forbes playbooks are where they find the most value. When you’re scaling, the gaps in your network become more expensive. BBF Private Access closes them.
What makes this different from a course or mastermind?
Courses teach. Masterminds discuss. BBF Private Access delivers. Every month you receive real-time industry intelligence, direct access to decision-makers in structured rooms, and the kind of information and connection that most founders spend years trying to build on their own. The value is not in the content — it’s in the access.
Why is an application required?
Because who is in the room matters as much as what is in the room. We limit membership to 100 founders because access loses value when everyone has it. The application ensures every member is serious, intentional, and ready to contribute as much as they receive. Selective admission is not gatekeeping — it’s curation.
How long does the application process take?
Applications are reviewed within 5 business days. Once approved, you receive a personal congratulations email with your next steps and a 24-hour activation window.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. BBF Private Access is month-to-month. You can cancel at any time. If you do, your seat will be offered to the next founder on the waitlist. Once it is filled, re-entry is not guaranteed.

BBF Private Access

You have read everything.
You know what this is.

One seat. One decision. The access, intelligence, and strategy that has moved Black beauty founders forward — now available to you every single month.

Monthly Membership

$147

per month  ·  cancel anytime

Everything included:

  • 12 monthly membership experiences
  • BBF Workshop Library + downloadable strategy guides
  • Monthly Press Opportunities Report
  • Beauty Intelligence Briefings
  • Sessions with industry decision-makers
  • New workshops added every quarter
Apply for Membership →

100 seats. Our last round filled within two hours of announcing.
If you cancel, your seat goes to the next founder on the waitlist.

This is not a subscription. This is a seat. We limit membership to 100 because when the room gets crowded, access disappears. That is the opposite of what we are building.

About the Founder

Danika Berry

Danika Berry is a publicist, brand strategist, and beauty industry insider with more than 20 years of experience. Her work has secured placements in Forbes, Essence, Glamour, Elle, Ebony, Bloomberg, and Allure, while helping founders appear on national platforms including The Today Show, Good Morning America, The View, and The Sherri Show.

She is the founder of Black Beauty Founders and National Black Beauty Founders Day, and is frequently called upon by media outlets to provide insight on beauty industry trends, acquisitions, and brand growth.

She created BBF Private Access to help founders gain the intelligence, relationships, visibility, and opportunities that often take years to build alone.

Beauty Independent calls her when billion-dollar beauty deals happen.

She built BBF Private Access because she kept watching talented founders get overlooked — not because their products were not good enough, but because they did not have access to the right people, the right intelligence, or the right strategy. This membership is what she wishes had existed when she was building.

Featured In

EBONY  ·  GLAMOUR  ·  ELLE  ·  ESSENCE
BLOOMBERG  ·  ALLURE  ·  FORBES

As Seen On

The Today Show

Watch the segment

Watch Now →
html> BBF Private Access — Black Beauty Founders

The Platform

There is an entire world inside BBF.

Editorial features. Industry news. Founder spotlights. Cover stories. Intelligence reports. BBF is the media platform the beauty industry reads — and the ecosystem Black beauty founders trust. See what we have built.

Explore Black Beauty Founders →

blackbeautyfounders.org