August 2024 Amber Grant Awarded to AQUA Waterproof Headwear

We’re excited to announce the August $10,000 Amber Amber Grant recipient. Congratulations to Khadijah Robinson, owner of AQUA Waterproof Headwear. She is the ninth qualifier for the 2024 year-end Amber Grant ($25,000).

Recently, WomensNet Advisory Board member Marcia Layton Turner sat down with Khadijah for an exclusive interview. You can listen to their conversation and view the transcript below.

Video Transcript

WomensNet: Hi, WomensNet Community. Welcome to a conversation with our grant winners for August, 2024. Today we have the pleasure of chatting with Khadijah Robinson of Aqua Waterproof Headwear. Earlier this year, WomensNet decided to increase the number of monthly 10,000 grants that we give from one to three. So that’s why you’re seeing three lovely faces on the screen here. Our Amber Grant, sort of our flagship grant is open to all women business owners in all phases of business development who are located in the US and Canada.  I’m Marcia Layton Turner. I’m one of several women’s net advisory board members, and I have the great pleasure to learn from all of our winners. So thank you all for being here, I appreciate your time. So let’s, let’s start and just kind of go down the line here and starting with Khadijah, could you tell everyone a little bit about your company and where the idea to start it came from?

Khadijah: Yes. Aqua Waterproof Headwear is a line of stylish waterproof turbines and head wraps designed to protect our hair and style. I hate getting my hair wet. I hated being ruined by water, rain, humidity, and all the things. And I needed a stylish way to protect it and I invented it.

WomensNet: Awesome. And so you are wearing one right now?

Khadijah: I am. And these lovely ladies are as well!

WomensNet: Nice! Lovely, wonderful! So let’s talk a little bit about any resources that you turned to or came across that you found particularly helpful that you think other women business owners might also benefit from. What, what did you find particularly helpful?

Khadijah: I have so many, I have a list. So one, is this organization called Buy from a Black Woman. And, and I got a lot of traction to the website from joining that community and also a lot of resources. I just completed a program with H&M through them. It’s been amazing. Also The Social Sales Girls, it’s an online platform, virtual classroom to help you just understand advertising and Google ads and websites and all that kind of stuff. There’s a monthly membership, so beneficial, oh my goodness! And I read the book by Lori Grier, Invent It, Sell It, Bank It! when I first wanted to invent AQUA Waterproof Headwear, because I didn’t understand how to get a patent and do all of the things. So I literally followed step by step everything she said in that book. It was amazing!

WomensNet: And she’s the one on Shark Tank, right?

Khadijah: Yes, like, oh my gosh, the book was amazing! And then Press for Success™ is another online platform and they help you get press, like they teach you how to do your own pitches, how to connect to the press, who the contacts are. Sabina Hitchen is the best. From those platforms is how I expanded the intent of AQUA Headwear from just being a stylish protective headwear to opening other doors for me. I discovered that women with alopecia who are going through chemotherapy have to block the sun’s ray. Even people who color their hair and want to protect it from the sun, and all kinds of things! So all of those platforms have been extremely amazing for me.

WomensNet: Wonderful. I love the variety, that’s great. So I think you also touched on marketing and PR publicity a little bit. So, so let’s shift to that. What are some marketing strategies that you used or are looking into that you found work really well or that you’re going to try because you’ve heard good things? 

Khadijah: Social media ads have been working wonders for me, especially when I got the training to understand how to actually do them and run them properly. That it is a trick. The algorithms are crazy, but you just got to keep trying.. Also for me getting press has been really, really helpful, and again, that’s through Press for Success, it has been just amazing. Every time we do a TV show or featured in some type of article, it really is helpful. The only difference is that you got to keep up that traction. So that’s where the social media ads come in. And if you don’t run those retargeting ads, the press is not going to really get you far. So it’s understanding social media for me and that’s been the major part of our marketing push and our marketing campaign.

WomensNet: So interesting. Terrific. So what’s one thing that the Women’s Net community can do to show support for your company?

Khadijah: Please visit my website, aquaheadwear.com and follow me on socials at Aqua headwear on everything. And there’s a little thing here (QR code) to make it easy for you. 

WomensNet: Awesome. And headwear spelled H-E-A-D-W-E-A-R.

Khadijah: Yes, and Aqua, A-Q-U-A.  Aqua Headwear on all platforms.

WomensNet: Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for sharing your stories and your advice with the Women’s Net community. And congratulations again on being our August winner!