Today we’d like to introduce you to Ellie McGee.
Hi Ellie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m Ellie McGee and I am the creator and owner of DreadFull Hippie. Back in 2016, when I had just turned 17 years old, I hated the way I felt about myself because my hair was so ugly. It was short, thin, and wouldn’t grow past my shoulders. I tried EVERYTHING to get it to grow, and nothing worked.
Rewind to when I was growing up, my 2 best friends always had beautiful cornrows and box braids. When we would go swimming we would pretend to be mermaids and their box braids made for the perfect mermaid hair. It’s every little girl’s (and adult) dream to have mermaid’s hair! I truly thought I was best friends with 2 real-life mermaids. and I wanted to be just like them, so my mom would do her best to give me fun hairstyles also but she didn’t have much to work with.
The desire to be just like my mermaid-haired friends carried on with me for years. I would research box-braids and dreadlocks all the time. It’s all I would ever pin on Pinterest. However, I knew I would never be able to do either because my hair was so thin and wouldn’t grow past my shoulders. Fast forward to my junior year of high school, I was sick of how I looked and felt about myself. I had flat, thin, lifeless hair that drained any sort of confidence I could have potentially had.
I began to look for solutions to fix my hair, so I considered saving money for hair extensions. That’s when it dawned on me. If you can have hair extensions, why couldn’t I find a way to make synthetic dreadlock extensions? Thus my journey began. I took the last $47 I had in my bank account and bought some synthetic hair. For the next 2 months, I began to experiment with finding a way to make synthetic dreadlock extensions. The day finally came that I figured it out, and then the next obstacle was figuring out a way to attach them to my hair.
After experimenting with bobby pins, ponytails, and other forms I found you can simply BRAID them into your hair! I was up until 2 AM putting them in my hair so I could show up to school the next day with my confidence through the roof, and finally confident in the way I felt about myself and in the way I looked.
From that day on the powerful confident woman, I am beginning to flourish, and people noticed it, they saw the transformation. That’s when people started to ask me if I could make them some, so I thought it would be a fun way to make some extra cash. At that time, I was taking a class where I had to write a 20-page business plan proposal. I then took the idea of dreadlock extensions and wrote a business plan on the idea. That’s when the idea really came to life that it could actually be possible.
The next thing I knew, I was opening an Etsy store, and DreadFullHippie was born. A few weeks in, I had orders coming in from all over the world. That was now 5 years ago.
After high school, I moved into an apartment and was making dreadlock extensions out of my living room, a few months later, I met my husband Dallas McGee, once we got married we moved into a 420 square foot studio apartment because that was all we could afford. After we were able to save a little money we moved into a basement apartment and had a whole room dedicated to our product, and Dallas decided to go full time with me.
We were so excited, Then all of a sudden… it happened. The pandemic hit. We began to stress out thinking it was the beginning of the end for DreadFull Hippie. However, it was quite the opposite. It was the beginning of the expansion of DreadFull Hippie. We BLEW UP. In the last 8 months we have hired 47 employees, we moved DreadFull Hippie from our basement apartment into a now 1500 square foot warehouse and we are already bursting at the seams and in the process of purchasing a 6000 square foot warehouse for expansions.
Covid and Tiktok have been the biggest blessing for DreadFull Hippie. Online sales went through the roof once covid hit, and in a few months, we have grown our TikTok account @elliemcgeeee to 175K followers. DreadFull Hippie has been able to restore confidence in thousands of women across the world. There is something about having hair that looks like a lion’s mane that gives you a lioness personality. You become bold, confident, and courageous.
The best part? It has helped my hair to grow so long, strong, and thick. Thousands of women are able to claim the same thing as synthetic dreadlock extensions are considered a protective hairstyle. This is only the beginning of DreadFull Hippie.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The biggest struggle has been believing in myself when no one else did. Pushing through when everyone else doubted me.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
DreadFull Hippie specializes in synthetic dreadlock extensions, which are considered a protective hairstyle and has helped restore hair health and confidence in thousands of woman across the world.
DreadFull Hippie is known for its community and the experience that you receive once joining our brand.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
The most important lesson I have learned about owning a business since Covid started is that people want to belong to something, they want to be a part of something. If you want to scale your business, create an irresistible community that makes people feel like they will be missing out if they don’t join.
Pricing:
- Synthetic dreadlock extensions range from $600 – $900 for a full set.
Contact Info:
- Email: dreadfullhippie@gmail.com
- Website: dreadfullhippie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dreadfullhippie/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DreadFullHippie/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DallasEllieMcGee
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@elliemcgeeee?lang=en
Image Credits
Dallas McGee, Ellie McGee, and DreadFull Hippie
