Jassi Rideaux of Rideaux Hair: Changing the Hair Industry in the US
Recently, I had the privilege of interviewing: Jassi Rideaux
By 2019, after the continuous disappointment with the subpar market quality of hair extension companies, Jassi’s motivation, vision, and acute business acumen encouraged her to go directly to the source to find superior natural hair products. After 15,000 miles, 30+ hours of flight, and travel across continents searching for the best raw virgin hair India and China had to offer, her vision, to provide premium raw hair materials to her discerning clientele who enjoy feeling sexy, sassy, and secure, began.
Critical to her hair company branding and strategic planning, Jassi continued to meet with several vendors and manufacturers that produce the best quality raw hair materials. Searching for products ranging from; hand-ventilated wigs that are meticulously placed strand-by-strand to machine-crafted, tape-in, and clip-in extensions, Jassi returned three weeks later and birthed Chateau Rideaux Inc, DOB Rideaux hair an ultra-luxury hair company. This Virginia Registered S corp company which is online-based offers the top-quality unprocessed hair extensions in her Rideaux collection via chateaurideaux.com. Jassi loves making her clients across the world feel sexy, sassy, and secure. From birth Jassi, a self-proclaimed girly-girl also known as @JassiThebeauty was destined to be the owner of Rideaux hair also known as Chateau Rideaux. The very woman she is today.
Instagram @Jassithebeauty Twitter @Jassithebeauty website: Chateaurideaux.com
Can you share with us your background and your career?
Licensed over ten plus years in cosmetology, my journey started at 15 when I was accepted into cosmetology school. Two years later, I earned my license. I also competed in pageants and performed in dance recitals nearly my entire life, which nurtured my love of beauty products—I was allowed to wear make-up and human hair extensions as an adolescent but only for ballet recitals and performances. During my collegiate years, I continued with pageants where I was successful, and significant hair companies sought after me to be their brand ambassador/spokesperson. After several years of promoting other hair companies, many women would write to me asking what happened to some of those companies, which fueled my optimism about running my own company. It had been years since I’d done hair in a salon, but the passion for wearing incredible-looking hair bundles was still something that I was deeply intrigued and inspired by.
Can you share with our readers how you started your company and the mission behind it?
Several companies use to reach out to me wanting to collaborate with me as their brand ambassador. Finally, after years of being a brand ambassador, I started to see what those companies saw in me. For the first time in over five years, I respectfully declined brand ambassador positions with hair companies. I wasn’t interested in the money, their brand, or who was reaching out, I’d realized that with my credentials I was truly the licensed expert in this subject field, and in fact, I am the expert. I decided to test hair bundles until I was blue in the face. Constantly disappointed in over-promised and under-delivered vendors, I decided to go to the country of origin for the raw hair product. In 2019 madly driven to stop wasting money on hair testing, I completed a solo quest to meet manufacturers and the industry’s top hair distributors. Today, our mission is to provide the most eye-catching quality hair extensions worldwide. The vision is for our customers to feel confident knowing that when they shop Rideaux hair extensions they will feel Sexy, Sassy, and Secure.
How is diversity in the workplace evolving, and how does it play into your company and its mission?
Rideaux Hair is one of few companies that has a transgender woman as one of our lead ambassadors. Diversity is an integral part of Rideaux’s hair and like diversity in the workplace is ever-evolving we want everyone to know that they are welcome to shop and apply for our Brand Ambassador partnerships we are happy to have a diverse customer group and also a small diverse group of employees. The Natural Hair (CROWN) Act of 2019 is a prime example of just how seriously evolving it is. The Act outlaws discrimination based on hairstyle choices predominately worn by African American people. In September 2020, U.S. representative Ilhan Omar announced the passage of the Crown Act in the House of Representatives, which would prohibit racialized hair discrimination nationally if enacted. Diversity and its evolving nature play a massive role at chateaurideaux.com. We are inclusive and have broadened our horizons by using pronoun preference with customers and our team. Our customers and employees are who keep us afloat. We ensure that we evolve by listening to the wants and needs of our customers and employees through weekly live questions and concerns segments. Our mission is to emphasize and educate others on how everyone can benefit from hair extensions.
During the Pandemic many people lost their jobs and livelihood, how did your company adapt and pivot to be what it is today?
Mentioning the Pandemic is very important as so many of us were affected. Now that I think about it, I spent so many of my days researching and partially have the Pandemic to thank for the amount of free time. For my safety, I accepted a non-paid leave from my airline job during the early height of the pandemic. I was encouraged by the newfound time that allowed me to identify what my passion was. The Pandemic was and is such a devasting time for our nation. I knew it would be important to start a company based on my passions but it was also important that the company I started would have the ability to withstand another possible pandemic. It’s a great thing I considered these factors as we are more than two years into the pandemic now and my company is growing more and more each year. I made it a goal to do better than yesterday every single day. I did the hard stuff, dropping customers’ hair off directly, chatting for hours on the phone, and explaining to customers the differences between products. Reflecting on all of this, it was all done not only to make the sale but because those things laid the groundwork for my company and are things that I don’t plan on changing… The pivot was working on my business just as hard as when I was employed by someone else. I couldn’t be afraid of a little hard work; it has all been worth it.
If you could go back and talk to your younger self, what would you tell her?
I would say to her before you start or stop anything read three books on the subject. Go as far as you can go and go fast!
Are you working on any exciting new projects now?
I’m working on so many awesome projects. One of the projects that I’m most excited about is a pilot show I’m filming that will highlight specific areas in my life. I am also excited to continue expanding the Rideaux Hair brand so be sure to keep up with us on this journey!
Where do you see yourself and your career going in this new year and the future?
I will be showcasing more of my expertise and knowledge of the hair industry. I also see myself educating others and sharing tips on hair growth for those who wear hair extensions. In the near future, I see myself becoming a global mass distributor and touring around the world educating people on things such as communication amongst manufacturers and how to scale your company from 0 in sales to unlimited increases.
There’s so much information out there on hair extensions, but only a few hair industry owners have gone on a solo quest to gain a deeper understanding of the origin of the product and the extensive amount of research it took to launch chateaurideaux.com.
How can our readers connect with you on social media?
Instagram: @RideauxHair
Twitter: RideauxHair
Facebook: ChateauRideauxhair
website: ChateauRideaux.com
