Elizabeth Jumet, President of Keystone Laboratories
Elizabeth Jumet is the president of Keystone Laboratories, overseeing the plant operations, sales and marketing, as well as new product development. She is a graduate of Southern Methodist University, holding a bachelor’s degree in International Studies with a focus on business and European studies from the SMU Cox School of Business. She brings with her a diverse experience set including business-to-business sales – both traditional and digital marketing, distribution optimization, and supply chain management. In addition to her education and prior work experience, Jumet is the fourth generation to lead Keystone. As a result, Keystone Laboratories and the entire multicultural beauty sector have both been permanent fixtures in her life. She is committed to continuing to deliver the highest quality multicultural hair and skin care products at the most affordable price points possible.
Company History
Keystone Laboratories traces its roots back to 1924 and has grown to be one of the most transformative businesses in the multicultural beauty industry. Keystone has a long history of breaking away from the status quo. The company was founded by Jewish American immigrants, Joseph and Hilda Menke, who partnered with an African American chemist, Jackson Greene, to distribute cosmetic goods to African American communities throughout the South. At the time, none of these concepts were widely accepted. From these humble but eclectic beginnings, Keystone grew to be the largest ethnic cosmetics manufacturing firm in the South, employing over 4,000 agents at its peak. In the 1940’s the company continued to ‘break the mold’. After Joseph passed away, Hilda took control of Keystone and was instrumental in diversifying the product offerings to meet modern consumer demands. Interestingly, she was also the mastermind behind Keystone’s operations, sales and marketing. She ran Keystone until Hubert Menke, their son, was ready to take over. Hubert ran the firm until the mid-1990s, making it one of the most successful companies in the multicultural industry. Today, Keystone fully embraces its heritage and is more focused than ever on producing the same quality products that have been demanded by its consumers for decades. The company also has an eye to the future and are pioneering new and revolutionary products to meet the needs of a new generation of consumers.
Carol Hillsman Sagers, Principal Consultant of CHS Marketing Consultants
Carol Hillsman Sagers is the principal consultant at CHS Marketing Consultants, a company she founded in 1996. Her firm provides development and management services to a list of clients that include Kraft Foods, Kellogg’s, Chicago Park District, The Federated Group and Unilever. Prior to consulting, Carol worked for SoftSheen Products (now a division of L’Oréal), Kraft Foods and the Quaker Oats Company in positions ranging from brand manager to vice president of marketing. She is also the director of the Global Beauty Alliance.
For seven years, Sagers worked as the Marketing Director at McDonald’s USA. While there, she led all of the national marketing efforts for the African-American consumer market and efforts targeted to the Asian American consumer market. While at McDonald’s, she managed the production of award-winning integrated marketing communication programs and helped to deliver year-over-year business growth.
Her work in the beauty industry also includes a 10-year stint at SoftSheen during a period when the company rose to become the undisputed leader in multicultural beauty. Sagers was the vice president of marketing when L’Oréal acquired SoftSheen. Her consultancy was hired to provide marketing services for the Salon Selectives brand resulting in the restaging of this general market icon. And Sagers served as the interim president of the iconic Fashion Fair Cosmetics Company (a division of Johnson Publishing Company), while new corporate directions and leadership were established.
In addition to her consultancy, Sagers is an Assistant Professor at American Intercontinental University where she has taught business and marketing courses for more than 14 years. She has a master’s of business degree from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelor’s in advertising from the University of Illinois. She serves as a member of the University of Illinois Foundation Board of Directors and as co-chairman of the Leadership Council for the University of Illinois College of Media. She also works annually with the American Advertising Federation’s AdCamp for High School Students, a program launched to increase interest in Advertising careers.
Carol is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the Links Inc., the Carats Incorporated and is an associate of Jack & Jill of America, Inc. She is married has two adult sons.
Roslyn Chapman, Founder of Chapman Edge
Roslyn C. Chapman, president and CEO of The Chapman Edge, is a well-respected marketing and sales professional with a proven track record in packaged goods sales, marketing and business development. She is a founding board member of the Global Beauty Alliance established in 2016.
The Chapman Edge, founded in 2000, is a sales management company that specializes in selling and marketing personal care items to national retail chain accounts and wholesalers (Prison System Only). The firm has evolved into a not only a solid sales representative organization for health and beauty but, through her contacts across all classes of trade, it has expanded its sales focus to include other general merchandise categories, both core and closeout. It has also become necessary to study and become familiar with retailer logistics and manufacturer operations to assure full distribution channel customer service to all clients. She has traveled internationally to study retailer practices.
In addition to her entrepreneurial accomplishments, Chapman served as director of National Sales with Alberto Culver, where she was employed for 15 years. The tenure with Alberto Culver was a fertile training ground that generously prepared Chapman to become a successful business manager and marketer. Prior to working with Alberto Culver, Chapman worked with Johnson Products for six years. As a college intern, she worked with JCPenney in their corporate buying office. She is also a featured columnist and consults with several trade and consumer publications; Sophisticates Black Hair, MMR and Chain Drug Review.
Chapman, born in Richmond, Virginia, still enjoys visiting her family home in Shacklefords, Virginia where she has strong family ties. She is an alumnus of Hampton University. She is currently based in Chicago, Illinois and is a volunteer with the Museum of Science and Industry and active with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She is also a past member of the James Jordan Boys and Girl Club board.
Cornel McBride, Sr., Founder of McBride Research Laboratories
Cornell McBride, Sr., a pioneer in the black haircare industry, was born on August 14, 1943, in Savannah, Georgia. He is the founder, president and CEO of McBride Research Laboratories, Inc. (MRL), which manufactures and distributes hair care products to international markets. McBride was raised in a poor community surrounding a sugar refinery in Savannah where his father worked. After graduating from high school in 1961, he migrated north and worked briefly for a pharmaceutical company. McBride married his high school sweetheart and joined the U.S. Air Force in 1962 and served until 1967. That same year McBride, his wife Harriet and their baby daughter moved back to Georgia. He attended Fort Valley University for three years then transferred to Mercer University in Macon where he earned a bachelor’s degree from the School of Pharmacy in 1973.
While at Mercer, he and his fellow classmate Therman McKenzie established M&M Products Company, developing a formula that eventually became Sta-Sof-Fro, the first product to actually soften natural black hair. By the mid-1980s, M&M Products had four national brands: Sta-Sof-Fro, Sof-N-Free, Moxie and Curly Perm. The company’s annual revenues exceeded $40 million, making it one of the top Black haircare companies in the world. In 1989, after a series of business troubles, McBride and his partner sold M&M Products to Johnson Products.
McBride bounced back from financial decline in 1990 when he established McBride Research Laboratories, headquartered in Decatur, Georgia. McBride has used his talents as a registered pharmacist to develop lines of innovative products called Wave by Design and Design Essentials. His distribution network includes the utilization of product distributors as independent entrepreneurs to take the products directly to beauty salons in the United States, the Caribbean and the United Kingdom.
McBride also masterminded the 24-hour beauty salon for athletes during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He was a founder of the American Health and Beauty Aids Institute (AHBAI) in 1982 and served as chairman of the organization from 1984 to 1986. He is a member of the Atlanta Business League, International Business Club, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, and the Society of Cosmetic Chemists. McBride recently authored A Cut Above: How Cornell McBride Made Millions in the Hair Care Biz. The book offers readers a road map for building wealth and stresses the importance of determination, family values, perseverance, goal setting and “giving back” as key components of one’s life.
McBride and his family live in Decatur, Georgia.
Each month, Urban Call Briefs covers subjects that provide readers of OTC Beauty Magazine with information on multicultural consumers, Hispanics and African Americans, who are the fastest growing consumer segments in the U.S. The mission of this column is to build a bridge of communications and information between manufacturers and retailers and the ethnic consumers they wish to serve better. The column offers resources covering marketing, retail merchandising, consumer research, purchase behavior, fashion and beauty trends, industry events and people, trade association news, new product launches and a potpourri of information designed to help the readers make intelligent decisions about the customers they serve. Urban Call is a registered trademark of Segmented Marketing Services, Inc. (SMSi). For more information, call 336-759-7477 or visit www.segmentedmarketing.com.
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