The Curly Girl Revolution - Curly Girls Studio’s Empowering Journey In Digital Transformation
Toronto-based Curly Girls Studio, founded by Adina Sherman, is a top destination for curly hair care. Thanks to the CDAP program, Adina enhanced her e-commerce site, improved SEO, and invested in digital marketing to expand her reach and elevate client experiences.
The curly hair community is one that has been continually growing in the beauty space. For professional stylistsand curly-headed folks themselves, the growth in popularity of curly-hair online content, growing acceptance of textured hair types, and increase in curly hair education has been significant. This community is exactly who Curly Girls Studio aims to serve.
Curly Girls Studio, founded by Adina Sherman, is a specialty salon in midtown Toronto dedicated to enhancing and celebrating natural curls. Owner Adina is a leading curl specialist and texture expert with over 20 years of experience who was trained by top industry experts and holds certifications from prominent names in the curly-hair industry, such as DevaCurl, Ouidad, and Curlisto. For any curly girl readers – if you know, you know. With this, Adina is one of the most highly accredited curl experts in North America and is committed to sharing her knowledge and passion with other stylists, and of course – her customers. The studio focuses on educating clients on maintaining their locks and offers services in advanced curly haircuts, Pintura highlights, hydration treatments, and curl coaching. But it doesn’t stop there – Curly Girls Studio also manufactures their own natural haircare products and accessories.
Focused on her mission for Curly Girls Studio, Adina knew she needed to take the next step for the business: improving their digital presence. With the support of the Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP), Adina was able to take massive strides toward her digital goals. The CDAP Program’s goal is to aid businesses with their adoption of digital tools and strategies through 1:1 advisory support from dedicated representatives, and access to a microgrant to aid with the costs of this adoption. For Curly Girls Studio, its digital transformation included implementing strategies to increase sales and awareness of their haircare products, in addition to their services to better serve their community and clients. Adina shared this on her overall experience with the program:
“I’m very happy with the process. The E-Commerce Advisors I dealt with were very helpful, and my Grant Administrator was helpful in moving me along through the process.”
Adina utilized the $2400 microgrant toward revamping her website to improve e-commerce sales for their products by integrating new features like cross-selling links and product education. Working toward these business goals of increasing sales, awareness, and reach, Adina also accessed funding for digital marketing costs and the implementation of SEO on the Curly Girls Studio website. With this support, Adina is confident that the implementation of these digital strategies is going to help the business continue to grow. Adina shares:
“With what we have implemented, I’m sure it’s going to increase sales, helping clients with the awareness of the ingredients that we use for our products… I was so happy to have this assistance. It will take a while to see the results of ourSEO and content building… but I know that it is going to help us grow.”
Adina is looking forward to reaping the benefits that all this support will bring for her business. She now feels empowered with the knowledge of what digital tactics to invest time in to best help her business grow. Armed with these strategies and information, Curly Girls Studio now has the means to continue to propel the curly hair revolution forward and continue to provide transformative hair experiences for their clients.
With her business’s bright future top of mind, Adina shares: “I just want to express how thankful I am for this grant…It was really appreciated getting the support, and the contacts that I dealt with within CDAP were all amazing.”
Curly Girls Studio is on an exciting journey of growth, innovation, and empowerment for the curly hair community. Want to keep up with their journey? Connect with them on Instagram @curlygirls.ca and Facebook @curlexpert, and visit their website to learn more about their products and services.
If you’re looking for e-commerce resources to support your business, check out the DMS Resource Hub.
Digital Main Street was created by the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) with direct support from the City of Toronto. DMS is also supported by a group of strategic business partners, including Google, Mastercard, Shopify, Meta, Intuit QuickBooks, Square, Lightspeed, Ebay and Canada Post.
As part of the Canada Digital Adoption Program, the Government of Canada has partnered with Digital Main Street to deliver the Grow Your Business Online grant to small businesses in Ontario. The program offers eligible business owners a micro-grant of up to $2,400 to help with the costs related to implementing an e-commerce strategy and hands-on support from a network of E-commerce Advisors.
