Through the entirety of De’Vonna Pittman’s life, starting at age 5 when her mother began using a chemical relaxer on her, she’d worn her hair straight.
She came to the realization after publishing her memoir, “My Pretty and its Ugly Truth,” in 2013, that she was not presenting “an authentic voice” to the world.
“I wasn’t portraying myself as how I was created,” said Pittman, who shortly thereafter started Nature’s Syrup Beauty. “I felt I was adhering to this European standard of beauty. It was a moment of deep introspection.”
So, Pittman cut what had been 14 inches of hair down to an inch in order to experience its texture and coarseness and how it naturally curled.
“It was a very spiritual moment for me,” she said. “So, I started creating products.”
Beginning of a business
Pittman started experimenting with natural hair care products after watching some YouTube videos. Her first, a hair butter made from shea butter, a nourishing product that helps protect skin from drying out.
“I loved it,” she said. “And I shared it with people and they loved it. The rest is history.”
While she started out making them herself, she now works with two Black women chemists and has grown the product line beyond 80 offerings, of which her hair growth and anti-breakage products are among the most popular.
First starting in her home, Pittman moved to a flexible, 300-square-foot warehouse space. Just recently, she relocated again to a 1,000 square foot space. She’s got four in-house employees and another eight consultants who work events – which are still an important part of her plan.
“We love doing the events,” Pittman said. “People add them to their weekend schedules so they can come pick up their products. We see a lot of regulars out there.”
Moving to full-time
While Nature’s Syrup had success, it was a part-time gig for several years. It wasn’t until a few years later Pittman decided to drop everything else and make a run at full-time entrepreneurship.
She was at a career crossroads at the time, stinging from a narrow defeat in her 2019 run at becoming a Hennepin County Commissioner. She’d had a long, fulfilling career with the county in other areas but had been seeking career advancement and not finding it.
“That career made me who I am today,” she said. “It was something that I do not regret.”
It also was comfortable. She’d been raised with the traditional idea of getting a steady job, working for 40 or 50 years and retiring. But her run for office showed her what she is capable of accomplishing on a different path. She spent a year working for a nonprofit, but quickly realized she wanted – needed – to see what would happen if she dedicated herself to Nature’s Syrup full time.
“I didn’t want to have any regrets,” Pittman said. “I said, ‘Ok, if you don’t go full-time in Nature’s Syrup, how’s it going to sit on your death bed? Would you be OK with that?’ And I decided that I would not be OK.”
Pittman’s creative efforts to get her product in front of people impressed Fu Hang, senior loan officer and business adviser at the Neighborhood Development Center (NDC).
“She’s very savvy with a marketing approach,” Hang said. “She’s very involved in the community with some of her networking promotions to get her business out there.”
But by her own admission, Pittman does not have a business background. She sought technical assistance from the NDC in writing her business plan and financial projections. She also received a small loan to address working capital issues. NDC said Pittman didn’t need much additional help.
Hang and his staff have tried and liked the products, they’ve watched her grow and they believe she’s on the right path.
“I have nothing but pure excitement and confidence that she will make it,” Hang said.
Getting the product on the shelves
Pittman was recognized in 2023 as the Emerging Business of the Year by the National Association of Women Business Owners. And this past month the U.S. Small Business Administration named Pittman Minnesota’s Women in Business Champion of the Year as part of recognizing Small Business Month.
Nature’s Syrup landed a deal with retail giant Walmart, but most of her sales come directly through her own site. Pittman also has arranged to have her products sourced to places like detention centers, local schools and other community events where they can be showcased for and help people who otherwise might lack access.
They’re also in the Elevation Beauty Salon in the Brookdale Mall and will soon announce a partnership with V3 Sports, Pittman said, through which the company will source shampoo, conditioner and body wash to the organization’s state-of-the-art aquatics and sports center in north Minneapolis.
“We here at Nature’s Syrup, we’re thinking outside the box,” she said. “My goal is to get Nature’s Syrup into the hands of as many people as possible. I’m finding there are a lot of untapped spaces.”
Some days she wishes for more large-scale partners like she has in Walmart. But she’s experienced the ups and downs associated with such places. For instance, a deal with Macy’s ended recently when the company decided to close several stores and end relationships with many small vendors.
“A lot of people are heavily focused on retail and I don’t think that’s a bad idea,” Pittman said. “But the buyers cannot keep up with the amount of people who are trying to go into these stores. So, for me, my goal is to get Nature’s Syrup into the hands of as many people as possible.”
Beyond skin care
Pittman is working hard to take Nature’s Syrup to the next level. Earlier this year, she took a 10-day trip to northern Ghana to meet the women who make her shea butter. She was moved by the opportunity to meet them and to see the process in person.
The company also supports a global initiative to educate children living in poverty and saw up close the impact.
“That trip was full circle to me,” she said, adding that the women who make the products sing and dance in appreciation before and after producing it. “I always say I didn’t choose Nature’s Syrup, Nature’s Syrup chose me. And now I know why.”
Pittman has kept busy in other ways, as well. While she still worked for Hennepin County, Pittman founded the Minnesota Black Authors Expo in 2016. In 2022, she joined the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women: Black in Business Cohort, finishing third. She recently was certified as a National Women’s Business Enterprise by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.
And she loves double-Dutch jump roping, once having been featured on Kare 11 as part of a group of working women over 50 who end their workdays with the childhood activity.
“I’m the double-Dutch queen,” she said, adding that she recently partnered with Playworks to decrease absenteeism and preserve the art of double Dutch by “invigorating the joy of playing outside.”
