How Courtney Adeleye Turned $500 Into a $100 Million Business and Then Built an Even Bigger Legacy
How Courtney Adeleye Turned $500 Into a $100 Million Business and Then Built an Even Bigger Legacy
From sleeping in a car to building a $100 million company, Courtney Adeleye is redefining what it means to create wealth, ownership and opportunity.
By Stacey Tisdale
Financial Behavior Expert, Journalist and Co-Host of Wealth Wednesdays with Angela Yee
August is Black Business Month, and throughout the month, Wealth Wednesdays is celebrating Black entrepreneurs who have changed industries, created opportunities and expanded what’s possible for the next generation.
There wasn’t a better entrepreneur to begin with than Courtney Adeleye.
Today, Courtney is the founder and CEO of Watch & Sea Beauty, but many people first came to know her as the entrepreneur behind The Mane Choice, the hair care company she built from just $500 into a business generating more than $100 million in sales before selling it in a $61.5 million acquisition.
As impressive as those numbers are, they tell only part of her story.
A Dream Bigger Than Her Circumstances
Long before the retailers, the national recognition and the business headlines, Courtney was a young girl growing up in Detroit. Raised by a single mother alongside her two sisters, she experienced periods of homelessness and, at times, slept in her family’s car. She began working at just 15 years old, then followed her mother’s example by earning a nursing degree.
Those experiences didn’t just shape her work ethic.
They shaped her purpose.
After a damaging salon experience, Courtney began documenting her own healthy hair journey online. What started as a personal solution became something much bigger. She educated first, built trust, and created a community before she ever built a company.
People believed in Courtney before they believed in her brand.
From $500 to $100 Million
One of the questions Angela and I were most excited to ask Courtney was how she transformed a $500 investment into a company generating more than $100 million in sales in just six years.
The answer isn’t simply about beauty products.
It’s about vision.
It’s about discipline.
It’s about solving a real problem and refusing to cut corners.
Courtney has often said, “There is no such thing as an oversaturated industry. An industry cannot be oversaturated if I am not currently producing in it.”
That mindset is exactly what separates entrepreneurs who follow markets from entrepreneurs who create them.
Building an Enterprise, Not Just a Business
As a financial behaviorist, one of the themes I’m fascinated by is the difference between building a business and building an enterprise.
Many Black entrepreneurs are first-generation business owners trying to create second-generation wealth.
We inherit stories about hard work, sacrifice and survival.
We don’t always inherit the playbook for scaling, negotiating, raising capital, building enterprise value or preparing a business for an exit.
Courtney has lived every one of those lessons.
She has spoken candidly about the challenges Black founders often face when trying to access capital and how those obstacles forced her to become resourceful, disciplined and intentional as she grew her company.
Her story reminds us that entrepreneurship isn’t just about having a great idea.
It’s about learning to think differently at every stage of growth.
The Ownership Lesson Every Entrepreneur Needs
One of the most fascinating moments in our conversation centered on a lesson every entrepreneur should hear.
As Courtney prepared to sell The Mane Choice, she discovered she didn’t actually own one of the company’s most valuable assets, the product formula. When she approached the manufacturer, the response was essentially, “Too bad.”
Many entrepreneurs might have accepted defeat.
Courtney didn’t.
She stopped placing orders, putting pressure on the manufacturer until they returned to the negotiating table.
It was a bold move.
More importantly, it was a powerful reminder that ownership isn’t just about having your name on the business.
It’s about controlling the assets that create its value.
Success Was Never the Finish Line
Most entrepreneurs spend their careers hoping to build one successful company.
Courtney did something much rarer.
She built one.
She sold it.
Then she started again.
Today, Watch & Sea Beauty is expanding rapidly across major retailers nationwide. She has also expanded beyond beauty, building additional brands, including Cool Coffee Clique, proving that what she created wasn’t a one-time success.
She developed a repeatable way of thinking about business.
Building Wealth That Builds Others
Perhaps the most inspiring chapter of Courtney’s story began after the acquisition.
Instead of viewing success as a finish line, she saw it as a beginning.
She created the $30 million Generational Advantage Fund, investing her own personal capital into entrepreneurship, financial literacy, housing, scholarships and mentorship for women and communities of color.
It’s a reflection of something Courtney has said publicly for years.
She doesn’t simply want to build successful businesses.
She wants to create more entrepreneurs.
More women business owners.
More opportunities.
More generational wealth.
It’s a powerful reminder that true wealth isn’t measured only by what we accumulate.
It’s measured by the opportunities we create for others.
A Conversation You Won’t Want to Miss
We’re honored to kick off our celebration of Black Business Month with one of the most influential entrepreneurs of her generation.
Courtney Adeleye’s story is about far more than beauty products.
It’s about resilience.
It’s about ownership.
It’s about faith.
It’s about building something so valuable that it changes your life, then using that success to help change someone else’s.
We hope you’ll join us for this inspiring conversation.
▶️ Watch the full interview here.
Throughout Black Business Month, Angela and I will be celebrating entrepreneurs who remind us that building wealth isn’t just about creating successful businesses. It’s about expanding what’s possible for everyone who comes after us.
