Jessicurl speaks! (Part One)

As regular readers of this blog will note, I've been interviewing owners of small, curly hair product companies to celebrate and showcase the ones who know what's in the products they sell (and why) and the ones who truly demonstrate respect for their customers. So far, we've heard from the delightful Marsha at Curl Junkie and Ayanna at Donna Marie.

This series would not be complete, however, without checking in with Jessica McGuinty, owner and founder of Jessicurl. I have a special place in my heart for this line because it was the first one I tried after going CG and I absolutely loved it -- until the magnesium sulfate caused me to have to cut back and use the stylers less often. But I still use the Aloeba conditioner several times a week -- I truly love it. Jess started her company in 2002 and traces her, um, roots to the discussion boards at NaturallyCurly.com, where she began making flax seed gel in her kitchen based on what she was learning about ingredients that worked for curly hair. Other curlies wanted to try her concoction and soon afterward, Jess started her own company, where that modest but potent flax seed gel became the venerable Rockin' Ringlets! You can read more about Jess and her story here.

Jess agreed to be interviewed but after seeing my questions, she asked if she could answer them verbally in order to give them the attention she felt they required. For those of you who've never met Jess, she is an engaging, personable, fun-loving, and articulate person (with great hair) with a gift for making people feel at ease. She was in San Francisco for a few days in April, so we got together and did the interview in person. And then we celebrated the success of the interview by going out for a beer. I tell you, we bloggers live a glamorous life!

Jess is such a generous person that she put the interview on her voice recorder then uploaded it in pleasantly bite-sized portions so that you can listen to all the pieces or only those that you think will be relevant or meaningful to you.

Part One: Listen to Jess talk about how products get developed and made, why you can't please everybody, and what to do if magnesium sulfate is troublesome for you.