Who We Are
TextureMedia, Inc. is the social media platform for the textured hair influencer in the world of curls, coils and waves. Our six brands empower and connect millions of consumers, thousands of stylists and hundreds of hair care brands.
The flagship brand, NaturallyCurly.com®, is the trusted leader in original content and community for the influential woman with textured hair.
Other online brands include: CurlyNikki℠, the leading natural hair expert in the blogosphere, encouraging people everywhere to share their experiences, frustrations and triumphs of being naturally glamorous; CurlStylist℠, a professional community for stylists servicing the textured hair clientele; and CurlMart®, a boutique e-commerce site showcasing more than 60 brands and 600 community-vetted products. In addition, Curls On The Go® on iPhone and Android mobile platforms, offers the best of NaturallyCurly.com, tailored hair type content including videos, photos, articles, 25,000 product reviews & a daily Frizz Forecast in the palm of every curly girl’s hand. TextureTrends℠, is unique annual research devoted to mining the textured hair consumer’s desires and needs and transforming information into actionable market intelligence to ready brands for larger market opportunities.
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Our Team
Management Team
Crista Bailey
Chief Executive Officer
Crista has 20 years of business experience working with startups, lifestyle offerings and packaged goods brands, including CitySearch, Ticketmaster, IAC, Nestle, Lollapalooza, Vine Connections and Austin City Limits. Though her locks are straight, she connects with and is inspired by the curly community’s message of embracing one’s true self.
Jeff Winesett
VP of Technology
Jeff has more than 12 years in software engineering and application development. He has worked with many startups as well as Fortune 500 companies concentrating on solutions in social media and online community building. Jeff was introduced to the some of the underlying reasons for the current natural hair movement by Chris Rock’s 2009 documentary Good Hair, which really underscores the importance of community and sharing among the women involved. He is glad to be a part of TextureMedia, helping support and grow this needed community. His hair on top is short and straight, but the beard is clearly 3c.
Lori Kerrigan
VP of Integrated Media
Drawing upon more than 15 years in the advertising industry where she worked on Fortune 100 brands, Lori is responsible for cultivating and building new relationships while managing and maintaining existing advertiser relationships. She embraces her 2c hair type and is true testament to the 46% of curly girls that have a holy grail (hers is a combination of curl cream & a lightweight oil to best define her curls) while enjoying the active discovery and trial of new products that cross her path every day.
Alli Stinson
VP of Marketing & Commerce
Our Advisory Team
Our diverse, experienced advisory team is an active, talented network and think tank on-call for our network of sites. The team represents multiple industry pioneers, from healthcare to technology to e-commerce and business strategy.
Jimmy Treybig
Founder of Tandem Computers, venture partner with NEA
John Paul Dejoria
Founder of John Paul Mitchell Systems and Patron Tequila
Sam Decker
former CMO, BazaarVoice
Linsly Donnelly
Founder of Joann.com; veteran of Bain Consulting
Kat Jones
Founder of Milkshake Media, branding firm that created the global LIVESTRONG campaign
Co-Founders
Michelle Breyer
Co-founder & President
Michelle Breyer helped create the leading community and resource for people with curly hair with her business partner and friend, Gretchen Heber. Frustrated by the lack of information on curly hair and the limited products available in the marketplace, the duo launched the site in 1998 with the help of a 14-year-old web designer. When Procter & Gamble called three years later to advertise to the NaturallyCurly.com® audience, Breyer knew they had indeed created a force in the industry, providing helpful information and unparalleled expertise for what was then considered a niche market.
Gretchen Heber
Co-founder
Co-founder Gretchen Heber is a California native and graphics design professional. She and Michelle created NaturallyCurly’s online community when the two of them worked for the Austin American-Statesman, a leading newspaper in Texas. As a child who was often teased for her intensely curly hair, Heber worked diligently to make NaturallyCurly.com® a success. With her newspaper design expertise, Heber began conceptualizing the website, which, upon its launch, instantly developed a community and became the “go-to” site for those with curly hair that reached curlies around the globe.
A Word From Our Co-Founders
We are two regular gals, who share, in addition to friendship, curly hair. We share a history of fighting curls and kinks. We’ve longed for ponytails that swished. We tried in vain to imitate the hair fashions of the day, which were usually designed with straight hair in mind.
There was no place to turn for advice. And so, having at last accepted our curliness, we created NaturallyCurly.com® for ourselves and for others, whose curly beauty is rarely heralded in popular culture. We asked ourselves, “Why do women with curly hair feel they must chemically treat it, iron it, relax it, blow dry it and otherwise utterly beat the life out of their hair simply to be accepted by society?” Curly hair is natural—a person should be able to embrace her curls and love them just they way they are. If she wants to straighten, that’s fine, too, but no one should feel she must change a fundamental part of her appearance simply to be accepted by society. TextureMedia™‘s brands are slowly changing society’s view of curly hair; we’re making it more accepted. We’re teaching women to love their hair; we’re showing them how to care for it.