At 28, Aris Singleton took over as chief executive officer of the Chicago textured-hair care company Thank God It’s Natural, after Chris-Tia Donaldson, her aunt who started the company known as tgin, died of breast cancer.
Now, four years later, Singleton says she’s moving the company’s product line, embracing her strengths as a young CEO and honoring her aunt’s legacy.
Singleton didn’t know it, but her aunt was preparing her to take over the company.
Singleton started working for tgin in high school, helping manage its social media account and to ship company T-shirts from her bedroom in Detroit.
Tgin was started when Donaldson, an attorney with the Chicago law firm Sidley Austin, wrote the 2009 book “Thank God I’m Natural,” about her own hair and including hair care tips for textured hair. It was a New York Times bestseller, and she gained a large social media following.
“It detailed her journey through childhood and corporate America and the struggles that she faced as a young Black woman with her hair,” Singleton said. “People were saying, ‘Hey, you know this book is great, but we need more from you.’ Back in 2009, there weren’t a lot of products for us.”
In 2013, Donaldson launched tgin. Since then, the brand has grown, now sold at major retailers including Target, Walmart, Ulta and Mariano’s. It recently gained another big retail outlet: Boots, one of the United Kingdom’s largest health and beauty retailers and part of the Walgreens Boots Alliance.
The company, with 30 employees and yearly revenue of $20 million, is known for using natural ingredients without parabens and phthalates. Its products include Butter Cream Daily Moisturizer and Rose Water Smoothing Leave In Conditioner. Its prices range from $9.99 to $18.99.
Breast cancer awareness
Two years after starting the business, Donaldson was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. Before she died in 2021, at 42, Donaldson urged Singleton to join the company.
“Chris-Tia said, ‘Hey, I need you to come back and work for me. My assistant’s going out on maternity leave. I just need you for six months,’ ” Donaldson said. “I’m, like, ‘Look, I don’t really want to do the whole family dynamic thing working with you. I love you.’ Here I am, eight years later.”
Piper Farrell-Singleton, Singleton’s mother, also works for the company and helped guide her. Farrell-Singleton is tgin’s chief strategy officer.
Singleton has gone through her own struggles with her hair. She tried a relaxer when she was younger, then went natural, even shaving her hair off. Now, she mixes her hairstyles but keeps a bright blue hue.
“In the last couple of years, I have seen Black women show up unapologetically as themselves, expressing themselves through their hair,” Singleton said.
She’s also noticed more hair care brands marketing to Black consumers.
“A lot of these brands are not owned by Black people or Black women, and I don’t necessarily have an issue with that,” she said. “My issue is not having Black women at the table, on your board, within your organization.”
Becoming a CEO in her late 20s gave the company a “fresh perspective,” she said. “I am a millennial, but I can relate to Gen Z. I know what it is they want. I think I just really sit in an interesting seat where I can see both, like a 360 perspective.”
The company has a related nonprofit, tgin Foundation, that helps support women with breast cancer.
“My ultimate goal is to be able to help other young women entrepreneurs,” she said. “I want to make sure I am pouring into Black women, that we have a seat at the table, we have a voice, especially since I know firsthand how uncomfortable it can be showing up in these rooms.”
