Tina Turner the “Queen of Rock and Roll” has directly influenced the many of the top female superstars of today. According to this article by Buzzfield, arists ranging from Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson Janelle Monae and many others, credit Tina has being their “shero” for inspiring their performance styles.
Tina is my “shero” as well and she indirectly led to my decision to become an entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur is similar to being in the entertainment industry in terms of a short last span. Lots of singers are one hit wonders and 51% of all small businesses cease operation within 5 years.
Tina had a musical career that outlasted the majority of the performers of her era. Lessons I learned from her that I described below enabled my business to have longevity. (twenty years and still going strong)
I am the only Black woman who owns a mannequin company in the U.S. (and perhaps the world). Being in this industry was a pretty unlikely career choice for someone like me, especially since I didn’t have any prior experience in fashion or retailing.
In 2001 when I created Mannequin Madness I was in my 40’s – an age that is considered ancient in the technology industry in which I was working it at the time. Plus, I didn’t start the business in one of the fashion centers in the country, but in my backyard in Oakland, Ca.
It had never been my goal to be an entrepreneur. It happened quite by accident as a result of my desire to see Tina Turner in concert.
A little background: I have a “six-degrees-of-separation” connection with Tina Turner for several reasons. First, I was born in Brownsville, Tennessee which is just 11 miles from her birthplace of Nutbush). She is 18 years older so our paths never crossed in Tennessee, but my uncle went to high school with her.
When my family moved to Los Angeles, we lived in the same View Park neighborhood as Tina. My mom’s best friend whose husband was a dentist lived just two houses down the street from Tina’s house below.
Tina’s sons and I attended Windsor Hills elementary school together, but were in different grades. As an adult, I converted to the same sect of Buddhism as Tina.
In the fall of 2000, Tina’s tour was coming to Oakland and a group of my fellow Buddhists were planning on attending. Since I had waited until the last minute and the show was now sold out, I searched for tickets on Craigslist.
While searching I saw a posting for a mannequin for sale. I had always wanted a mannequin for a mosaic project for my garden. Upon arriving at the storage unit where I met the Craigslist seller, I was surprised that he had not one, but 50, mannequins for sale.
Seeing all those naked mannequin bodies, in various states of dismemberment, was disconcerting. Up until then, my only experience with mannequins had been seeing them in store window displays. (Trivia side note: My favorite character on the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” was Rhoda, who portrayed a window dresser.)
The Craigslist seller was a real life window dresser and his access to mannequins led to him starting a part time mannequin rental business. However, he was moving cross country and selling off his inventory. As we chatted, he said sadly: “Too bad there will now no longer be a place to rent mannequins in the Bay Area”.
I started asking him questions about who rents mannequins and why. The more he shared, the more intrigued I became. Although I had never worked in retail, never touched a mannequin, never even run a business, something in my spirit inspired me to buy his entire inventory.
I thought a mannequin rental business would be a fun side hustle since my job at that time — at a dot-com — was showing signs of instability. I had just finished reading the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” which convinced me of the need to have multiple revenue streams.
My other favorite book, “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron had me seeing the value of having more creative expression in my daily life. A mannequin rental business was my chance to create a new revenue stream AND be creative at the same time.
It’s is a good thing that the Craigslist seller was leaving town two weeks after we met. ‘Cause with a little more time to think about the situation, I would have talked myself out of buying the mannequins.
Unfortunately, because the seller didn’t expect that anyone would want take over his mannequin rental business, he had thrown away his client lists. He thought retail stores or private collectors would be buying his inventory.
Except for my then-husband, everyone thought I was a little crazy for buying the mannequins – for a side hustle. My parents, who had paid out of their own pocket every cent of my expensive education at the University of Southern California, were especially alarmed. Hence, I named my business Mannequin Madness.
Tina Lesson #1:Although she began her career as an R&B singer (and was pigeon-holed there because of her race), she longed to change genres and be a Rock and Roll singer. People thought this was a crazy idea. It’s never too late to reinvent yourself and don’t let the nay-sayers stop you.
When I bought the mannequins, it was the early days of the internet and social media did exist. I missed the deadline to advertise in the yellow pages (remember those?).
The term “girl boss” wasn’t a thing and it took me a long time to even consider myself as an entrepreneur. To me, that was an adjective given to young male graduates of Stanford who had a tech business with venture capital. So needless to say, I had to blaze my own trail. (Kinda like Tina did.)
I won’t bore you with the details of what happened next, but let’s just say I am tenacious AF. Then I discovered that retail chains would throw their unwanted mannequins in the trash when they closed or remodeled their stores, even if they were still in good condition, it lit a fire under me.
See, mannequins are made out of materials that do not biodegrade (metal, fiberglass, styrofoam, plastic) so they don’t belong in landfills. I made it my mission to provide retailers with an eco-friendly alternative. I offered to recycle their mannequins for free which saved them money on waste disposal fees. Soon I had enough used mannequins in my inventory to sell in addition to rent.
Initially I was only selling only to local customers. But then 9/11 happened and that also ended my day job at the dot-com. This was a very fearful period in our country’s history, but, ironically, it caused me to want to live more fearlessly.
I thought if this was going to be the end of our days, I wanted to spend it doing what I loved. Although it was still fledgling financially, I loved my mannequin business. So rather than look for a full time job, I decided to bet on myself and work full time with the mannequins.
Tina Lesson #2: What if Tina had never mustered the courage to leave Ike? Don’t let fear of the unknown keep you trapped. Trust yourself, ask for help like she did at a crucial moment and be willing to receive support.
In order for the mannequin business to be my main source of income, I had to reach a larger audience. So I started selling on Ebay and quickly became a power seller. Then I became an early adopter of an e-commerce website.
Just two years after operating the business full time, I received a special achievement award from the Environmental Protection Agency for recycling over 100,000 pounds of mannequins in one year.
This acknowledgment gave my business validation and recognition. (My version of Tina getting a Grammy.) Now more national retailer chains started calling us to recycle their mannequins. And they wanted us to recycle their mannequins at their stores outside of the Bay Area.
To make this happen I decided to form a strategic partnership with used mannequin vendors in other cities. Technically they were my competitors, but collectively we could work together providing mannequin recycling on a national level which benefitted us all financially.
Tina Lesson #3: Sometimes collaborating with your competitors can be a good thing. Tina sang duets with various artists and the increased exposure was invaluable.
Now that we recycle mannequins of a national level, we recycle about 1 million pounds of mannequins a year. I am known as the “queen of mannequins.”
Mannequin Madness has expanded over the years and now sells new mannequins in addition to used ones. But our heart and soul is with recycled mannequins and suggesting various ways they can be repurposed into functional and decorative art projects.
Our Pinterest board has over 56K followers where one can see inspiring examples of Dress Form Christmas Trees, Mannequins as Lamps, Mannequins in the Garden and other projects. We just started a group on Crafty Fun with Mannequins Group on Facebook where people post DIY projects they have done with mannequins.
Recently we started hosting our version of “paint and sip.” Instead of art for the wall, people make art for their head at our Headdress Workshop. They use our mannequin heads as a canvas to design a flower crown headdress using sustainable materials.
Tina Lesson #4: Don’t be a one trick pony. Tina earns her bread and butter as a recording artist, but she is also an author and an actress. And her primary residence is now in Switzerland, which is another way she expanded her horizons.
In conclusion, I’ll offer one final remark about Tina Turner. When she was 44 (the same age I was when I started my business), she released her breakout song “What’s Love Got to Do With it.” But to get to there, she had to overcome her own self-doubt . She had to breakthrough the limitations the music industry places on woman of a certain age and on Black women in particular. Tina had the persistence, strength, and ability to reimagine what she COULD be. She makes me believe that, with a strong spiritual practice and taking viable action, it is possible to make the impossible, possible. I love her for that.
My hope it that one day the “Queen of Mannequins,” will meet the “Queen of Rock and Roll” in person. Until then, gushing over my Tina Turner Barbie doll will have to suffice. (An employee, who knows all too well how much I admire Tina, bought the doll for me on Ebay when I could not find it anywhere else.) Hey, Tina, if you are reading this, Tina the musical is coming to the Bay Area this summer. I already have tickets. The Bay Area is where you performed at the Fairmont Hotel which was a pivotable turning point in your career. How about coming back here for old times sake and we can go see your play together?
