Thinking Back

Before I began to offer this hair extension product I had a small labor business in the new construction field. With a plummeting economy,  my work was becoming less and less needed.  It was really becoming a struggle to stay on top of the bills and eventually, the situation worsened.

I’m always asked, how did you start this, how did you come up with it? And I can only tell you that once I couldn’t even afford a piece of meat or half gallon of milk, this for sure meant zero visits to the salon and I really missed my hair extensions. I had to find a way to get them in myself.

Do-it-yourself Hair Extensions?

From what I knew about hair extensions I really didn’t think there were many ways to do this oneself. So I began to experiment. I knew I didn’t want to use glues as I had a frightening picture in my head of bald spots I saw on celebrities from fusion hair extensions. I thought I could find a better way and began to experiment. Everyday I would test different products and methods until I happened upon my first batch of non-adhesive hair extension bond and was back to wearing my hair extensions.  My first installs were really primitive, of sorts, but I was on my way to something far better than what I had ever worn or, with what was available on the market, could ever imagine to.

Pressed So Hard

After a while, when jobs began to dissapear altogether, my financial state became beyond grim. At this point, I got really upset and yelled at God, screamed and cried, “YOU SAID YOU WILL GIVE ME THE DESIRES OF MY HEART!”

Interestingly, I woke up the next morning with a story in my head. The story was of a poor farmer who couldn’t grow crops on his land and so couldn’t feed his family. The farmer sold the land and moved his family in search of food. The men who purchased the land found it to be full of oil.

I instantly felt the moral of this story in my heart. The poor farmer and his starving family were sitting on the means that would have fed them, yet didn't access them!

The thought that followed, market the hair extensions!

Creating a Company

This began my walk into a territory I was completely unfamiliar with. I had run my own small business for a decade and half so, fortunately, I knew a little of the formalities of that. But hair extensions? Beauty and fashion? Internet marketing? Nope, totally unfamiliar ground.

Without any funds for this business, I had no choice but to use my already existing ‘TiffanyTwist.com’ website, purchased when the pen-name was created for my books, to market the extensions. This is why you might find history under Tiffany Twist DIY and Tiffany Twist Hollywood Hair (which ended up being un-trademark-able when Tiffany and Co. opposed the registration. I know, huh? Big company, little girl, no contest!  It works out for the better, though, because Tiffany Twist is a pen name and needn't be confused with a hair extension company.)

Afterward, I made everyone brainstorm for a new name. We could find nothing good, nothing right. The next day, and after going nearly batty from paying close attention to every word I was hearing for the last 24 hours, I came up with the word Mane and the word Maxx. I fiddled with Maxx Mane, Mane Maxx. MANEMAXX stuck.

Here Goes A Crazy Ride!

The first year of test marketing my product was unreal. I had written as much information as I could on the product, took photos and made videos explaining what the product does and how I apply the hair extensions myself and possibly due to a really low testing price or maybe girls’ desire for a very “different” hair extension method, or maybe both, I immediately sold product.

The feedback came in right away and, fortunately, girls were so kind to offer thorough reviews and were so patient and helpful while I continued to perfect the technique. Actually, if I they hadn’t been so positive and encouraging, I may have given up early on! (You can read all the way back to these first reviews here.) I think a great accomplishment to note happened right after applying for the pending patent, when my very first customer came back to purchase again. I always wondered about that girl!

Huge Challenges Along The Way

This new product test run was far from fun and games for me. I stuck with anyone who was having trouble and spent hours upon hours trying to solve an issue, tweak the instruction, find the root of a problem if one came up. I knew that if I could do this, so could others. We had a warmer temperature issue, stirring issues, proper hair prep issues and then a faulty product from a certain supplier which caused me to have to reformulate and recall a bunch of TemBond, back-track to every customer, and apologize profusely.

• You may want to keep in mind as you read this stuff on the Internet, the MANEMAXX 2008 info is relevant for product info and instructions. The changes made cause little to no info and instruction from 2007 to apply any longer.

One by one, long day by long day, I helped girls achieve what I was; to apply and wear their own hair extension application safely and successfully for months at a time with absolutely no damage to hair.

Now, as we end our 3rd year of do-it-yourself test-marketing, I look forward to this company's growth and expansion.  I look forward to the successes our tight technique and gentle product will bring to our users as hair extension wear becomes more and more mainstream.  I also look forward to the additional paths we will navigate this year within the professional industry. 

All in all, it’s been so hugely rewarding and fun for me. It may be fun to know the product has caught notice from some big names, including an Oscar winner and top daily talk show, but my heart is truly in the “quiet” successes, this being a customer who maybe, like myself, needs an option which allows her to wear the hair extensions, build up her self esteem and self confidence and have beautiful, long and full hair from home if she wants to!

Thanks for letting me share!

Many blessings!