Courtney Adeleye is back in the haircare business, years after selling the company that first made her a major name in beauty.
Adeleye founded The Mane Choice in 2013 after experimenting with haircare formulas at home. What began with about $500, a YouTube channel, and an interest in natural hair grew into a nationally recognized brand.
The company eventually reached a $100 million valuation before it was acquired by MAV Beauty Brands in 2019. After the deal, Adeleye stepped away from the haircare industry and explored other areas of business.
Now, she has returned with Watch & Sea Beauty, a new haircare brand built around marine-derived ingredients. The company is already sold through major retailers, including Walmart, Target, and CVS.
Courtney Adeleye Built The Mane Choice From Just $500
Adeleye’s first major business did not begin with a large investment or an established beauty company behind it. Her journey started with her own natural hair experience and a desire to find products that worked for her curls.
With a background in nursing, she approached the problem with a solution-focused mindset. She began experimenting with ingredients at home and documenting her journey on YouTube in 2013.
That content helped her build an audience across social media. Soon, people wanted to buy the formulas she had been making herself. The growing demand turned her hobby into a serious business.
Within less than two years, The Mane Choice reportedly expanded from having no retail distribution to being available in more than 60,000 retail doors. Over about six years, Adeleye developed the company into a nationally recognized beauty brand.
The $100 Million Haircare Brand Was Acquired in 2019
Adeleye did not initially start looking for a buyer when she sought a business valuation. She said she wanted to understand whether she was running the company properly and whether her pricing was right.
The valuation process, however, attracted attention from people who believed she was preparing to sell. An acquisition offer eventually came in, and in 2019 Adeleye agreed to sell The Mane Choice to MAV Beauty Brands.
Her decision was also connected to long-term ownership. Adeleye had watched other entrepreneurs bring in investors until they no longer had full control over their businesses.
For her, selling was therefore about more than simply receiving an offer. She also wanted to avoid building a company that could eventually lose its value or leave her with limited options.
Why Selling The Mane Choice Became Personal for Black Women
The sale generated disappointment among some members of The Mane Choice community. Adeleye understood why the reaction was emotional because haircare has a deep cultural connection for many Black women.
She explained that Black women’s relationship with hair often begins at home, through mothers, family members, beauty shops, and weekend hair routines. Because of that history, she understood why customers could view a Black-owned haircare brand as something bigger than a normal consumer business.
Still, Adeleye said she did not take the backlash personally.
She also believes entrepreneurs should build companies that can become valuable assets, even if selling is never part of the original plan. In her view, a strong business can eventually become something that can be passed down as a legacy.
Courtney Adeleye Built More Multi-Million-Dollar Businesses
After leaving The Mane Choice, Adeleye did not stop building companies. Instead, she used the experience she gained in beauty to explore other industries.
She moved into wellness and developed several more multi-million-dollar brands. Those businesses gave her the opportunity to test whether the lessons from her first company could work beyond haircare.
However, haircare remained different for her. Adeleye said talking about hair felt natural because it was something she could discuss with her sisters and friends.
That connection eventually brought her back to the industry.
Watch & Sea Beauty Uses Marine Ingredients for Textured Hair
Watch & Sea Beauty represents a different chapter for Adeleye. Rather than simply recreating The Mane Choice, she looked for an opportunity that felt new within the haircare market.
Her research led her to aquatic and marine-derived ingredients. The brand uses ingredients such as seaweed, sea kelp, and algae in its formulations.
Adeleye said she was drawn to these ingredients because they contain minerals that are bioavailable. She believes this can help them penetrate the hair more efficiently and allow consumers to notice results more quickly.
The name Watch & Sea also reflects the confidence surrounding her return. After successfully building one major haircare company, she is now trying to prove that she can do it again with a different concept.
Watch & Sea Is Already in Walmart, Target and CVS
The comeback is happening on a much larger stage than Adeleye’s early days with The Mane Choice.
Watch & Sea is already stocked by major retailers such as Walmart, Target, and CVS. That distribution gives the new company access to consumers on a national scale while also creating much higher expectations.
Adeleye said the experience is very different from launching The Mane Choice from her home. Back then, she could learn and expand as the business grew.
Today, major retail distribution requires significant inventory, reliable shipping, and the ability to meet retailer demands from the beginning.
She explained that a brand entering major retail cannot simply wait until demand arrives before preparing inventory. Instead, it may need a large amount of product ready before customers even start buying.
Adeleye Says Entrepreneurship Gets Harder in Different Ways
Adeleye’s experience has also changed the way she views entrepreneurship. Building a successful company does not necessarily make the work easier, she said. Instead, the problems change as the business grows.
Her first company required her to learn different executive roles while she was still figuring out how to run a business. She had to understand areas ranging from operations to finance while continuing to develop products and serve customers.
Now, the challenges involve larger retail relationships, inventory requirements, and the pressure that comes with operating at scale.
Her advice to new founders is to understand what they are good at instead of relying on passion alone. She encourages entrepreneurs to practice their craft and build skills around their interests.
Courtney Adeleye Returns With the Consumer at the Center
Adeleye’s return to haircare is not simply about recreating her previous success. Watch & Sea gives her an opportunity to apply years of business experience to a new brand and a different product idea.
She has also made it clear that the consumer remains central to how she approaches business. Rather than building a company entirely around her personal identity, she wants the brand to serve the people buying its products.
Watch & Sea’s presence in major retail stores places Adeleye back in the same beauty spaces where The Mane Choice once stood.
According to BAUCE, this makes her the first Black woman to have two separate haircare brands stocked at that scale. Her second chapter in haircare is now underway, with Watch & Sea carrying the lessons, experience, and ambition she gained from her first major company.
