An entrepreneur from Trinidad and Tobago is hoping to launch her all-natural hair and skin care brand Cher-Mere in the US.

Cheryl Bowles started the brand with a TT$50,000 loan, testing products on clients at her mother’s hair salon before advertising her first product – hair food – on prime time television. Some 28 years later, the brand now includes an expanded hair care range, skin and body care lines, skin institute and flagship spa in Trinidad and Tobago and has even launched onto the Canadian market.

The company is now gearing up for a launch in the US through Whole Foods and has adjusted its formulations accordingly to fit with the retailer’s specifications. Cher Mere is also looking at revising its marketing imagery to appeal to the North American consumer and is exploring contract manufacturing as a way to meet orders. “I’m not going to Africa or South America until I hit the US. I am not even going to the rest of the Caribbean. You make it in the US, you hit the world,” said Bowles.