Individuals who are deemed problem solvers, inventors, and industry leaders often cultivate traits of perseverance, commitment, creativity, and agility. These traits are what drive them to zeniths of success and help them become a beacon of inspiration for others to follow.

In an endeavor to narrate the inspiring stories of such prominent problem solvers who’ve made their mark in the world of business, we at Success Pitchers bring to you this edition titled, ‘The 10 Most Influential Women Leading the Business.’

Featuring on the cover of this edition is the story of one such outstanding problem solver and an entrepreneur Sabrina Maren, the Founder and CEO of NuMe, a company that designs and manufactures hair styling tools and hair care products, using the highest quality ingredients and materials that are cruelty-free and eco-friendly.

Sabrina’s journey in the hair and beauty space sprouted from a personal experience. Originally hailing from Germany, after moving to the US, Sabrina lived humid places like Texas and Florida – unprepared for the humidity and how it impacted her hair. Her natural hair is unruly and managing it became increasingly difficult when she was living in such a climate.

This conceived the need for quality hair care and precision tools that didn’t break the bank. Sabrina’s first experience in the hair industry was in 2004 when she had a business that distributed a European hair tool brand.

It was difficult for her to find tools and hair care that were nourishing instead of damaging. She spent countless hours and dollars trying the best products and tools available in the market. “I wanted it done right and decided to do it myself, which led to the creation of NuMe in 2009,” expressed Sabrina.

When asked about what inspired her to set sail on entrepreneurship, Sabrina said, “I didn’t set out to become an entrepreneur, to be honest. I’m a naturally curious person and enjoy fleshing out solutions. After years of trying everything out there for my hair without any luck, I realized what was missing – a woman’s touch!”

She further adds that all major hair companies were run by men at the time. It became clear to her that the formulas and tools out there were not meeting the needs of their biggest consumers – women!

Sabrina then dove into a lot of independent research with industry veterans, stylists, and product developers. She figured out the type of technology that would help her and many others achieve healthy beautiful hair with ease. “That journey was the recipe for creating NuMe,” Sabrina exclaimed.

Redefining Leadership

When it comes to her roles and responsibilities as the founder and CEO, Sabrina is very hands-on with the company. She manages NuMe’s overall operations, and leads product development, and manufacturing.

Sabrina considers product development to be the key to NuMe’s success and is personally involved in every step of the process. All NuMe products have been directly developed and tested by Sabrina.

If a certain product doesn’t tame her unruly hair, it’s not a product she can vouch for, and NuMe will not sell it. Most importantly, Sabrina ensures that each hair type and texture is represented in product testing.

When working on new products the NuMe team does long-term testing on different hair types and textures, as well as lifestyles to make sure they are effective. It creates products that solve the most common hair problems. Not only does the team have the latest and greatest tools, but it also has the best versions of the ones the customers already love.

Sabrina is also diligently involved in the hiring process. “When someone is joining the company, they become a member of our team. No matter the role, I take the time to get to know every person. I like learning about their values, perspectives, and how they see themselves growing with the team. Connecting with my team on a personal level is what I think has led to the strong foundation we’ve built over the years,” she added.

When asked about how she would describe her personality, both within and outside the professional setting, Sabrina said, “I guess you could say that I’m an explorer. I like to question the status quo. Even when something is working, I’ll find myself asking, ‘How can we make this even better?’ This natural curiosity is what inspired me to create NuMe, and fuels me to continue innovating.”

Along with the trait of curiosity, Sabrina is very health conscious as well. She staunchly believes that what she feeds her mind, body, and soul directly impacts my daily life. She is mindful of her surroundings and what goes into her body. “We really do create ourselves from the inside out,” she adds.

The products created at NuMe are an extension of Sabrina’s self-care values. All its products are created with hair health in mind. It’s significantly important to Sabrina that NuMe uses top-quality materials and ingredients in its products. “After all, the foundation of any good hairstyle is healthy hair. I love being able to share these products with our customers and help others in their healthy hair journey,” Sabrina expressed.

Setting New Benchmarks

Sabrina founded NuMe with the motto, ‘teamwork is paramount to success.’ The entire NuMe team is equally enthusiastic and has grown stronger together since its inception. The company culture is very team-oriented, and the team always strives to achieve a fun and healthy work environment.

The team’s goal has always been to design products that deliver excellent results without compromising the health of the customers’ hair. Every product is created with hair health in mind and being able to bring the vibrance of salon-worthy styles into people’s lives has become an invaluable achievement for the team.

All NuMe products are made for easy styling. The company focuses on impeccable quality, from hot tools to hair care and accessories, because quality produces effortless results.

“Our customers notice how much longer their styles last and how quickly they can be out the door. NuMe is helping people achieve their hair goals so they can have time to enjoy other important things,” said Sabrina.

Leveraging Technology to Deliver Excellence

Talking about how she has adopted the latest technologies into the product development process, Sabrina uses the example of how the iPhone 3 revolutionized the mobile phone marketplace and demonstrates the innovation she has brought about through her products.

She emphasizes how NuMe has integrated tourmaline gemstone technology into its products. Tourmaline naturally conducts infrared heat and moisture-locking, conditioning negative ions into the hair.

NuMe’s engineering department has also formulated a revolutionary vegan hair care line that utilizes the same tourmaline technology the company uses in its hot tools, complete with 11 transformative amino acids and hydrolyzed quinoa.

This exceptional vegan Tourmaline Smoothing Line merges dermatological grade nanotechnology with nourishing, holistic ingredients. With these developments in hair care, the products can be used universally, working on every hair type, texture, or concern. All of NuMe’s products are multi-functional, eliminating the need for single-purpose products.

The NuMe team is always building together and elevating to the next level. As for new technology, the company’s new Automatic Curling Wand recently received an award for Best New Beauty Product 2022. The dual-directional rotation lets users create perfect curls at the click of a button. NuMe’s award-winning Megastar Flat Iron is one of the most technologically advanced irons on the market. In addition to its proprietary infrared heat and negative ion conditioning technologies, it has a built-in infrared light strip and an external negative ion booster. What NuMe asks customers to look forward to in the hair tech and tool world is smaller, stronger devices that create simplicity in their routine.

A Guiding Light

Sharing her advice to the emerging female leaders and entrepreneurs in the hair and beauty space, Sabrina mentions the saying “do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life”. She encourages concentrating on one’s passions because these are what drive one to continue working hard.

Being an entrepreneur is competitive. To compete, one must be different and have something special. As Sabrina finds, entrepreneurship involves lots of passion. As a woman, choosing to start a business centered on your passions is a challenging but exciting journey; Every day, you must be there for both your team and yourself.

As Napoleon Hill said, “Some people dream of success, while others wake up and work hard at it.”

Towards New Horizons

When asked about where she sees herself and what she envisions for her organization in the years to come, Sabrina said, “Growth as always! Enhancing the customers’ experience and delivering only the best.”

NuMe is developing a lot of new products. The team is constantly coming up with ideas to make their amazing products better and to remain at the forefront of innovation in the industry. “I’m excited for everyone to experience the next chapter of NuMe,” Sabrina expressed.

“Speaking of the new chapter, we can’t wait to launch our new Salon Pro website and distribution. This is where salon professionals can access exclusive tools and hair care products to use with their clients.”

Sabrina plans to feature educational videos with tips and tricks to offer the best services and get the most benefit from NuMe’s professional products. With this new platform, salon professionals and the company’s loyal customers at home will receive insider NuMe training, firsthand.

With this new Salon Pro distribution, NuMe’s customers also receive online digital access to salon professional tools and hair care, with distribution, and zero back-end retail. “During these testing times, our salon professionals deserve a streamlined system. I can’t say too much, but exciting things are coming very soon!” concludes Sabrina.

Website: www.numehair.com