Launching a successful haircare brand is not for the weak. Turning an idea in your head into a product that is in demand on retail store shelves takes hard work, careful planning and plenty of patience. But two sisters rose to the challenge and gave new meaning to the words, “family over everything.” The Root spoke exclusively with Dr. Ellen Rucker Sellers and Ione Rucker Jamison about how they built their family brand of hair care products and the legacy they want to leave for future generations.
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The Inspiration
South Carolina natives Ellen and Ione co-founded Rucker Roots in 2015. Both working mothers of young children at the time – Ellen, a doctor of chiropractic medicine, and Ione, with a background in education – they started their brand to create a meaningful way to generate income that would afford them a better work-life balance.
“I had a sense of burnout after fighting with the insurance companies to get paid,” Ellen said. “I just wanted a career change, something different for myself. And I haven’t looked back.”
The sisters, who were both once married to NBA players, were used to juggling busy schedules. Ione was married to Washington Wizards forward Antawn Jamison until their split in 2014. Ellen’s oldest daughter’s father is her ex, former NBA star Vince Carter. Since 2015, she’s been happily married to CNN political analyst, author and former South Carolina State Representative Bakari Sellers, who made history in 2006 becoming the youngest member elected to the SC state legislature at age 22. The couple are also parents to twins Stokley and Sadie who were born in 2019.
Launching a natural hair care brand was the perfect lane for Ellen and Ione. Natural hair pride runs deep in the Rucker family, and the sisters credit their mother with teaching them to love their locks.
“She was ahead of the natural hair trend. In the 80s, when we were growing up, she didn’t let us get relaxers. She would tell us it was damaging to our hair,” Ione said. “And we tried to instill that in our girls.”
Rather than using chemical straighteners and other products that could be harmful to their hair and scalp, the sisters say their mother sourced products their father brought home from the farm to keep their hair healthy.
“Our dad was a dentist by trade, but his passion was farming,” Ione said. “He would always bring home his produce, and my mother would use a lot of the products, like carrots and turnip root, olive oil and eggs to make kitchen concoctions for our hair.”
Ione said they kept the tradition going with their own children, who ultimately encouraged their moms to make their home-grown hair products products available to the masses. Their product and its name was inspired by family.
“Rucker Roots was born in Ellen’s kitchen,” she said. “Rucker is our maiden name and Roots is because of our strong family roots and because of the root vegetable oils in our ingredients.”
As they continue to grow the Rucker Roots brand, the sisters also take time to give back to the community that raised them. This year, they celebrated 10 years of Rucker Roots and 12 years of their Rucker Education Scholarship Fund, which supports mentorship, financial support and other opportunities for first-generation students from underserved communities across the Carolinas.
On August 24, the family hosted their inaugural Rucker Founders’ Weekend, an inspiring weekend full of panel discussions, an awards ceremony, a gospel brunch and a keynote address from attorney, political analyst and Ellen’s husband, Bakari Sellers.
From The Kitchen to The Store Shelves
The Rucker sisters say they worked closely with a cosmetic chemist to formulate a product that would be safe and healthy for their customers’ hair using many of the all-natural ingredients they grew up with. With feedback from family, friends and professional stylists, they started with their Four-Step Smoothing System, a 100-percent vegan line of products, including a shampoo, conditioner, heat protectant and silkening serum formulated to maintain blowouts and silk presses.
With the help of salon distributors, Ellen and Ione spent hours at trade shows to generate buzz around the Rucker Roots line. They also got a big boost from television as stars of the 2015 WEtv reality series, “Love Thy Sister.” The series, produced by the makers of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” gave viewers an inside look at all of the love (and the occasional drama) between Ellen, Ione and their older sister, Ruby.
As their star rose, Ellen and Ione continued to roll out products, including their top-selling daily leave-in conditioner, a define and stretch curl custard and leave-in heat protectant. After securing Sally Beauty as one of their first retail partners, they continued to expand their presence, getting their products on the shelves of Target, Walmart, Belk and JCPenney stores around the country.
A Lasting Legacy
But as retailers’ decisions to rollback DEI initiatives have inspired many Black consumers to take their business elsewhere, the Rucker sisters say it is more important than ever to encourage their customers to support products and services from Black-owned businesses.
“As a brand owner, I would never tell people to shop somewhere they have a personal opposition to. We come from a family that truly believes in boycotts and making changes for the betterment for our people,” Ellen said. “It’s so important for people to shop with these brands on their websites, because the brand is getting more of the bottom line. We’ve been telling people that if you’re opposed to going into the store to buy our products, just please buy on our website. Show your support there.”
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