Winne Awa

From LVMH, Net-a-Porter and ASOS to making hair goals happen with Antidote Street and expert-led, tech optimised platform Carra


Making the switch from chemically straightened hair to natural curls, wasn’t as easy as Winnie Awa had hoped. This experience coupled with her expertise working at companies including LVMH, Net-a-Porter and ASOS, led to Winnie founding, Antidote Street. A digital destination for all things textured hair that not only offers a highly curated selection of products but has united some of the UK’s leading afro hair salons to create The Antidote Street Manifesto. The manifesto is an agreement to collaboratively set the standard that allows us to hold ourselves accountable for creating the best possible experience for our customers.

One of the standout things about Antidote Street is how customer experience, and supporting a community are placed at the heart of the company. Bringing this to life, Antidote Street toured a mint green airstream caravan ‘Hair Lab’ around London; Brixton to Covent Garden and offered services including their most popular, ‘root analysis’ hair follicle test. By analysing what kind of hair people have, from the root - not the strand, that have been affected by styling and products - Antidote Street could really understand what kind of care is right for each person. 

This science and data-driven, analytical approach, in the words of Antidote street offers ‘the much-needed remedy to make 'hair' simple and easy’. This approach has since led to Winnie build Carra, an expert-led, tech optimised hair consulation and personalised recommendation platform. 

With Carra, you get to set your hair goals and meet your coach, who will analyse your needs and create a personalised routine for you. The hard work of deciphering ingredients, navigating often confusing marketing messages, can now be a thing the past. Also, by streamlining the process, Carra helps you buy fewer products that tend to sit around unused in a cupboard. Which, is a win, win for your bank account, and the environment.

In this podcast our founder Jodi Muter-Hamilton and Winnie discuss:

  • What its been like building Carra during the current pandemic

  • Why it’s so important to make the customer the heart of the business 

  • Why it’s so difficult to understand product ingredients and information on packaging

Listen to our podcast above and on
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Stitcher

I didn’t even know my hair was curly until my adult years. Because, from a young age it was chemically straightened. 
— Winnie Awa, Black Neon Digital Podcast Episode 37

Header portrait photo by Charisse Kenion.

18.11.2020

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