Meet Nina Pinidi

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nina Pinidi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nina , thank you so much for joining us today. Let’s jump right into something we’re really interested in hearing about from you – being the only one in the room. So many of us find ourselves as the only woman in the room, the only immigrant or the only artist in the room, etc. Can you talk to us about how you have learned to be effective and successful in situations where you are the only one in the room like you?

My military career has heavily contributed in how I learned to move forward while being the only one in the room.
In many instances, I was the only woman in the office. Also, I have easily been the only black person in the room.
We are all unique, so I became effective by relying on how my differences made me the best at anything.

Being the only woman in some military settings was a force: I could position myself to make a positive impact on military women I trained in bootcamp and in technical school.

Whatever criteria made me “the only one” has always been a strength: I speak several languages, and my cultural background is African European. People always ask about my accent so I may continue the conversation towards what I need done.

The same is true in business: focus on what you can do differently in the industry or the customers you serve.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

My business, SOLIME ROYAL HAIR is a passion project.
As a Navy Veteran, I get to serve the military community in a different way by curating hair products of exceptional quality, safe and perfect for people with textured hair.

I also get to provide a space for other small business owners to sell their products. New brands are created daily, and most brand owners dream to be featured at popular retail chains. My perspective is that we can create our own retail channels and not wait on others to make room for us.

I am also proud of the fact that majority of the brands we carry are women owned and from women of color.

My mission is to make haircare products accessible to servicemembers everywhere they are.

The biggest accomplishment this year is hiring team members to expand Solime Royal Hair presence in Southern California.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. Be present and stay focused: our brains have 1000’s of thoughts every day. This is why we talk about the past, judge others, complain about circumstances, daydream and stay distracted for a number of reasons. I am still developing the skill of being present. This helps me to stay focused on tasks and goals I want to accomplish.

2. Listening: Being in retail, you can only do well if you listen to your customers. I often hear people say they have an idea to start a business, but don’t know what. A business is a solution to a problem. As mentioned above, people always complain about something. Listen to complains and build a business to solve these issues. You can start by listening to yourself by asking “what would I like to see or experience”.

3. Follow your gut: We all know about intuition, gut feelings and so on. In my journey, the biggest lesson has been to be in tune with myself and pay attention to what I feel about others and the environment. We live in a time where “influence” is no longer a quality but a job. We can be overwhelmed with advice and opinion. Always start with your own advice and opinion.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

I like self-development and business books.
A recent one I listened to multiple times is: Your Next Five Moves by Patrick-Bet-David.

As a new business owner, I found this book effective: actionable steps are shared.

For example, in my recruiting/hiring process, I implemented his suggestions to find the right team member to hire ask questions that would truly help you know the individual instead of asking blanket questions.

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Image Credits

Professional Photos by: Nandi Nefertiti Mooney

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