Shaina Rainford didn’t plan on becoming a beauty mogul.
The board-certified nurse practitioner was focused on her healthcare career when tragedy struck her family (her younger sister lost all her hair to a severe scalp condition). While doctors told the family her hair might never grow back, her mother — a Black mom at that — refused to accept that verdict, and took matters into her own hands (literally and figuratively).
Drawing from holistic wisdom and sheer determination, Rainford’s mother created two products using 100% natural ingredients: a scalp stimulator to revive dormant follicles and a hair elixir to restore strength. The results were nothing short of miraculous and her sister’s hair not only grew back, but came in thicker and healthier than before.
Fast forward to 2020 and Rainford herself contracts COVID-19 and watches her own hair become brittle and shed in clumps. She turns to that same family formula her mother created years ago, sees the same transformative results, and has what she calls a lightbulb moment.
By the end of that year, Bask & Lather Co. was born. And since then, what started as a family remedy has exploded into a multi-million dollar, debt-free empire. And when I say debt-free, I mean completely debt-free, meaning no investors, no loans, no venture capital firms taking claim at her business.
And of course, though she may make it sound easy, it was no easy feat. But still, within three months of launching, the brand hit six figures in monthly revenue. Not through some massive ad campaign or celebrity endorsement, but through organic social media and word-of-mouth. Today, Bask & Lather sits at No. 1008 on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies and ranks No. 20 among retail and CPG brands. It’s the #1 Black-owned brand for hair-growth oil on Amazon and became the first Black-owned brand featured in TikTok’s Super Brand Club.
All without owing anybody anything.
So how does a nurse practitioner from the Bronx build something like this? Turns out, the same skills that made Rainford good at healthcare made her exceptional at business. “Nursing teaches you to diagnose before you prescribe,” she explains. “That same mindset applies to business. I look at root causes, data, and patterns before making a decision.”
From day one, financial discipline wasn’t optional. “I made every dollar work twice,” Rainford says. She also says she reinvested profits from the earliest sales instead of taking on loans or investors, which forced her to really understand margins, demand, what was actually driving growth versus what just looked good on paper. She focused on hero products—that Scalp Stimulator and Hair Elixir that started everything—and didn’t waste money on things that didn’t matter to the company’s bottom line. “That balance between lean operations and reinvestment allowed us to grow sustainably and stay completely debt-free,” she says.
But the real secret sauce? Authenticity. While other brands are dropping millions on influencer campaigns and paid ads, Rainford took a completely different approach. “We didn’t rely on paid campaigns at first—we told real stories and showed real results,” she says. “I shared my family’s journey and the transformation that inspired the brand. Customers felt seen, and they became our biggest advocates.”
Her advice really and truly could apply to any brand, too: Know your audience deeply. Engage with them daily. Let them see the human side of your brand. “Focus on quality products and genuine community instead of trends,” she says. “Consistency, transparency, and storytelling will take you further than a big budget ever could.”
Growing up in the Bronx taught Rainford early that access and representation aren’t guaranteed. Which is why philanthropy isn’t some add-on for Bask & Lather, but instead, baked into the foundation. The brand provides scholarships, runs annual back-to-school initiatives that equip kids with quality backpacks and supplies. “Bask & Lather was born out of love and healing within my own family, so it was never just about profit,” Rainford says. “I wanted to build a brand that gives back to women, to families, and to communities that look like mine.”
Whether it’s donations to schools, supporting new mothers, or sponsoring small business programs, she’s clear about the mission, and that’s closing gaps and creating opportunity. “Success means nothing if I can’t use it to uplift others.”
Now Bask & Lather is taking the brand to new heights (including worldwide expansion), which includes everything from retail partnerships, international compliance for markets like the UK and Canada, and deeper innovation in scalp health. Rainford’s scaling the team and infrastructure to match that growth while trying to keep the same authenticity that got them here. Her healthcare background still informs everything, from ingredient selection to building systems designed to last decades.
“My focus now is building long-term sustainability—creating systems, products, and community initiatives that ensure Bask & Lather continues to thrive for decades to come,” she says.
It’s the kind of vision that would make her mother (and that original family formula) proud. And so are we!
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