Alexa Christina Rice Is Carrying The Torch Of Her Late Grandmother, Eunice Johnson, Whose Beauty Brand Was Auctioned Off In 2019 – AfroTech
Entrepreneurship is generational for founder Alexa Christina Rice.
Her grandmother, Eunice Walker Johnson, was married to John H. Johnson, who took a $500 loan, with his mother’s furniture as collateral, to launch Johnson Publishing Co. (JPC) in Chicago, per the company. The venture’s portfolio included Ebony and Jet magazines, which drew in millions of readers at its peak, WBEZ Chicago reports. John was also one of the first Black self-made millionaires in the U.S., the outlet notes.
Fashion Fair Cosmetics
Eunice was forging her own lane as well. She is the mastermind behind the Ebony Fashion Fair, a traveling fashion show launched in 1958 to showcase rising Black designers and couture pieces from the U.S. and Europe. Ebony Fashion Fair also raised more than $55 million for Black organizations, per WBEZ Chicago.
In 1973, Eunice launched Fashion Fair Cosmetics, which catered to darker skin tones and was sold worldwide at stores including Neiman Marcus and Printemps, according to the company website. At its height, the brand was sold in more than 1,500 department stores nationwide, WBEZ Chicago reports.
“The brand broke racial barriers in business and boldly established a new affirmation of Black beauty,” a statement on the company website read.
However, following JPC’s 2019 bankruptcy filing, Fashion Fair Cosmetics was sold to an investor group for $1.85 million. The group was led by Cheryl Mayberry McKissack, former JPC COO and president of digital, and Desiree Rogers, another former JPC executive and family friend. The sale came after Clear View Ventures had purchased Ebony and Jet in 2016 from John’s daughter, Linda Johnson Rice — who is Alexa’s mother.
Rice shares that she and her mother thought there was an understanding with Rogers — who now serves as CEO of Fashion Fair and Black Opal Beauty — that she would not bid for Fashion Fair Cosmetics during the bankruptcy proceedings, per WBEZ Chicago.
“JPC no longer owned the company when we bid [on] it,” Rogers commented in an email to the outlet. “We were surprised and delighted that our bid was selected and that it would remain in the hands of African Americans.”
Still, Rice says the incident was the “biggest devastation” to her, and she felt betrayed and heartbroken. However, she also leaned into the lessons she learned growing up with her grandmother about color, skin, and beauty.
“You can own the business, but you can’t own my grandmother,” Rice explained, per the outlet.
She is now looking to carry her grandmother’s legacy forward through the launch of her own beauty company. She told WBEZ Chicago that the new venture fulfills a desire to “feel closer to my family, and my grandmother specifically.”
Beech Beauty
While in the final year of her master’s program at Harvard Divinity School, Rice says she felt audacious enough to build a beauty company in Chicago called Beech Beauty.
“Chicago is where my family is, and it’s where I want to be,” she explained, according to WBEZ Chicago. “My grandparents built their business here, so why can’t I?”
Beech Beauty will launch with lip products in seven shades, she confirmed in an Instagram video. A portion of the company’s proceeds will be used to plant trees in underserved communities.
“I’ve always loved companies that have some sort of social good mission, just as my grandparents did with Ebony Magazine, Jet Magazine, and the Ebony Fashion Fair. And for me, I really care about the urban environment,” she explained in a TikTok video.
@alexachristinarice Went to Harvard Divinity School, and all I got was the audacity to start a beauty company. ✨ Hi. My name is Alexa Christina Rice, and welcome to my new series, Building Beech Beauty, in which I tell you how I build Beech Beauty as I work on building Beech Beauty. I’ve always loved companies that have some sort of social good mission, just as my grandparents did with Ebony magazine, Jet magazine, and the Ebony Fashion Fair. And for me, I really care about the urban environment. 🌎 So Beech Beauty’s mission is to give away a portion of proceeds to organizations that plant trees in low income urban areas. Came up with the idea for Beech Beauty during the last year of my master’s program at Harvard Divinity School. You might be asking, why start a business during this turbulent time? And I don’t have an answer besides, delusion, audacity, back to delusion. 💫 Some days I wake up and think, what am I doing? Other days I remember the legacy my grandparents built and feel like maybe, just maybe, I can carry that forward in my own way. Growing up around publishing icons taught me the power of creating something meaningful, something that speaks to people where they are. 💕 My grandparents saw gaps in representation and filled them. I see a gap in how beauty connects to our environment, especially in urban spaces where green is scarce but needed most. Divinity school taught me to ask the big questions – about purpose, about impact, about what we leave behind. 🤔 Beech Beauty is my answer to those questions. A little audacious? Absolutely. But then again, nothing worth doing ever started from a place of perfect certainty. Please sign up at BeechBeauty.com so you’ll be aware when we launch. 🌳 #buildingbrands #buildingabrand #entrepreneurthing #blackownedbusinessess #fashionfair #ebonymagazine #supportblackowned
For those interested in being among the first to purchase from Beech Beauty, you can sign up for its newsletter to stay informed about the official product launch, giveaways, and other updates.
