patented invention is currently the buzz in natural hair community
By Utamu Belle
Ever since the debut of the ‘Twist It Up’ urban styling comb in Guyana last year, the product has been making waves in the natural hair industry. The invention which was initially created years ago, stemmed from the simple idea of utilising a tennis racket to form curls in natural hair.
The mini version of a tennis racket has over the years blossomed into a fast-selling product of choice for natural hair fanatics. One of the visionary and creative minds behind the product is 34-year-old overseas-based Guyanese Leon Labistide. Labistide, who is an established author and poet, was born in Linden and is currently marketing the product in his hometown as well as the capital city, Georgetown.
The young entrepreneur, who is the nephew of Linden Mayor Waneka Arrindell migrated to the United States (US) when he was just 7 years old.
The Sunday Times Magazine recently caught up with Labistide, who has developed his own version of the Twist It Up comb, the “GreenStateTwistItUpComb” under his family brand “Leon the Poet”. The comb is a patented invention developed by himself and partners Noel Durity who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder, Adrian Brown who is the Social Media Platform Manager.
Labistide, in an interview with this publication, reminisced on how the idea for the comb came about with the founder utilising a tennis racket to curl and style his natural hair.
“We were thinking about something to curl up your hair with, and the founder, he was using that as a tool to curl his hair. Because he wanted something to do his hair, but nothing was out there on the market. And then, he said what if he invented a smaller version [of the tennis racket]. Then, he got me on board and brought another guy on board and we came up with this”, Labistide mused.
He said the idea was pitched to them around 2015 and it was developed within a year, after which they all jumped on board with it. The combs, which are a mini version of the tennis racket, come in a variety of colours including black, red, blue, pink, yellow and green. It defines the curl pattern for persons with afro-centric, kinky or curly hair without the use of too much chemicals.
“You just curl it up and then you put in your conditioner, or mousse or any type of sheen just to hold it, but this is a easy way to give you the curls. It works on short hair, it works on a lot of afros…” Labistide explained.
While there are other hair curling products out on the market presently such as the sponge, Labistide explained that some advantages of the comb are that it is durable, reusable, easy to clean and can be used by multiple people. It has since been dubbed the number one selling twist comb in the world.
“And that’s big for us because we’ve outdid the twist sponge, by far”, Labistide boasted.
The Twist It Up styling comb was officially launched between 2017 and 2018 and Labistide explained that a lot of marketing has since been done to promote the product. He and his partners also had it featured on ‘Shark Tank’, a reality show on a television channel, ABC, which provides aspiring entrepreneurs with the chance to pitch their business models to investors with the hope of them investing in it. 
Labistide boasted that over a hundred per cent profit was recorded within 2 years, which is prior to the product being featured on the show in 2018. The show, however, created the opportunity for investors to come on board.
“When the show did air on national television, we got two deals from two individuals and they invested…the rest is history”, he noted.
The comb officially debuted in Guyana early last year. Labistide explained that once the product came on board and he got to patent his own colour, he sent approximately 50 back home to Guyana which were sold out within a month. He reported that another batch of combs which was later sent was also sold in no time.
This, Labistide said, motivated him to travel to Guyana to do his own groundwork. On his trip back to his homeland, he brought a hundred combs with him which are being distributed to major stores. According to Labistide, the comb has been selling like “crazy” in the US and is marketed on all platforms, including Instagram, Amazon, Spotify, Facebook and its website at www.twistitupcomb.com.
The comb is marketed under “Leon the Poet”, which is a family brand in which his brother Levon does the graphic design for the comb’s logo.
Challenges
The team has been working hard to promote the comb, however, he highlighted some disadvantages, one of which is ‘bootleggers’ stealing the idea.
“A lot of the barbers in New York have them and all of the 51 states, but the thing with America is people can take your product and manufacture it any way they want”, Labistide said.
This has caused the team to put out a blast informing persons to report any such products since the original has been patented and copyrighted. Labistide said it’s also harder to place the product directly in stores in the US owing to the $24 dollar price range it is sold at, which he admitted might be considered ‘over the top’ by some. However, he noted that the comb which is made of stainless steel is durable and can last for years, making it worth the price.
In Guyana, the styling comb can be found through distributors which include the natural hair store “Koko” on King and Robb Streets in Georgetown and Classic Cuts barbershop at the Wismar Market in Linden. It can also be purchased from himself and the “Twist it Up” and Twist it Up_Guyana Instagram pages. Presently, Labistide is working to have other natural hair beauty supply stores in the country come on board. The comb is manufactured and made in the US and is retailed in Guyana at $3000 once purchased from him or any one of his distributors. It is wholesaled at $2000.
Labistide explained that he has had great responses and testimonials so far from users of the styling comb. The sales response, he noted, was, however, unexpected as he had initially thought it would have been a slow process. His ultimate goal now is to put the product in stores.
More than just a comb
Labistide said the idea behind the product is “more than just a comb”, since he has utilised the platform to create employment for others and bring other young entrepreneurs on board.
“What I did was I brought people on board who didn’t have jobs…I educate them about the comb…they used the comb and then that was a source of income for them. So, whatever they sold we just went 60 to 40 per cent on the profit margin for getting the combs out there”, he related.
The young entrepreneur presently has about 4 individual distributors on his team, which includes Kevin Mcpherson, Oral Green, Renata Burnette and Matthias Arrindell. One of the distributors, he explained, is presently a business student in high school who has an entrepreneurial internship with him. Another is a university student who was unemployed while the other sells the combs as a side job.
Apart from being a styling comb for your hair, Labistide said the comb is also used to send the message that it’s ok to accept and embrace natural beauty and not be afraid of the stigma attached to it. He has used his platform as a poet to push this message. Additionally, he said young people can take their story of developing the idea and using it as a means of going after your dreams and not thinking of any idea as too small or insignificant.
“It enhances your natural curls, it changes the way you look on a daily basis but also gives young people a chance to say, ‘hey, if we can take a huge tennis racket and shrink it down to a smaller one, what can you do?’ You can do anything”, Labistide implored.
The young entrepreneur, who grew up in Brooklyn, New York, has been an author and poet for approximately 8 years. His books and writing skills as a poet has created the platform for him to pursue business ventures. He was also able to combine the two crafts to market himself as an entrepreneur.
“The entrepreneurship lifestyle is something that I’ve always wanted to tap into…What the comb allowed me to do is to market myself as a enterprise…So, the comb allowed me to look at entrepreneurship as branching off from just my books to different work. So if you have a business I can say well, ‘I can help you push your business to the next level by writing for you’- creating creative commercials because that’s what I’ve been doing with the comb and businesses that reached out to me”, he told the Sunday Times Magazine.
Labistide’s advice for young people who might be thinking about venturing into business or entrepreneurship is based on a piece he wrote for a Linden Youth Summit where he encouraged youths to become “jumpers” and invest in themselves at a young age.
“I wish I had that advice growing up, how to invest in myself at a younger age…My mentor taught me that you have to be a jumper. A jumper is someone who sees an opportunity and goes after it. Is not afraid to jump into it and forget about the ‘what ifs’…yes you might fail but failure is just part of the bigger picture, yes you may make mistakes but mistakes are lessons learned…look at the bigger picture. Young people we have to jump into our purpose, don’t look at the people who may want to say that you can’t do. Because if you listen you’re not going to get a chance to succeed in what you want to do”, he advised.
Having survived numerous challenges, he related that his overall goal presently is to help people understand business.
Being an entrepreneur
Labistide also shared an excerpt from his piece “Being an entrepreneur” which he delivered at a recent Youth Summit in Linden. He hopes that it serves as a motivation for anyone interested in business and entrepreneurship. It goes as follows:
“It’s not easy, we fight more battles with a slim chance of victory, every day is a battle, every day is a hustle, every day you have to create new content, and there is no guarantees you will make a single dollar. However, don’t let that discourage you.
Do you still want this lifestyle?
If your answer is ‘yes!’, and you’re going to jump into this entrepreneur lifestyle. You have to jump without a parachute, you have to jump without a plan B, you have to be committed 200 per cent no matter what the critics might say or do.
You have to be ready for failure and disappointment. Those two things will catapult you or it will be your demise. However, if you look at failure as the bigger picture and you look at disappointment as a lesson learned,
Then you have no problem living this lifestyle.
Yes, we do need doctors, lawyers, engineers, computer engineers, architects, and the list goes on. But, don’t think for a second that we don’t need creative thinkers, creative writers, philosophers and entrepreneurs. We all are the builders of today and tomorrow. So, don’t let anyone take your dreams and passions and make it minuscule. Design a blueprint for your life and live it with the guidance of like-minded individuals.”
