I contacted Sam Ennon, the leader of the Black Owned Beauty Supply Association (BOBSA) with questions I had for a story I am working on about the African American beauty industry, and he was great. I left a message on BOBSA’s voicemail on Easter with the expectation of a return call the next day. Do you know he called back that day! I told him what I needed, and he emailed it immediately with the offer to call him with questions.
I emailed him tonight to let him know that I would be calling him tomorrow. He told me to call tonight. Isn’t that great? I received what I needed. So, I’m going to have my story finished by the end of this month. I have so much information. I am so excited!
Thanks, Sam, for everything!
Marcie,
If you haven’t given Sam Ennon any money yet, please don’t do so. I will encourage you to do more research on him and BOBSA. Look at ripoffreport.com to see more. I’m glad that you’ve received information and a return phone call from him because he avoids people that he has scammed like the black plague. There is more to the story than what he will tell you.
Hello. Can you tell me more about your experience?
Marcie,
Sam will also be dismissive of the complaints. Maybe he will say these are only a few people with issues. You can’t make everybody happy. No, these are people who have known Sam since the inception of BOBSA. When you have a chance, ask Sam Ennon if you could contact 10 investors of BOBSA Onlinestores, BOBSA Marketing Group, BOBSA Wholsesale Distribution. Ask him why so many people have bought products from him and has never received the products or money back. Although the mission is great, don’t get caught up on it. At the end of the day, it is really sad when someone you put so much trust in scams you out tens of thousands of dollars. For your sake, don’t Marcie’s brand be tarnished along with Sam.
Thank you for this. I will keep this in mind.
Sam Ennon? He is a total scammer. Don’t trust him. He will tell you whatever he wants until he receives your money. Then he disappears. You will have an easier time finding Osama Bin Laden than Sam Ennon once you give him money. He should be tarred and feathered for scamming the black community, pretending to help black businesses. He gives a bad name to the black business community. He is a total SCUM.
I’m sorry to hear you had a bad experience with Mr. Ennon. Thanks for sharing.
I am a black female manufacturer of a hair care line. Diva by Cindy is a natural alcohol free hair product with extreme detangling ability.Our vision is to empower black women by assisting them to become distributors of the Diva by Cindy brand. We also work with victims of domestic abuse.I would love to spaek with you regarding black womens hair care needs.I was a Registered Nurse for 13 years and left nursing to follow my passion: Women and Beauty.My purpose and my mission is to change the world ‘One Diva at a time !’ I would love to speak with you further. My direct number is :(443)4652333
I will call you before the end of the week to learn about your hair products and passion. Thanks for stopping by.
BOBSA is a company that hates Koreans and upon numerous written requests, they refuse to respond on the specifics of discrimination that they have received from the Korean companies.
They cant give me one specific company that has discriminated them. Instead of mentioning the companies that discriminated them, they target the whole Korean community who are involved in the beauty supply business.
The only thing good about BOBSA is that they want to help grow Black owned businesses. I wish they could just stop blaming and start empowering the African American people. We don’t need more hate groups in this world!!!
Do they hate Koreans or do they hate the Korean practices of shutting African Americans out of the beauty supply industry that cater to African Americans? Watch Aron Ranen’s Black Hair Documentary on YouTube to learn more.
I have watched the kizure video and I can understand the frustrations Kizure is facing from their competitors, but don’t we live in a “free market”? Why do we all shop at Walmart, when we know that there a small business out there with the same product. The main reason is price. No one can match or compete with the prices of the same product at Walmart. As for Kizure, they need to change their distribution strategy and marketing. Any good stylist can tell you that their products are made of great quality and with excellent results.
Now focusing back on BOBSA. I almost feel that BOBSA has made these “actions” of Korean owned businesses a racial issue and not a competive business and African American pride issue. Should all African Americans not support Dr Miracle products because the owner is white? I strongly believe in supporting small minority owned businesses no matter what ethnicity. We are all Americans made up of the great American melting pot.
The great part of your postings is dialoge. I hope that you will understand me better and get to know me better as a person. I am a second generation Korean who has African American employees and is a strong supporter of African American own beauty products like Ultra Black Hair, whom I am very close friend of Cathy Howse, owner and other products like: Barry Fletcher, Ashea, Diva by Cindy and Claudio St James….
Keep up your great work and may the truth be told in us all…
Sorry for taking so long to respond. While I fully understand where you are coming from, allow me to state my thoughts on the state of race and class in America before touching upon the topic of the beauty supply industry in general.
I don’t know what type of race issues other minorities experience, and I have not experienced any blatant racism personally. But I can say as an Black woman living in America, it’s hard. It’s even harder for Black men. There are subliminal and less overt forms of racism that can truly be understood unless one is totally aware. These less obvious factors contribute to divisions in the Black community that everyone profits from except Black people. Black people do not have thriving all-Black communities like other miniorities.
I live in Chicago. In China town, there are mostly Chinese residents and businesses. Their money stay in their community. In many of the Hispanic and Latin communities, the people who serve their communities are monstly Hispanic and Latin. In many Black communities, many of the businesses who serve the residents are owned by everyone but Black people. I don’t know if that is by choice or by chance; either way, it’s disappointing.
Now, getting to the beauty supply industry. From what I can remember from Aron Ranen’s Black Hair Documentary, the beauty supply industry is mostly Korean but the consumers are mostly Black. Also, many of the Korean distributors, manufacturers and beauty supply store owners are really not allowing the few Black beauty supply distributors, manufacturers and beauty supply store owners to compete with them fairly because they are denying access to products and services. They are also copying products and selling them cheaper while only stocking their stores with only a few Black owned products.
So, I understand BOBSA’s feelings because Koreans really do have a lock on the industry, and are making it difficult for Black business owners to thrive and survive. On the other hand, I do not feel the race of people should be attacked, but the actions. I have a personal story. I spoke to a BOBSA member who owns a beauty supply store and has a wig line. She had to start a wig line because the distributors would not sell wigs to her. She said that she contacted a Korean distributor for wigs, just knowing they would be open to business since the economy was in a recession. She said that they still would not sell any to her. She felt that it was more because she was Black. She had the money to purchase the products, but they wouldn’t give them to her. So, she started her own wig line.
I understand how you feel, but I also understand the woes of being Black in America trying to do business. There are so many strikes before the game begins. Then, it doesn’t get easier once they get in. I don’t know you personally, but you sound like a good person and fair businessman. I thank you for coming to my blog and sharing your personal experiences and views. Now, we are able to see other sides because, as you can see, I am only basing my knowledge on what I saw from the documentary.
I would like to ask you if you would be willing to ask other Koreans to share their thoughts about the beauty supply industry on my blog to get more views and experiences.
Sam Ennon is a big dissapointment. He hurts the own people his cause is supposed to defend. He ripped me off thousands of dollars. I’ve been depressed for months because he took away my dream of having my own shop. He called me daily and supported me before he received my money. He promised that he could do whatever I asked for, redesign the shops, get all the products I wanted and at the end nothing. I am so hurt and dissapointed. I really wanted to support the Black community and the whole mission of the project, but now I wonder how can he dare to criticize the Koreans and then do exactly the same or worst to his own “black dots”. It is shameful and he should pay for all the pain and dissapointment he has caused. Because of people like him it’s hard to imagine us as a united community as Koreans are.
Wow. Sorry to hear about your story. Did you sue for your funds? What was the outcome of the situation.
Wow, I just want to say that I am glad that this thread started; and that those who have been taken advantage of by Sam Ennon is speaking out; I started with BOBSA and worked with Sam before they were ripping people off selling these bogus online beauty supply stores, charging 10s of thousands of dollars for them. I just want to say that I am truly sorry for those that have lost. I think it started with good intentions, but ended up being all about money and that’s when things turned bad. The black beauty supply industry is big business, there needs to be more positive efforts in place to really promote our own products. For information on a project I am starting to help black beauty supply manufacturers grown their products and get online distribution visit http://blackfolkshair.ning.com/page/black-beauty-supplier
I stopped by your site and I think it’s a good resource. Be sure to keep in touch.
Hi Everyone,
My name is Latisha and I was about to do business with BOBSA. However, before going any further, my mind told me to do some research on the organization and the founder first. You can imagine my surprise upon reading these replies. I am horrified at what I am reading. I think I will not bother doing business with BOBSA anymore. This is enough to scare anyone away from that organization. This is very sad because we need organizations like BOBSA that will help Black-owned beauty care businesses. All I can say is what a huge disappoint to find this out. Better now than later though, so I am thankful to God that I did not invest any money with the organization. Anyhow, thanks for the heads up and the warnings. Please keep the replies coming. I would be interested in hearing more about other people’s experiences with BOBSA. Thanks again and looking forward to hearing back from all of you soon.
I’m glad this information was valuable to you and helpful in your in decision making. Let me know if you run into other people with experiences with BOBSA.
Dear Marcie,
Hi again! I hope you are well. So I have decided not to have anything to do with BOBSA anymore. I am extremely disappointed because I would have loved to work with the organization. However, I cannot ignore all of the comments that I have read. As well, it turns out that since I left my previous message on your blog, I got a return call from the founder of BOBSA, and he was REALLY pressuring me to sign up right away and he would get me started with an online beauty store. Needless to say, I will not be giving him any money. Now that I have had a little more experience with the founder of BOBSA, I see what other people are talking about and would prefer not to have anything to do with him or BOBSA.
Having said that, I have a question for you. What resource would you recommend if I was interested in working with Black Hair Manufacturers? I would like to work with a Black-owned company that offers some of the best hair, wigs, etc. in the industry. Anyhow, let me know if there are any legitimate companies that I could work with. That would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance and glad that you started this blog. Looking forward to hearing back from you soon. Bye for now!
Cheers,
Latisha
Latisha, congratulations on making a decision that’s in your best interest. I don’t know of Black Hair Manufacturers personally but check out Chris Rock’s Hair Documentary if you haven’t done so already and Aron Ranen’s Black Hair Documentary on YouTube to get information. If I learn of anything, I’ll be sure to let you know. Blessings in your endeavors.
You should try contacting Shawne Morgan, owner of “It’s Yours”. She sells high quality hair and has been in business over ten years.
Dear Marcie,
Hi yet again! So sorry about this. I had another question for you but forgot to ask it in my last reply. Have you ever heard of or know a gentleman named Michael Henry from Black Hair Income Now? Let me know. Thanks and hope to hear back from you soon. Bye for now!
Cheers,
Latisha
Latisha, I have been receiving emails from a Michael Henry and I have no idea who he is or how he got my name. I’ll try to reach out later and let you know what I find out.
Dear Marcie,
Hi again! I just read your message. Girl, you are the best. You are so prompt and I love it. Thank you for getting back to me so soon. It is much appreciated. Yes, I like you just started getting message from Michael Henry as well. I am assuming maybe he got it from BOBSA. Regardless, it is a little strange. However, I am trying to do some research and learn more about him and if he is legit. It is sad but you have to be careful who you are doing business with these days. I was thinking you might know who he is. It is a little strange though and makes me a little suspicious and uncomfortable.
Anyhow, thanks for getting back to me and let me know if you learn anything new. I would really appreciate it. Take care and talk to you soon. Bye for now!
Cheers,
Latisha
Latisha, I sent him an e-mail today to request more information. I”ll let you know if he responds. If not, we may just have to blog about him and his messages. 🙂
Dear Marcie,
Hi yet again! I hope you are having a good weekend so far. So I got a bit more information about Michael. So apparently he can help you get into the Black hair care industry for a consulting fee of $2,500. Yes, you read right…$2,500!!!!!! Can you believe that? So I guess I will not be working with him either. That is way too expensive. Something is very wrong here. Does this sound right to you? I don’t think it should not be this difficult to get into our own hair care industry. This is why so many people give up and don’t bother about trying to get into the Black hair care industry. industry because it is virtually impossible to get in. I have been trying for a few years now and it is one thing after another, after another…it is such a frustrating experience. I just wish that there was a LEGITIMATE and inexpensive way of entering the industry. I don’t mind spending a bit of money but it has to be justified and worth it. I have always wanted to get involved in helping to sell Black hair pieces, wigs, etc. So at this point, I just don’t know what to do because there does not seem to be many avenues to enter this industry…which is very sad.
Anyhow, this is just an update from my end and I wanted to let you and everyone else know what I had found out. My apologies if I sound frustrating…don’t take it personally. I am just fed up. I really appreciate all that you do. Anyhwo, take care and let me know your thoughts. Ciao for now!
Cheers,
Latisha
Hi Latisha, I reached out to Michael and will be speaking with him on tomorrow. I’m going to try to record our conversation. However, this is what he shared with me in one of our e-mails: “My background, I worked for the Koreans for years and developed 4 national brands and consulted on several others. I no longer work with them and wanted to share my information in some meaningful way.” I have not conducted any further research; I’m just waiting for our conversation on tomorrow.
As far a getting into the Black Hair industry, you have GOT to view Aron Ranen’s Black Hair Documentary on YouTube if you haven’t done so. They tell how the industry was taken over by foreigners and why it’s so difficult for black people to get in. And if I may throw in my two cents: if black people pooled resources – financial and information – like the foreigners, you would not be having this problem.
I also want to encourage you to be patient. I know you are on a mission and there are people who can help you. It’s easy to get fooled especially in these challenging economic times. Continue to research like you are and pray for divine connections. Michael may be one; we don’t know yet. And you are not frustrating. As a small business owner, I totally feel you. You don’t want to waste time and money but you have a dream you’re working on. Just keep praying and I’ll let you know what happens.
Thanks for your updates.
I’m glad I found your Blog!!!
It’s imperative that individuals considering doing business with BOBSA do appropriate research. I received the e-mail below from BOBSA today, Dec 10, 2010; however, if you visit the BOBSA Online Stores Link http://www.bobsaonlinestores.com/ you will discover that none of the “active” stores are truely active. It is ashame that BOBSA is taking advantage of the community! Something must be done about this matter.
Open a Beauty Store Online. It has never been easier! Program Includes
Consultation with a Black Hair expert
One revision
Design and Color Advice
Up to 5 pages including:
– Home Page
– About Us Page
– Store Page (up to 10 products)
– Contact Us Page
– And a page of your choice.
$500 Special Price until 12/30/2010
Payment Terms: 50% Down – 50% Due Upon Completion
Additional Products: $50 per 5 products
Advanced Services: Please inquiry
What do you think the best course of action should be?
That is incredible. I spent five figures for one of his sites just about 3 years ago and I never received anything. I’m not talking just in terms of ROI, I’m talking about any evidence that I purchased the site. It was one of the biggest mistakes that I’ve ever made in my life.
The bobsaonlinestore LLC is established in Delware. If you check on the company, you will see that it’s been in bad standing for a couple of years now. Go to the BBB site and you will see the biggest “F” rating available. I’m sure you seen quite a few “Bewares” on the internet. I just wish it was available when I first started messing with BOBSA.
For me, it was an expensive lesson in dealing with scam artists. I’m just hoping that I can prevent anyone else from making the same mistakes.
Thank you for sharing your experience with others. I’m glad I could be a resource for you.
Hi Marcie,
I think the best course of action is to continue to spread the word via blogs and filing complaints with the BBB, Ripoffreport.com, and most importantly the FTC (http://business.ftc.gov/multimedia/podcasts/how-file-complaint). All the people who have been scammed by BOBSA need to file an FTC complaint ASAP. All BOBSA websites needs to be shut down.
I contemplated doing business with BOBSA and after conducting research I decided against it. At that time there was very little information available about BOBSA; however, I decided not to go with them because they did not appear to be fully organized from my perspective. A few months ago I reviewed BOBSA’s websites and discovered numerous issues surrounding the Online Beauty Store. This was the real indicator that BOBSA was unstable.
I appreciate your blog and all the people that have shared their experience. Prevention is key and your BLOG can certainly help those in the early stages of their research. In 2011 I will be establishing a business blog and I will try to do my part to continue to spread the word about BOBSA and share information on legitimate options.
Thanks you!
Shirlene, do you know of others that have had negative experiences?
I guess I’m one of the few that didn’t have a bad experience. Sam helped me and came down to my home in taught me on the business and referred me to a real estate agent to help with the lease process and all. Then he ordered all my products and had them at my store in time for me to price and shelf them. Opportunity came along for me to sell my store to a Indiana Church and Sam made the call when I told him I want to sell and call me back the same day with the sale. I guess I’m one of the few but all my experiences been good. I sold my store because I do a lot of things dealing with entertainment and chosed to sell the store.
Overall he gave me all the info I needed. Far as the discrimination, it’s true. Milky Way, Sensation and many others would not sell to me. Oh, yeah outre will not sell to u also. I had to go though a Chinese guy that couldn’t get it either but he was able to get part of the line. So I was able to get part of the line from him but not the Koreans. Was told I had to spend $20,000 month on hair which is not true. It’s a scare tactic.
Congrats on the sale of your store. If I remember correctly, you had the store on the east coast. You’re situation was a little different because you purchased your products from vendors that Sam knows. People experienced issues when they bought products from Sam himself. Sam sold products that he didn’t have. Secondly, his now disfunct onlinestores was a sham. Investors lost alot of money on that deal. He couldn’t produce where the invested dollars went.
Sam has gotten more sophisticated in his methods. The strategy now is to use churches to buy BOBSA stores. I will give him credit on this…it’s actually a good business strategy. Black churches have alot of influence and money. In some respects, churches themselves are businesses with access to capital and a faithful following. Think about it…if your pastor recommends you shop somewhere it’s a good chance you will do it…you trust the pastor to give you the Word for salvation…why not where you spend your money. Buying your store was one step toward that goal.
Thanks for your feedback and thoughts on this subject.
Hello Marcie it gives me great pleasure to acknowledge your comments and compliments concerning Mr. Sam Ennon. I appreciate your openness and positive approach to sharing information. I also appreciate and respect the opentions and personal experiences of those that have replied. So many of us that have had undesirable experiences with something or someone in life. The longer we live the more we encounter various undesirable circumstances that occur even though we had the greatest of intentions. I want extend my genuine apologies and prayers to the people that invested in BOBSA and did not receive a return yet. Unfortunately, many of us have suffered the loss of a home, car, rental property and other financial investments, however due to some unforseen and uncontrollable circumstances such as economic hardships. Investments are always risky and uncertain especially in these unstable times. Life is not fair, but God is good and just. Mr. Ennon has been a long ranger attempting to merge people of color with the industry that boasts to generate up to 16 billion a year according to some statistics. He has over the past 6 years made many personal sacrifices including, time, finances, sweat and tears to assist us to be positioned in an industry that we personally finance through our purchasing power. Black woman by far spend considerably more to express their beauty than any other culture of women. So why shouldn’t you own, manufacture, distribute, retail and have control of an industry that costs you so much. But the beauty industry is some what unfriendly to blacks who dare to step out of the box of consummerism. Mr. Ennon has fought hard and maybe fallen short at times for the lack of support and resources needed to sustain him. We should applaud his heroic efforts for launching out into the deep and find new ways that we can unite with him so that all can be repaid and that we can reclaim an industry that we once helped to create. We are on the outside looking in, but we must reaign, reposition and reclaim that which we deserve a large part of. I have had some dissapointing experiences actually shocking when I was told that they could not sell me products because they had to protect their customers. I could not believe what I was told in 2010. I have heard this more than once. We need Sam because he has made some progress already, even though he does not have a financial success story yet. Let us forgive and pray to God to help him help us restore a industry that we have sown so much into. Who else is out here in the trenches fighting, pushing, praying, speaking, carrying the pressures, stresses, pains and standing in the gap as a voice for so many that may never be heard. The Lord is able to help us unite and make an impact in the beauty industry. Sam Ennon has experienced a lot of trial and error, but he is still standing. We can do this so lets do what other races of people do and thats come together and give one another room for delay and shortfalls.
Kingdom Blessings
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic.
It’s not the fact that investors didn’t receive a return because that happens all of the time. That’s the risk that we take when one makes an investment. Furthermore, a person shouldn’t invest if they can’t afford to lose the money.
However, it is unethical to solicit investments from a person, accept the investment, and then cut ties from the investor immediately after he receives the funds. Most start ups keep the investors in the loop because you never know when you will need more investment capital.
Aside from the investment aspect, it’s also unethical and potentially against the law to accept money in return for products and 1)not deliver the product 2)not return the money to the consumer if the product is unavailable. These are the reasons for the ‘F’ BBB rating. These types of practices did not result from the current economic climate. In fact, practices like that will ensure that you won’t survive in the current economic climate.
Yes, Sam should be forgiven for his shortfalls. I don’t think that he has even asked forgiveness from the people he has negatively impacted. We all make mistakes. However, he shouldn’t be given a free pass and not be held accountable for what he has done. We can’t afford to let the mission of taking back the industry be confused with one man’s efforts. Believe me, there are many people out there in those trenches fighting the same fight. All of us who have had challenges in this industry completely understands the need and duty for us to take back the industry.
Wow a second generation korean saying it is’nt about race!!! As if Black hair is the only business koreans can specialize in. As if they all went to college to study black hair!! We are so stupid to support they’re stores! That’s on us!!
Does anyone have any positive comments to share because my experience has been just the opposite of the ones posted. I had a good experience with BOBSA like Marcie?
I didn’t work with Sam in the industry, but he was a great resource to me when I was doing my research. I’m not sure if there any positive comments.
I like to say yes Sam is not perfect and not the Great Black Hope. One thing I can say, is that I’ve spoken to a lot of blacks that want to get in the hair business and they all think they know it and fail. They’re affraid of the Koreans talking about some damn Korean mafia not letting us in the busineSs we once controlled. I paid Sam just like anyone will pay a white person for information for one of their franchises so don’t act like his consultant fee is a rip off. See us as blacks want info for free when its us giving it. White its white folks they charge you just to mail a info packet.
I had no problems with Sam in opening my store then I sold it with his help cause I want to work behind the scenes and help other people open up stores. Sam has dedicated his life to the hair industry in hopes we controll it again or at least get our share. How many of us can say we fighting for anything besides with each other? I just so happen to come across this post and felt that we need to do better. Its more non-blacks and koreans that love Sam for what he’s doing for the fact NO ONE ELSE IS DOING IT.
Wow! You really spoke the truth and said what probably should have been said a long time ago. You’re officially my hero this week.
Ms. Hill:
Can you please connect me to anyone who has done business with PK International and/or Jinny Corp. I would like to know their personal experiences as far as best business practices when it comes to ordersing and shipping supplies. Thanks so much.
I am not familiar with any organizations. Sorry.
Wil, the issue wasn’t about the consultant fee. He promised goods that people paid for and never received them. That’s a rip off, and that’s the problem. Secondly, Wil you were alot further along with your biz than most. You only used him to get connections for products. Honestly, you did most of it yourself and you give Sam too much credit. And didn’t you just sell your business to a church that Sam connected you with?
PK International and Jinny Corp are okay. You still may pay more for the products and they may not give you credit, but you will get your products.
Hi Marcie,
This is a great topic. I am a prospective beauty supply owner and I am so glad I found your article. I, too, read up on the BOBSA organization and started to contact them, that is until I found this article. Have you ever heard of Devin Robinson? He runs the Beauty Supply Institute and promisese to help you open and successfully run a beauty supply store. They have comprehensive system which is suppose to guide you through the entire process as well offer you one on one consultations. Just wondering if anyone has done any business with this organization.
I personally have not heard of Mr. Robinson. Hopefully, other people will weigh in. Thanks for stopping through.