Ellicott City woman provides local, global jobs while creating beauty products for Black women

Funlayo Alabi believes that shea butter and its devotees — mostly Black women — will revolutionize the beauty industry where Black consumers already account for 86% of the ethnic beauty market, according to Neilsen, a global research company. The Ellicott City resident who owns Shea Radiance, a locally made globally sourced natural beauty brand, is well on her way to doing just that. She’s also creating more than a dozen jobs in the Baltimore region and offering a product that fills a niche for Black women, while employing women in West Africa.