In honor of Black Business Month, we wanted to share Psyche’s story with you about how Urban Hydration came to be.
Psyche Terry, the CEO and Founder of UI Global Brands, LLC and Urban Hydration, has shown much resilience and determination through her story of building Urban Hydration and bringing it to where it is today. From facing moments where she was extremely close to quitting to moments where she looks at her company and journey in gratitude, her story is packed with many ups and downs that define who she is as a person and how she overcame many challenges to bring Urban Hydration to where it is today. Urban Hydration is a skincare and haircare company that works to bring affordable, all-natural products to the world while also doing its part to give back to those in need. The mission of the company is based on what Psyche experienced in her life and how she was able to put that into her company.
The birth of this company began when Psyche was a child. Although the idea of the company didn’t come to her when she was a child, Psyche has shown entrepreneurial interests and efforts as a young girl which directly influenced what she is doing now. As the daughter of two teen parents, her parents felt that getting a good education and going to college was more important at the time than having a family. Because of that, Psyche was raised in a single-parent household by her great-aunt who encouraged her to put herself out into the world as much as possible. Psyche was involved in many community and church activities where she was given the space to learn and grow as an individual.
Psyche started work at a fairly young age - 14 years old to be exact. Working at a hamburger stand, she was too young to make the food. So, she was given a cashier position to take customer orders and keep track of the money. Through this experience, she learned how exactly customers spend their money and how their mind works when they have to buy something. Apart from her job, she was allowed to start multiple side hustles that taught her so much about the same ideas. For example, she would do catalog sales to people at her church where she would take orders. She would save all the money she raised and order the products requested at her church. When the products arrived, she would give the products to those who ordered them and send the money to the catalog organization.
Although she didn’t get money for this in return, she would get small goodies such as toys and other fun things. Through both of these experiences, Psyche learned how to manage money, take customer requests, and ensure customer satisfaction (what is known today as the consumer goods industry). The business and consumer experience that Psyche got from a young age has taught her a lot about honor for people, money management, relationship skills, showing up for others, and much more.
As she was raised to always make the most of opportunities, Psyche continued to do this throughout her college life as well. As a college student, she took part in internships and other experiences to learn more and keep growing as an individual. Fun fact - at one of her internships, she met her husband and Co-Founder of Urban Hydration, Vontoba Terry!
Read the rest of the story here!