London Summers talks to the founder Salwa Petersen, the visionary behind the cult-favorite brand Chéibé that’s taking over Target and catching Vogue’s attention.
Exclusive Interview with Salwa Petersen
London Summers: Salwa, it’s a pleasure to talk with you about your groundbreaking African haircare brand, Chéribé. Can you tell us where you are from and where you’re currently based?
Salwa Petersen: I’m proudly from Chad. I grew up watching generations of Chadian women in my family and community use Chébé seeds to nourish, protect, and retain length, especially for tightly coiled textures. I learned that routine early, and it never left me. That legacy is not just inspiration for me, it’s the foundation.
My path has been about bridging worlds. I was the first person from Chad to graduate from Harvard, and I went on to work at L’Oréal, where I learned the discipline behind global beauty, formulation standards, and performance. But I always knew I wanted to build something that honored where I come from and created opportunity there.
That journey, from Chad to Harvard to L’Oréal, then back to Chad and onto Target shelves, isthe story behind Chéribé.I’ve built a business that’s deeply connected to Chad and designed to give back in real ways. We reinvest in the local economy, and I’m committed to creating jobs that are fair and dignified by paying employees above minimum wage. We also own our supply chain from sea to shelf, which allows us to protect our ingredients, maintain quality, and operate with speed and accountability. On the product side, we are committed to the cleanest formulations that can enter the whole market in the USA, without compromising performance for textured hair.
We also pay extra to test beyond typical industry standards for curly hair testing, including broader coverage across tightly coiled textures. Our signature ingredient is Chébé, and while it has been used for generations, our approach is proprietary. Chéribé has developed and patented its specific Chébé Complex™, an ultra-pure extract of heirloom Chébé seeds grown on my organic regenerative farm in Chad.
Today, I’m based in the United States, where I built Chéribé to bring this heritage to a modern consumer with the rigor, consistency, and results you expect from a globally scaled brand. Our name is deeply personal, and it honors the community it comes from, which is at the heart of everything we create.
LS: Chéribé recently launched both online and in store at Target and was featured in Vogue. What does it feel like to see your brand receive recognition from such respected publications and major retailers?
SP: Chéribé is rooted in traditions from my family and my community in northern Chad, so seeing the brand recognized by a major retailer like Target and featured in Vogue is both humbling and energizing. Vogue actually traveled to Chad and visited our farm, spent time in rural communities, witnessed the Chébé Complex™ process firsthand, and met my family. It was incredibly personal, and the visuals they captured were stunning.
More than anything, it feels like a meaningful moment of visibility for Chad, showing the world we are so much more than the limited narratives people often hear. We are puttingChad on the map in beauty and beyond. At Target, Chéribé is still the number one new hair care brand and is helping drive market share gains, which reinforces that customers are not just curious, they’re staying.
Chéribé is offering something new, better, and different in textured haircare, with modern prestige packaging that still pops, not something that feels dated. The color story isinspired by Chad, and while the brand began in prestige, we repositioned to masstige once we entered Target, so more people could access it without compromising on quality.
LS: Chéribé has quickly become a standout in the haircare space. What makes your brand different, and why is it important for you to lead within the African haircare community?
SP: People sometimes call it “overnight,” but it definitely wasn’t overnight. Chéribé is built on my personal story and my lived experience, and it goes far beyond simply borrowing what my great-grandmother did, even though I honor her deeply. I wanted to take the tradition I grew up with and do the work to validate it through modern science, including rigorous testing, then scale it in a way that makes sense as a real business.
What makes us different is that we have both origin and proof. Our products are rooted inChad, developed with high standards, and tested beyond typical industry norms for curly hair, including across tightly coiled textures. The results and reviews speak for themselves, and we’re seeing strong loyalty and repeat purchase because the formulas perform.
And when it comes to “leading in African haircare,” I always want to be specific. Africa is the most diverse continent on earth, it has 54 countries with countless cultures and traditions. I’m proud to lead from Chad, to name it clearly, and to give Chad its rightful place in the global beauty conversation. For me, it’s about honoring a Chadian tradition, protecting its integrity, and showing the world exactly where this heritage comes from.
LS: What are the key ingredients within your best selling products, and where did the inspiration behind Chéribé originate?
SP: At Chéribé, I took my great grandmother Chéréye’s heirloom Chébé seeds that have been scientifically proven to be exponentially more potent than anything else on the market.
In our Parisian lab, our world-class chemists extract the full active molecular spectrum and create the world’s first and only 100% natural heirloom Chébé complex. It is clinically proven to make hair softer, stronger, and longer.
LS: Let’s talk about your journey. What was your upbringing like, and who were the important people in your life that helped shape you into the successful entrepreneur you are today?
SP: I grew up in Chad, and from early on, I understood what it means to build with limited resources but unlimited ambition. Education became my pathway, and becoming the first
person from Chad to graduate from Harvard changed the scale of what I believed was possible. It gave me a global lens, credibility in spaces where people didn’t expect someone from Chad to be, and the confidence to think bigger than the box the world sometimes puts our country in.
After that, I went into law and worked as a lawyer in Paris, which sharpened how I think strategically and how I protect what I build. Then I joined L’Oréal, where I learned the discipline behind world-class product development, brand building, and what it takes to scale with consistency and quality. I saw how global beauty is built, and I knew I could bring that rigor back to something deeply personal.
That journey is what shaped me as an entrepreneur. Chéribé is the bridge between where I come from and what I’ve learned, taking a Chadian tradition and translating it into a modern brand with real standards, real performance, and real impact that stays connected to Chad.
LS: Haircare has become such a vital part of beauty culture. What are your top haircare tips?
SP: When people see me, they assume I have an overly complicated hair routine, but when it comes to healthy hair, less is more. That is my philosophy. It is similar to a wardrobe: a few great pieces you love and actually wear. I keep my closet small, and I wear everything I own. I think about hair products the same way. You only need a few, and you should be able to use them all.
HH: What advice would you give Black women who have a passion for creating their own haircare brand but may not know where to start?
SP: Start with a clear purpose. Know the problem you want to solve and the community you want to serve.
Research ingredients, test your formulas with real users, and stay open to learning from both successes and mistakes. For me, it was also about trusting my lived experience. I created Chéribé because the beauty industry had a noticeable gap – it lacked founders creating from a place of authenticity, culture, and personal truth.
LS: Lastly, are there any new products or upcoming releases our readers should look out for from Chéribé?
SP: Yes. We’re continuing to build on the power of Chébé with new treatments and styling products. I can’t share everything just yet, but readers can expect innovations that fitseamlessly into their routines. We’re also expanding our retail distribution to makeChéribé more accessible to more customers, with more news coming soon.
