Before she ever stepped into a boardroom, before she took over a company now sold in stores across the world, Joni Odum was a kid in the warehouse.
Summers meant loading wig caps and do-rags into acrylic bags, sealing boxes, and running back and forth between the warehouse floor and the small administrative office where her father built one of the first Black-owned hair accessories companies in the country.
“I didn’t realize it then, but being in that space taught me who we were serving,” Odum says. “I saw the products. I saw the work. And I saw the purpose.”
Odum is the president and CEO of Firstline Brands, a Houston-based premier haircare company known as one of the first Black-owned brands that carved out a lane for natural hair products in 1986.
Her father, Robert A. Bowser, was the founder of Firstline Brands and a pioneer in the long before the textured hair market became a distinct category. National retailers didn’t carve out space for Black consumers. Multicultural hair accessories weren’t seen as a market worth investing in.
He ignored all that and stepped in anyway. He secured national placement at retailers like Walmart, Target, Walgreens, and Sally Beauty decades before diversity on shelves was a buzzword.
Growing up watching what her father created shaped Odum’s understanding of her own hair and how little the world acknowledged its needs. She remembers the effort it took to keep her styles neat, the limited options, and the hours spent trying to make her hair “manageable” because beauty aisles weren’t designed for girls like her. Firstline Brands was a direct answer to the experience of Black consumers who didn’t see themselves represented.
She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Hampton University’s School of Business. Odum gained strategic and financial expertise at Johnson & Johnson’s Financial Leadership Development Program, where she supported global marketing initiatives and managed the brand budget for brands like Neutrogena and Tylenol. Learning brand building from the inside out helped sharpen her skills.
But her father saw what she couldn’t yet see. She was preparing to lead.
“He saw an opportunity for me to bring in marketing, product development, and new distribution,” she says. “But he also knew culture mattered. He wanted someone who could build that internally.”
“My father created a lane where there wasn’t one,” she says. “My job is to take that lane, widen it, and make sure the community stays at the center.”
– Joni Odum
Odum joined the company in 2002, assuming multiple roles including marketing, sales, distribution, and product development. She previously worked as an analyst at Johnson & Johnson and succeeded her father, who died in 2020.
That’s where she started. She focused on structure, leadership, communication, and establishing an internal tone that aligned with the mission. Odum brought new systems and new ideas. She modernized processes. She helped shape product development to meet the real needs of Black consumers whose routines were changing. She helped expand Firstline’s reach across national and international retailers.
“Our portfolio is broader than it has ever been,” she says. “We have five main brands, and we’ve been in Walmart, Walgreens, and Sally Beauty for more than 20 years.”
When her father built the brand, he had a male-dominated portfolio of products, such as WavEnforcer Classic Du Rags. However, through her leadership, she opened the doors for a variety of products tailored for women as well.
“When he got into the industry, Jheri Curls were a popular hairstyle. It was about locking in moisture. He was in tune with the needs of his customers at the time,” Odum said. “When I got involved, things shifted. There are so many styling needs for women. There is a story about the haircare journey.
Today, the company’s signature products, such as Evolve, WavEnforcer, Camryn’s BFF, Dri Sweat, and Sleek, are recognized globally. But what makes Firstline stand out even now is ownership. Many Black-founded beauty brands are eventually acquired by large corporations.
Selling was never an option.
“We are 100% Black-owned,” she says plainly. “That’s intentional. That’s legacy. That’s leadership. My father built this for the community, and it’s my responsibility to protect that.”
Community partners see that commitment up close. Kevin Barnett, founder of CoolxDad, an organization dedicated to uplifting father figures, says Odum leads the way her father built from the heart, with purpose, and never from a distance.
“Joni shows up,” he says. “She listens. She’s thoughtful. Her leadership aligns with the people she says she’s serving. You can feel that she’s carrying something bigger than a brand.”
Barnett is a community partner with Firstline Brands. He knew that Firstline’s legacy of a Black father building something for future generations was in alignment with CoolxDad’s mission to uplift fathers and support generational impact.
“It’s her ability to remove the corporate engine. She focuses on the human. She humanizes her intentions,” Barnett says. “Despite operating in dozens of cities, managing large teams, and distributing global brands, Joni leads the way she grew up like a family business. That’s important to me.”
The COVID-19 pandemic brought another shift. As people transitioned to remote work and their daily styling routines changed, Odum saw a new need emerging.
“Beauty became like a snack,” she says. “Quick, easy. People wanted looks they could achieve in minutes, not hours.” Firstline moved quickly, developing accessories that provided customers with ease without sacrificing style or cultural expression.
As the company approaches its 40th anniversary, Odum is looking ahead with the same clarity her father had. The focus is still on quality, identity, and listening to the people who built the brand in the first place.
“My father created a lane where there wasn’t one,” she says. “My job is to take that lane, widen it, and make sure the community stays at the center.”
