Winnie Awa is transforming the £90 billion hair care industry one innovation at a time. Founder and CEO of Carra – an AI-driven personalized platform that fuses an expert’s advice with machine learning, she has been leading innovative consumer-tech platforms for nearly 15 years. Now available to inspire people through her knowledge in DEI, entrepreneurship, textured haircare, and how women can make it in tech, Winnie is an excellent speaker with glowing credentials.
Before she conquered the fashion and haircare industries, Winnie achieved her BA (Hons) in Management and Information Technology Graduate from the University of Manchester, where she won a ‘Best in Class’ award too. Working as an Analyst for IBM and was a Senior Consultant at Ernst & Young for the first few years of her career, she made the jump to the fashion industry in 2012 and worked as a Strategic Programme Manager at NET-A-PORTER, a Programme Manager at ASOS.com and in the Product Management Consulting Services team at LVHM Digital Atelier. Since 2018 she has been Co-founder and Creative Partner at andVerv and took the fashion world by storm with her contemporary womenswear label during London Fashion Week.
Completely exhilarated by the process of developing consumer apps and noticing an astute deficiency in the textured haircare department, she knew she had to create something. From all her years working with startups she possessed the necessary skills to launch her own cult platform and became the Founder and CEO of Antidote Street – a global marketplace that curates the world’s best brands for afro and multitextured hair. Antidote Street, referred to as “the forward-thinking platform for textured hair” by Dazed, was the perfect foundation for Winnie to create Carra in 2020. Passionate about haircare, she was woman behind the launch of the Salon Manifesto. Winnie has solidified her status as a textured haircare expert and is often invited to judge for Glamour Beauty Power List and Women’s Health Beauty Awards. She was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Beauty Disruptor in 2020 and won the 2022 Women in Innovation Award from InnovateUK – proving that her work is highly revered by industry members in addition to brands like Professional Beauty, Dove, Tresemme who invite her to speak at events for them.
Over the years Winnie has been featured in publications like Vogue, The Sunday Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Courier and Refinery 29 to name a few. When it comes to providing a customer with a product and service that is best suited to their needs, Winnie is an industry leader. Currently also serving as an InnovateUK Mentor, Winnie is available to speak on her rich and vast experience in topics like DEI, women in tech and textured haircare. A powerhouse speaker who is driven by passion, Winnie Awa is an excellent choice to hire for your next event. Enquire now!
