“Always start to finish! Never start something you can’t finish!” --Maria Lee-Driver
Accomplished entrepreneur and author of “Detours,” Maria Lee-Driver, creates magic wherever she goes. Her journey into the charmed world of small business began in her late teens and continues to this day. Although there have been detours along the way, they have all led her from a place of inspiration to innovation and immense success.
Maria opened her first business, Re-Ons Designing Impressions Hair Salon at the early age of nineteen. She continued to operate the salon for the next two decades, sharpening her business skills. She created a second business in the same building, where she taught cosmetology and barbering.
After years of working with an extremely varied client base, Maria saw a need for a natural product that promoted long-term healthy, beautifully radiant skin and hair. In her quest for natural products for her children’s salon, she fell in love with Shea butter. Creating a product for children that was natural and free of harmful chemicals became her mission. Maria began experimenting with different mixtures in her kitchen and created Oria’s O'shay, a multi-use product that is as versatile and effective as it is economical. Oria’s O'shay is now endorsed by the medical community, sold worldwide, and used by growing numbers of women, men, and children.
Today, Maria is laser-focused on growing her businesses, developing new products and business ventures. O Zone Pet Expo in Atlanta on May 5-7, Fresh Pets Lifestyle Magazine, launch February 2023, Fresh Tails Pet TV and Oria’s O’Shay Beauty Exclusive stores are the next 2023 endeavors!
During the height of the pandemic, she created an all-natural pet deodorizing line, Fresh MinkTM Pets. The line’s four products - pet fume, moisturizing shampoo and conditioner and sage are all natural and free of harmful chemicals.
In the summer of 2021, Maria received an invitation to attend SuperZoo in Las Vegas to display her new line. It was there she would find out she was making history as the only African American participant at the conference of a thousand attendees. Maria later discovered she was the first African American to have a national pet line of products. Chewy.com offered an opportunity to carry Fresh MinkTM Pets products on their platform this February 2022.
“I’m super excited,” said Maria. “The looks on people’s faces as we share the information about the event! The response is priceless!”