Founder Diary: The Honest Reality of Growing Cabela

Alright, how are we doing, Cabela curlies?

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve had the time to sit down and write what I suppose you could call a Founder Diary. Quite a few of you have been asking what’s happening behind the scenes, why I haven’t been showing up online as much and what’s next for Cabela.

The short answer is: a lot.

The longer and more honest answer is that growing a small business is not for the faint-hearted.

If I could turn back the hands of time, I’d probably sit past-Nicola down and give her a stern, “Do you actually know what you’re getting yourself into?” talk.

Of course, the answer would have been no. I’m not sure anyone truly knows until they’re in it.

There’s a particular kind of pressure that comes with working for yourself and investing so much - financially, professionally and personally into something you believe in. Add rising costs, a pandemic hangover, global uncertainty and a rather uncooperative economy and running a growing business can sometimes feel like a constant exercise in deciding which priority needs you most urgently.

That sounds rather grim, doesn’t it?

Honestly, there are moments when the pressure feels like too much. Then one of your reviews arrives. A new stockist joins us. A salon professional tells me Cabela has become their go-to curl range or you tag me in a photo of your curls looking absolutely glorious.

Just like that, the gloom evaporates into elation, and I give myself a quiet telling-off for ever doubting what Cabela could become.

What has actually been happening behind the scenes?

This year, Cabela is taking one of its biggest steps yet: moving into contract manufacturing.

It’s exciting, necessary and if I’m being completely transparent, a little scary.

What many people don’t realise is that every Cabela formula has been developed by me and until now, every bottle has also been produced, filled, labelled, packed and dispatched by me.

I haven’t spoken about that very often. People regularly tell me it would make wonderful behind-the-scenes content, but I’ve always been cautious about how it might be perceived.

I never wanted Cabela to be viewed as a homemade craft brand. I trained and qualified in cosmetic formulation so I could develop products to a professional standard. From the beginning, my goal was to create formulas that could stand confidently beside leading salon ranges and quite frankly, outperform them.

But perhaps I haven’t always given enough credit to what building Cabela this way actually represents.

These products haven’t come from choosing a ready-made base from a catalogue and adding a fragrance. They are original formulas developed through extensive research, testing and more trials than I care to count. Every ingredient has a purpose, and every product has been created with a real understanding of curly hair both professionally and personally.

Moving to contract manufacturing doesn’t mean handing over the heart of Cabela. I will still own and oversee the formulas, approve the products and remain closely involved in quality and development. It means working with specialist manufacturing partners to transfer and validate each formula for larger-scale production, while maintaining the performance and standards you expect from us.

In other words, I’m not disappearing from the process. I’m simply reaching the point where I can no longer sustainably be the formulator, manufacturer, filling line, labeller, warehouse team and courier department all at once.

A woman can wear many hats, but eventually the hat rack starts looking structurally unsound.

Why haven’t I hired a team?

That’s a fair question and another tricky reality of growing a small business.

Cabela is doing well. The brand is growing, our customers return, more salons are discovering us and we’re preparing for the next stage. But there is an awkward space between being too busy for one person and being large enough to comfortably employ all the help the business needs.

That’s where I currently find myself: the small-business twilight zone.

Some days I feel like a sprinter crouched at the starting block, ready to take off but still waiting for the gun. We know where we want to go, and the appetite for the brand is there; we’re now putting the infrastructure in place to support that growth properly.

Until then, I’m still managing product development, manufacturing, logistics, accounts, the website, customer service, wholesale, social media, marketing and all the other small jobs that quietly keep a business moving.

I’m also still a mum, wife, friend and netball coach. Those parts of my life matter deeply too, even when the to-do list tries to argue otherwise.

I’m not sharing this for sympathy, and I sincerely hope it doesn’t sound ungrateful. If anything, this experience has given me an enormous amount of admiration for women who build businesses while continuing to show up for their families and communities.

This is easily one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I also believe it could become one of the most rewarding.

Built through belief and word of mouth

Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that almost everything Cabela has achieved so far has happened organically.

It has grown through customers recommending us to friends, curl specialists testing the range and choosing to stand behind it, and people sharing their results because the products genuinely worked for them.

That means more to me than I can properly express.

To our stockists and curl professionals: thank you for taking a chance on an independent New Zealand brand. You have trusted my knowledge, introduced Cabela to your clients and given us thoughtful, honest feedback along the way. Your support has helped Cabela grow far beyond what I could have achieved alone.

And to every customer who has placed an order, left a review, sent me a message, told a friend or tagged us in a curl photo: you are the reason we’re still here and able to take this next step.

The proof of concept is well and truly proofing.

Supporting Better Curl Education

One of Cabela’s biggest highlights this year has been the opportunity to sponsor professional training through the Tahni Daniels Curly Academy.

As many Kiwi curl enthusiasts will know, Tahni Daniels is regarded as one of New Zealand’s leading curly-hair specialists. In 2025, her work was recognised with the Best Texture Cut award, a thoroughly deserved achievement.

Tahni’s training is supported by Donna of The Curl Next Door, who was one of the early curl artists to recognise just how severely curl education was lacking in New Zealand. Donna sought out highly respected international training, completed the courses herself and brought that knowledge home to better serve New Zealand’s curl community. 

Tahni first approached Cabela while looking for another professional curl range to add to her repertoire. After extensively testing the products available through major salon distributors, she chose Cabela and her belief in the quality and performance of our formulas has been enormously validating.

So far this year, Cabela has sponsored three of these professional development courses, with a fourth taking place in just a few weeks. The results speak for themselves. These courses equip stylists with new ways to understand, cut and care for textured hair, so they can approach curly clients with knowledge and confidence rather than apprehension.

Specialist curl education doesn’t only improve the experience of the person sitting in the chair. It gives stylists greater confidence, expands the services they can offer and opens an additional income stream in a market that remains significantly underserved.

Tahni’s next course will be held in Christchurch on Sunday, 23 August. I’m fortunate to be attending to support the day and answer questions about product selection, formulation and generally assist the professional stylists with whatever they need.  I LOVE watching these courses in action.  

So, Christchurch curlies: if your stylist could benefit from a curl upgrade, ask them to reach out. A little encouragement from their curly clients may be precisely the nudge they need.

On a personal level, I can’t thank Tahni and Donna enough for their support. Building a business can sometimes feel incredibly lonely, particularly when so much of the work happens in isolation. Having knowledgeable, generous curl friends beside me has meant more than they probably realise.

I will always be immensely grateful to the salon professionals who have tested Cabela, believed in what I’m creating and helped validate its place as a truly salon-worthy curl-care range.

So, what comes next?

Alongside the move to larger-scale manufacturing, our packaging will be receiving a refresh. It’s an opportunity to give the outside of the products the same level of care and intention that has always gone into what’s inside them.

Scaling production should also mean better availability, greater capacity to support our stockists and, eventually, more of my time freed up for the work that only I can do: developing products, sharing curl education and building the future of Cabela.

There is still plenty happening behind the scenes, and I can’t share every detail just yet. Some things are still being carefully worked through, and others need to remain commercially tucked away until the time is right. But I wanted you to know that a quieter social media feed does not mean nothing is happening.

Quite the opposite.

Cabela is growing up. It’s stretching us, testing us and asking me to become a different kind of founder than I was when I made those first formulas. I’m learning as I go, occasionally wobbling and then carrying on - as small business owners tend to do.

I’m incredibly grateful for where we are, even while I’m working towards where I know we can go.

So, bring on the next chapter.

And thank you for being here for it.

With curly care, 
Nicola 
Xx