He Escaped War, Hustled In Harlem, And Created Atop Skin Care Brand: The Saga Of Sundial

In 1987, when civil unrest in Liberia brought him to America, Rich Dennis also became an entrepreneur.

He sold shea butter out of his Babson College dorm to make ends meet. Necessity would evolve into Sundial Brands, which became a leading maker of skin care products for black consumers. In 2017, Dennis sold Sundial to Unilever, to help spread the supply-chain wealth to West Africa and other underprivileged areas. He remains CEO and executive chairman. He discussed his amazing journey with Inc. editor in chief James Ledbetter.

Did it affect your family directly?

Very directly and very personally. We lost a lot of extended family members, but a lot of painful things happened in my immediate family during that period as well. I grew up seeing how cruel humans could be to one another. I think that shaped a lot of my sense of fairness.

Did you think, “I’ve gotta get the hell out of here”?

It really wasn’t “I’ve gotta get the hell out of here” as much as “What is causing all of this?” And what role can I play, and what can I do? I became very sort of socially active, more active around students’ rights, education rights. Back then, teachers beat the students. I didn’t think that was right. I was very vocal about that, so I got beaten a lot. I saw the inequalities and injustices around women and economics. My mother was a single parent by then.

She was an economist in the Liberian government; my father died of cancer when I was 8. I come from a family of entrepreneurs. Both my maternal and my paternal grandmothers were entrepreneurs. My father and my grandmother were actually business partners, just as my mother and I are today.

How did you end up at Babson?