How a Unicorn Shattered The Glass Ceiling

Besides a mythical horned horse, a unicorn can also mean something that is highly desirable but difficult to find. In the world of character licensing, Black, female, CEO April Showers, fits this description to a tee. In 2019, Showers designed Afro Unicorn, a whimsical character designed to remind women and children of color how unique and special they are. Starting with T-Shirts, Showers has since expanded her brand across 25 categories and counting, including accessories, toys, books, and more. Today, Afro Unicorn works with over 45 licensee partners worldwide, is featured in 3,800 Walmart stores, and has increased revenue nearly 20 times since its creation.

Before she became the first black woman to own a fully licensed character in significant retail, Showers somehow found time to own and operate an insurance agency, serve as a licensed real estate agent, and raise two sons. Because of her multitasking mastery, her friend started calling her a Unicorn. Showers didn’t get the nickname.

“Honestly, I didn’t know much about unicorns. I’m from the She-Ra era, mudpies, basketball, and video games, so I had to see what these Unicorns were all about.” After doing some research, Showers found herself resonating with the mythical creatures. The unicorn emoji quickly became a mainstay on her keyboard. Then, she had an epiphany.

Afro Unicorn reached new heights when a video of a little girl named Cassidy Bridges went viral while she was wearing one of the shirts. In the video, a passerby compliments Cassidy on her hair, to which she replies with all the confidence her four-year-old self could muster. “Thank you! It’s an Afro!” Celebrities like Viola Davis and Tina Knowles shared the video. Eventually, it crossed the screen of a Walmart executive, who reached out to Showers in an email titled “Afro Unicorn x Walmart collab?”

While the brand’s rise to success seems meteoric, the viral video came after two years of building a loyal grassroots following. “I followed hashtags like #black women and #black entrepreneurs,” Showers said. “I would go into the comments and promote Afro Unicorn as a creative brand for women of color.” By promoting her brand on pages that shared her values, she successfully introduced Afro Unicorn to like-minded people and potential customers. In the process, she learned an important lesson about digital marketing: there’s something far more important than acquiring followers. “You have to engage with your customers,” said the entrepreneur, noting that she spent several hours per day replying to comments and interacting online. “People forget that social media is a place for you to be social, not a place for you to be seen.” In fact, Showers believes it was her engagement that led to the Walmart deal. “The video would’ve gone viral either way, but without the community behind it, it wasn’t going to resonate with Walmart.”

Showers admits that she didn’t know what she was doing at first. “I had never heard of licensing before working with Walmart. I understood royalties and licensing in music but I didn’t know how it worked for consumer products.” She reached out to a friend with connections in the field, who introduced her to a licensing attorney. His legal advice? Watch the Netflix docu-series The Toys That Made Us.

Showers credits this documentary with teaching her a lot of the terminology she needed to understand the licensing world. Yes, you read that right. April Showers, CEO of a fully licensed character brand, first learned much of what she knows about licensing by watching Netflix. She has since met with everybody featured in the documentary, including the licensing company that started Ninja Turtles.

The person she met at Ninja Turtles offered to do a press release for Afro Unicorn, but Showers, true to form, figured, “If he can do a press release, why can’t we?” She contacted a public relations professional herself and hired her to do Afro Unicorn’s first press release.

After that, the floodgates opened. “The LinkedIn requests just kept coming,” Showers said. “I cannot emphasize it enough. LinkedIn is your friend. If you want to meet with a buyer, type Walmart buyer into LinkedIn, and it will all pop up.”

Afro Unicorn is poised to dominate the character licensing space this summer, primarily through its new swim collaboration with Walmart. In addition to the swim line, the company just released its debut EP titled Afro Unicorn Presents Vol. 1 EP , which features songs about the company’s products, a partnership with popular gummy brand Fruit Snacks coming in July, and a production deal for an animated series. But wait, Afro Unicorn is also set to debut in Build-A-Bear stores in 2024!

Clearly, a glass ceiling has no chance against a unicorn’s horn—especially one with an afro.

Opportunity may in fact be one meeting, one viral video or one strategic partnership away. However, there’s nothing mythical about being prepared to meet opportunity. April cultivated a grassroots audience, curated her brand, and the payoff is the magical feeling that comes with success, especially 20X over!