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Stories

Stories

15 Feb 2022

The Alumnae Entrepreneur Behind Mary J. Blige’s Super Bowl Locks

Re: Britney Winters (MBA 2016)
Topics: Entrepreneurship-GeneralMarketing-Brands and BrandingInnovation-Innovation Leadership
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Britney Winters (MBA 2016); Mary J. Blige during the Super Bowl halftime show
(Courtesy subject; Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)

Britney Winters’ (MBA 2016) online wig and hair product company, Upgrade, got the opportunity to show off its work to more than 100 million viewers last weekend when singer Mary J. Blige wore one of its products during the Super Bowl halftime show.

As reported by Houston’s KHOU 11, Winters was ecstatic to see her company’s work—in this case, a long, flowing blond number—worn in front of millions of viewers by a singer she deeply admires. "[I]t was very surreal,” she told the station. “I just couldn't believe it was happening."

In a July 2021 piece for Inc., Winters noted that the idea for Upgrade began at HBS, when she would travel from Boston to New York City just to have her hair done. “Mind you, I was also the sole caregiver of my 16-year-old sister,” she wrote in Inc.com. “Despite what I was juggling in my personal life, fitting in those 207 miles was just a part of the routine.” Those long trips, though, sparked an idea, she notes in the piece. “I wanted to create something that would allow women to save time on beauty routines and get back to living. That was the start of my business, Upgrade.”

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MBA 2016
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