| Summary: | Hair care company founder Bettiann Gardner was born in Chicago, Illinois. She became an innovator in the African American hair care business when she and her husband Edward Gardner founded Soft Sheen Products in their Chicago basement in 1964. With the Optimum and Care Free Curl brands, Soft Sheen Products became the leader in African American hair care, developing an international clientele. Soft Sheen Products grew into a multimillion-dollar enterprise employing over four hundred Chicagoans. Exporting to Canada, the Caribbean, and West Africa, the company became a global force, eventually being purchased by the L'Oreal group in 1998. As a staunch supporter of the arts, particularly African American theater, she and her husband contributed millions to the renovation of the once-dormant Avalon Theater in 1987, which became New Regal Theater, on Chicago's South Side. In addition, Gardner served as chairperson of the Chicago Sinfonietta's Honorary Board of Directors. Gardner and her husband have four children, and each child was involved in Soft Sheen Products.
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