Urban Freedom Magazine Fall2016 "The New Black Wall St" Vol1 | Page 34

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How did you end up in this profession?
I went natural in 2001. I was a graduate student and just curious to learn more about my
hair. Once I went natural others asked me to assist them with their journeys into world of
natural hair. I would tell them that I didn't do hair, I only did nails (I did nails through
college/graduate school). Each woman insisted that she trusted me and would tell the
next (leading to plural!) I worked as a Psychiatric Social Worker during the day and
assisted women with their hair in the evenings. In 2010 I'd learned plenty of lessons
about natural hair and thought maybe it'd be nice to get some women together to
discuss hair. Natural hair was growing in popularity so I gured why not? I hosted a
seminar, “Natural Hair 101” in June of that year
We decided to keep meeting bi-monthly and by October we decided to take a break
until spring since the cold weather was near. An attendee (turned friend) said, “Why
don't you start a group on Facebook to so we can keep up with each other while we're
apart?” I immediately got nervous because people can be so cruel behind their
screens and I work hard to create safe spaces. The next day, I got over myself and
started the group (It's a Natural Thang). I kept it closed to keep control over the safety
and content. We had 18 members (Today we have over 5,000 and it's still closed!)
I left my job to return to beauty school in 2012. I received my Cosmetology Teacher's
license in 2013. My
intention was to write
curriculum for
cosmetology schools and
advocate for more
natural hair education in
cosmetology schools,
but…Alphalab Gear
happened rst.

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What sets you apart from
businesses that are
similar to yours?

The biggest difference
between Diversamē Inc.
and other brands is that
textured hair will be at the center of everything we design versus straight hair being the
default.

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