(Blooming Entrepreneurs) “We as black women go through so much stuff when it comes to our hair. Most of us didn’t learn about the true and glorious potential of our hair growing up…”
Blooming Entrepreneurs, Washington, DC, Women, Women Owned Businesses

Kia Marie has an amazing YouTube Channel (Hairitage93) that focuses on natural care, beauty and wellness. To learn more AND support, visit her channel here! “I straightened my hair for the first time in two years. The last time I straightened it, I had to cut off so much damage which was disappointing because I had been natural for almost four years. A lot of people knew me for having...

“I saw one of my friends who had natural hair and I thought that it was so pretty. I asked her how she got her hair like that and of course she told me all of the products that she used…”
Washington, DC, Women

“I saw one of my friends who had natural hair and I thought that it was so pretty. I asked her how she got her hair like that and of course she told me all of the products that she used. I ended up buying the same  products and used them in my hair, but it didn’t work because I had a relaxer. I was like ‘why isn’t my hair doing it?!’ Of course, my friend asked if I had a relaxer. That’s when she told me that she had natural hair.

I’ve been natural for two years and I really like it. My friends and family think that it fits my style and personality more so than my relaxed hair. I love the versatility too, but I mainly do puffs. Everyone seems to like the puff. Overall, the response that I’ve received has been positive.”

“I work for a member of Congress who has sister-locks, so I knew that I wouldn’t receive push back for wearing my hair natural in the workplace…”
Washington, DC, Women

“I’ve been natural for ten years. I was motivated to go natural because I got a bad perm and when I went to college everyone was natural. Honestly, it was something that I didn’t know was a possibility but I tried it out and stuck with it. I was spending so much money trying to keep my hair straightened that wearing it natural was the most efficient way. I don’t miss waiting in the hair salon. Even when I do go to the salon, I don’t go on a Saturday because I realized that I could not continue to give my life over to a random salon where I’m not paying bills.

I work for a member of Congress who has sister-locks, so I knew that I wouldn’t receive push back for wearing my hair natural in the workplace. Prior to working for the congresswoman, I had internships in corporate environments and if someone said anything about my hair they never said it to my face. I went to college in Philly, so I saw a lot of judges with Afros and dreadlocks. The precedent was a little higher there compared to where I’m originally from down south. A lot of family members still don’t really get it, so you just have to be comfortable with yourself.”

“My aunt told me that she couldn’t comb through my hair anymore because my natural hair was growing out and for her to treat my hair better she was going to chop off all of the relaxed hair…”
Washington, DC, Women

“My aunt told me that she couldn’t comb through my hair anymore because my natural hair was growing out and for her to treat my hair better she was going to chop off all of the relaxed hair. It took some convincing, but I knew that I couldn’t do it anymore after I saw her struggling to comb through the relaxed hair so I told her to chop it off. That was in December 2014.

My aunt eventually ended up relaxing her and her daughters hair again. I don’t want to relax my hair, however. I just can’t maintain it anymore. I’ll be honest, the maintenance is a pain but I can’t put a relaxer back in my hair. It’s a little annoying to have to twist my hair every night, but I like it. I really enjoy it. I spent the last six to eight months with my hair in braids and twists because the humidity in Florida was terrible.”

“I started running and lost 10 lbs, but I had a relaxer. I wanted to figure something out because exercising and having a relaxer wasn’t going to work…”
Arkansas, Little Rock, Women

“I was a nutrition major in college, so I did a dietetic internship with a local medical school one summer. There were 12 of us and only two people of color. The other women in the program women were runners and really focused on exercise which inspired me to get into running as well. I started running and lost 10 lbs, but I had a relaxer. I wanted to figure something out because exercising and having a relaxer wasn’t going to work. I’d gotten to the point where I would work and look good body wise, but my hair always looked a mess. At that point, I realized that I wanted to go natural and did a ton of research on the process of transitioning. I expected to literally just wake up, shake my hair and go. To be honest, I thought that it was going to be easier but it was nothing like that at all.”

(Blooming Entrepreneurs) “I really felt defined by my hair and what it should like according to other people. I didn’t like having that feeling, so I chopped it off…”
Baltimore, Blooming Entrepreneurs, Maryland, Women, Women Owned Businesses

Visit That Someday is Tonight and Memory Maker Inc. to learn more about Chenire and how she helps people make a lasting impression. “This is my fourth year being natural, but I had a second big chop. Sometimes you get tired of the journey and want to chop it off again. I try not to be defined by my hair, however. I was at a point when I worked in corporate America...

“I was in a gospel choir in college and one of the singers had big, pretty natural hair. I remember thinking, ‘man, I wish that my hair could look like hers…”
Baltimore, Maryland, Women

“I was in a gospel choir in college and one of the singers had big, pretty natural hair. I remember thinking, ‘man, I wish that my hair could look like hers, but that just must be how her hair is’ not  realizing that the natural roots I kept perming was my natural hair growing. At that point, I decided to let it grow out. It really changed my life. It made me feel better about who I am as a black woman embracing the growth and beautifulness that God has given me.

I’ve been natural for five and a half years. I just cut it again a few months ago, so now I have this big mohawk. At first, I had a side cut but then I decided to let it grow out for a mohawk because it fits my face better. The mohawk is edgier and I recently celebrated another birthday, so I wanted something different. I think that being natural is so versatile. You can do anything and everything. I just absolutely love that women are embracing themselves and what God gave them.”

“One day it was red then it was black. After the black, I forgot that I dyed it red and bleached it, so it went pink…”
Baltimore, Maryland, Women

“I cut my hair a few months ago, but I haven’t permed it in a year. I had to cut it because it was breaking off really bad. I dyed it different colors nonstop. One day it was red then it was black. After the black, I forgot that I dyed it red and bleached it, so it went pink. It’s a long story, but I had to start loving my natural hair and cutting it gave me a new beginning.

When I started wearing my natural hair, I realized that I really like this — that this is me. At first it was weird because everyone was used to seeing me with long weave, nearly 40 inches down to my calf. The Brazilian hair was always the big thing, but after awhile you get tired of hair. As a makeup artist for Accessmatized, everyone loves my natural hair. I really began to like keeping it simple when I started working with Takia because she keeps it mellow, so it makes you feel as though you can tone it down a bit.”

(Blooming Entrepreneurs) “I thought that it would be a phase that I would quickly get over, but now I realize that I wouldn’t choose to wear my hair any other way…”
Baltimore, Blooming Entrepreneurs, Maryland, Women, Women Owned Businesses

Learn more about JohariMade jams and jellies by visiting here website. “I’ve been natural since I started my locs in 2008. I was very anti-locs for a long time, but my daughter was about eight years old when I let her start loc’ing her hair– she even did a book report about it. Initially, I couldn’t imagine loc’ing my hair because I could only think of Whoopi Goldberg’s loc style, but...

“My mom is Egyptian and my father is Sudanese. I’m really grateful that my mom never relaxed my hair or made me feel like I shouldn’t love my hair…”
Washington, DC, Women

“My mom is Egyptian and my father is Sudanese. I’m really grateful that my mom never relaxed my hair or made me feel like I shouldn’t love my hair. It’s straightened now, but my hair is really curly and I do love it. I think that I’ve learned to see the beauty in wearing both curly and straight styles. It’s crucial to understand that wearing your hair straight shouldn’t make you feel more or less confident. Overall, I’ve started to love myself more and I think living in a community where there are a lot of girls who are natural has been a positive influence because when I was younger a lot of my friends were white which influenced how I viewed myself as I got older. At the time, I clearly knew that I was different when it came to my hair and skin tone. It’s heartbreaking because I have relatives who bleach their skin and you see that they are more confident now because their skin is lighter. Now I have a lot of close friends who embrace being natural and that has had a positive influence on me to point where I am able to love myself and accept the fact that I’m unique. I shouldn’t see myself as less than someone else because I don’t fit this cookie cutter standard of beauty that doesn’t accept people who look like me.

I’ve started to wear my hair curly more often. I even do cornrows now. I’m forcing myself to learn more about my hair. During the summer, it was a huge shift for me because previously I wouldn’t have taken the time to twist or wrap my hair before going to sleep. I want to learn more about my hair and how I can take care of it instead of making myself look like something that I’m not. It’s crazy to me that colonialism has ingrained these crazy ideas into black people’s minds to the point where we’re turning into our worst enemy. This whole ‘light skin versus dark skin’ and ‘curly versus kinky’ stems from colonialism. To have someone from my own race say that I’m too dark is more disheartening to me than getting a racist comment from a white person.”