[Music]
when we were born into this world our
hair was free free to be curly straight
black red blonde and even bald and to be
culturally accepted without hair
judgment that is until our hair
sacrifices its power to our parents
fashion trends religious beliefs and
cultural traditions at times we are not
permitted to wear our hair for ourselves
or maybe we lack the courage to be
different I’ve been a salon owner for 17
years I have witnessed many hair
revelations let’s just talk about the
struggle between parents and children
searching to find themselves Kelly a
client of mine came into the salon with
her teenage daughter as Kelly stood
hovering over the salon chair I heard
her say shaved on one side absolutely
not
what were your teachers think I watched
as her daughter left heavy with
disappointment as if you took a piece of
her away this struck something very
personal in me I have two biracial
daughters with extremely curly hair
searching to find themselves in a
straight hair world my teenage daughter
has half her head shaved
she says mom it helps me connect with my
music and feel more secure my
seven-year-old wants black hair with
blue ends it matters how kids feel about
their hair according to the study at
Yale University a bad hair day
intensifies self-criticism bad hair can
cause us to feel more negative about
ourselves
bad hair isn’t that when hair lacks the
connection of our inner self hair is an
extension of our personality it is a
creative element that helps us express
and gets us through hard times need I
mentioned breakups I can relate to these
super creative kids the ones that
struggle early on the nonconformist that
know they’re different they’re
conservative parent doesn’t understand
why they want blue hair and a mohawk I
get it because I was that creative kid
see when I was in school I was diagnosed
with a learning disability dyslexia and
ADHD they stuck me in a small classroom
with an invisible sign above the door
that to me said stupid this is how I
felt the whole world will see me worse
this is how I began to see myself until
I was 11 years old
and my life would change dramatically I
bought my first box of hair color my
friend and I raced to her bathroom and
colored my hair blue black I finally
felt free even though I knew my mother
would kill me but I was expressing my
anger and my frustration through the
canvas of my hair I finally felt more
confident being me and now my hair fit
my badass Rockstar image
[Applause]
my mother didn’t know that I was
expressing and communicating my anger
and frustration through my hair my hair
was like a piece of art it was part of
my soul after that color change my
spirit was lifted I now wore the hair I
am I spent the rest of my school days
transforming any willing participants
leaving behind many unhappy parents
little did I know that this would lead
me to this incredible journey in my
early 20s I worked for world-renowned
stylist Vidal Sassoon I travelled the
world teaching working on hair shows
this experience has deepened my
perspective of helping others find the
hair that will bring them to life when
we silence the creativity of our hair
expression this suppresses our human
potential
nothing reveals this conformity more
than our high school yearbook pictures
this is the fear of not fitting in or
worse taking years to discover who we
really are this struggle will not end
when they leave school
I see many young adults step out of the
shadow of their parents and into their
first job ready to experiment and
express who they are
that is until their hair boss shows up
Tara a long time kind of mine came into
the salon and expressed to me how she
felt about curly hair in the workplace
she said Christine to me
I have to wear my hair straight because
it looks more professional but what
about the fact I’m curly I’m not
straight I just want to be me oh let’s
talk about marriage hair when our hair
just doesn’t stand a chance our husband
or wife acts as if they own it I was
having a first-time consultation with a
client Kathy at first she said I’m ready
for a change I could feel her energy and
I could see her excitement in her eyes
and then she said if it was up to me I
would have cut it a long time ago but if
I do my husband won’t find me attractive
and then there’s my client Kenny
Christine I love my hair long but my
wife she likes it like this by
suppressing who we want to be for others
are we building hair resentment
sometimes during our most challenging
life experiences our hair accelerates
the exploration of our identity process
by falling out turning gray and becoming
brittle losing hair could possibly be
the most vulnerable position that I find
people in some may bulb through alopecia
others through aging and many through
their battle with cancer
I have guided and cared for my clients
up until their very last cut when there
is nothing left and they are completely
exposed this reveals the side of them
that
have yet to know Sarah shared with me
how she felt she said Christine when I
lost my hair to cancer I felt like I
could conquer the world I didn’t want to
wear a wig because I didn’t want to
pretend she said some people lose their
hair and lose their identity I found
mine when people come in to see me they
have this expectation that my job is to
make them beautiful that is not how I
see my role my mission is to help people
discover how their hair can connect to
their identity and to find the power to
be themselves whether your hair is curly
straight synthetic artificially colored
covered or bald your hair is the
manifestation of your individual
expression when we own our hair we own
who we are
thank you
[Applause]
when we were born into this world our
hair was free free to be curly straight
black red blonde and even bald and to be
culturally accepted without hair
judgment that is until our hair
sacrifices its power to our parents
fashion trends religious beliefs and
cultural traditions at times we are not
permitted to wear our hair for ourselves
or maybe we lack the courage to be
different I’ve been a salon owner for 17
years I have witnessed many hair
revelations let’s just talk about the
struggle between parents and children
searching to find themselves Kelly a
client of mine came into the salon with
her teenage daughter as Kelly stood
hovering over the salon chair I heard
her say shaved on one side absolutely
not
what were your teachers think I watched
as her daughter left heavy with
disappointment as if you took a piece of
her away this struck something very
personal in me I have two biracial
daughters with extremely curly hair
searching to find themselves in a
straight hair world my teenage daughter
has half her head shaved
she says mom it helps me connect with my
music and feel more secure my
seven-year-old wants black hair with
blue ends it matters how kids feel about
their hair according to the study at
Yale University a bad hair day
intensifies self-criticism bad hair can
cause us to feel more negative about
ourselves
bad hair isn’t that when hair lacks the
connection of our inner self hair is an
extension of our personality it is a
creative element that helps us express
and gets us through hard times need I
mentioned breakups I can relate to these
super creative kids the ones that
struggle early on the nonconformist that
know they’re different they’re
conservative parent doesn’t understand
why they want blue hair and a mohawk I
get it because I was that creative kid
see when I was in school I was diagnosed
with a learning disability dyslexia and
ADHD they stuck me in a small classroom
with an invisible sign above the door
that to me said stupid this is how I
felt the whole world will see me worse
this is how I began to see myself until
I was 11 years old
and my life would change dramatically I
bought my first box of hair color my
friend and I raced to her bathroom and
colored my hair blue black I finally
felt free even though I knew my mother
would kill me but I was expressing my
anger and my frustration through the
canvas of my hair I finally felt more
confident being me and now my hair fit
my badass Rockstar image
[Applause]
my mother didn’t know that I was
expressing and communicating my anger
and frustration through my hair my hair
was like a piece of art it was part of
my soul after that color change my
spirit was lifted I now wore the hair I
am I spent the rest of my school days
transforming any willing participants
leaving behind many unhappy parents
little did I know that this would lead
me to this incredible journey in my
early 20s I worked for world-renowned
stylist Vidal Sassoon I travelled the
world teaching working on hair shows
this experience has deepened my
perspective of helping others find the
hair that will bring them to life when
we silence the creativity of our hair
expression this suppresses our human
potential
nothing reveals this conformity more
than our high school yearbook pictures
this is the fear of not fitting in or
worse taking years to discover who we
really are this struggle will not end
when they leave school
I see many young adults step out of the
shadow of their parents and into their
first job ready to experiment and
express who they are
that is until their hair boss shows up
Tara a long time kind of mine came into
the salon and expressed to me how she
felt about curly hair in the workplace
she said Christine to me
I have to wear my hair straight because
it looks more professional but what
about the fact I’m curly I’m not
straight I just want to be me oh let’s
talk about marriage hair when our hair
just doesn’t stand a chance our husband
or wife acts as if they own it I was
having a first-time consultation with a
client Kathy at first she said I’m ready
for a change I could feel her energy and
I could see her excitement in her eyes
and then she said if it was up to me I
would have cut it a long time ago but if
I do my husband won’t find me attractive
and then there’s my client Kenny
Christine I love my hair long but my
wife she likes it like this by
suppressing who we want to be for others
are we building hair resentment
sometimes during our most challenging
life experiences our hair accelerates
the exploration of our identity process
by falling out turning gray and becoming
brittle losing hair could possibly be
the most vulnerable position that I find
people in some may bulb through alopecia
others through aging and many through
their battle with cancer
I have guided and cared for my clients
up until their very last cut when there
is nothing left and they are completely
exposed this reveals the side of them
that
have yet to know Sarah shared with me
how she felt she said Christine when I
lost my hair to cancer I felt like I
could conquer the world I didn’t want to
wear a wig because I didn’t want to
pretend she said some people lose their
hair and lose their identity I found
mine when people come in to see me they
have this expectation that my job is to
make them beautiful that is not how I
see my role my mission is to help people
discover how their hair can connect to
their identity and to find the power to
be themselves whether your hair is curly
straight synthetic artificially colored
covered or bald your hair is the
manifestation of your individual
expression when we own our hair we own
who we are
thank you
[Applause]
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