When I began my curly hair journey, I had a few people close to me who were always rooting for me and encouraging me to keep going. Starting out, I had a lot of days of transition with very unruly looking hair and for many, many years, I showed up to work with wet hair. I’m lucky that none of my employers marked me off for doing that. In fact, my last employer was incredibly curl friendly and loved that multiple employees had different textures.
The more I got into embracing my curls, the more I met people because of my documentation. I’ve been adamant about learning as much as I can about curly hair and finding platforms that covered not only curls, but also diversity and inclusion.
In a recent video, I shared a connection I made with Yoly, founder of The Curl World. After realizing we shared two common goals: to expose the beauty of diversity in curls and to encourage dialogue about the culture of living with curly hair, I was honored that Yoly asked that I become The Curl World’s Cambodian Ambassador!
Because of that, I was really inspired to create this post and go over what it takes to build a curly hair tribe and establish your core group of people who will appreciate and support you in your efforts to embracing your natural texture.
MEDIA PUBLICATIONS
There are quite a few media publications I follow that specialize in topics catered towards curly hair. There is a wealth of information on learning how to care for and style curly hair and I sometimes find myself commenting on some articles I find beneficial. Take a look at the bylines and see who’s writing these articles and reach out!
Check these curly hair publications out:
CURLY HAIR ENTHUSIASTS
In today’s world, bloggers, vloggers, influencers and celebrities that document their lifestyle are a fantastic way to find fellow curl friends. These are some of my favorite curly hair enthusiasts that I trust, admire, and are part of my inspiration board:
- Honest Liz (also mentioned in my last post about her efforts in providing greater access to curly hair products in India!)
- Ayesha Malik
- Tashi Rodriguez
- Tracee Elliss Ross
- Cleo Wade
- Kelly Shahbazian
- Merian, (Bounce Curl Founder)
CURLY HAIR BRANDS
I’m a huge advocate for following brands that create products specifically for curly hair, for obvious reasons! These are companies who are constantly looking for ways to provide you with the products you want/need to get your dream curls. There are so many out there and while I don’t know them all, here are a few that I admire:
- Miss Jessie’s (I did a series of posts featuring Miss Jessie’s products as this was one of the first brands I used when beginning my journey)
- DevaCurl (brand I used during the second half of my journey)
- Bounce Curl
- SheaMoisture
- Innersense
STYLISTS THAT SPECIALIZE IN CURLY CUTS
When you’re in need of some serious hair inspiration, going through the feed of a stylist is one of the best ways to create your own hair goals
- Curls One on One, a salon in Hollywood
- Rëzo cut, a salon based in New Jersey
- Melanie Corcoran, she’s my current stylist, the one that gives me the dream cut
- Krista Leavitt, a curl specialist in Canada
JOIN A CURLY HAIR SUPPORT GROUP ON FB
There are five I’m part of currently that I’ve enjoyed being on.
- Curly Girl (Method) Support Group International
- OUR Healthy Hair Journey
- Curly Girl Method Asia Support Group
- Wavy & Curly & Coily Connect
- Curl Community – Where Life and Curls Meet
SUPPORT DIVERSITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS
There are quite a few organizations that focus on diversity and inclusion, but the ones specifically with programs and services catered towards the curly community include
My list of identifying who’s pro-curly hair is just one step! Once you have an idea of who you want to be in touch with, be sure to follow, engage and create a conversation! I often discover more curl friends to make just by looking at other accounts and maintaining a dialogue.
So what about you? Are any of the places and people that I’ve mentioned already on your radar? Who are you going to start connecting with today?
