
The beauty industry and the church are the only two institutions left to be overtly segregated. Racism exists everywhere; however, both the salon and the church have been left ungoverned, with salons lacking the policies to suggest or enforce the level of diversity and inclusivity needed to recognize the industry’s full potential.
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Keya Neal (@keyaartistically) shares insight on the segregation within the beauty industry and how to make effective change to make your salon environment more diverse.
The beauty industry and the church are the only two institutions left to be overtly segregated. Racism exists everywhere; however, both the salon and the church have been left ungoverned, with salons lacking the policies to suggest or enforce the level of diversity and inclusivity needed to recognize the industry’s full potential.
The question then becomes, “How do we effectively implement diversity and sensitivity training into the salon environment, which has segregation ingrained in its existence?” To begin the process, we must understand the ‘why’ behind the salon industry’s segregated state.
Then and Now
Historically, the church and the salon were the only places where Black people were allowed to congregate and ‘let their hair down.’ This racial divide was intentional during the enslavement and segregation periods, and it endured due to systemic racism that manifested in the industry’s lack of education on textured hair, unchecked biases and the exclusion of Black stylists and salons from the industry’s mainstream market. This systemic racism embedded itself in the industry’s culture, fostering an “it is what it is” mentality. The world progressed, while salons remained stagnant. Then came the murder of George Floyd. (I know we don’t like this conversation, but stick it out).
In simple terms, the beauty industry began to confront its own shortcomings. It had failed to embrace the full spectrum of beauty, promoting only a narrow and biased definition across gender, sexuality, ability, religion, age and culture.
The potential to recognize beauty is limitless, but the mental and emotional summations of our biases and stereotypes keep us from fully blossoming into the most comfortable place on earth. In turn, the salon has become a place of pain and contention for a lot of clients seeking services.
Salon’s Response in Diversity
But the industry has responded! We are witnessing more diversity and inclusion efforts across every corner of the industry, with salons being one of the most progressive sectors. The implementation of diversity and sensitivity training in salons is crucial for creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for both employees and guests.
As a diversity, equity and inclusion coach and therapist, I often get this one burning question: “How can we effectively implement diversity and sensitivity training into the salons?” The first thing I would suggest is leading from the front, otherwise you won’t be taken seriously.
Leadership First
As the leader, you must DO THE PERSONAL WORK! This includes the following:
- Evolve into a diverse minded person, not just in image. Take an active role on your anti-racism journey by reading books, joining groups and watching movies/documentaries that focus on people unlike yourself.
- Be mindful of others and exude the model inclusive behavior you want to see in the world.
- Take inventory of where you can invoke more diversity in yourself and your business. This should start to get easy as the self-reflection process begins to illuminate dark spaces you may have not acknowledged before. This includes all aspects of your business module, including education and skill, clientele, employees, menu offerings, products and social media.
The Team Needs To Be Involved
Your team must have buy-in by agreeing, contributing and executing the plan that you have set forth. Otherwise, the battle now becomes internal. Create a new salon culture and reevaluate your core values. Share the benefits of being a diverse salon. You must also foster a safe space for staff and guests to discuss and give feedback. Set new standards for behavior and the consequences for not adhering. Have a plan of action for conflict resolution before it happens. This goes for the staff and the clients.
Implement Diverse Education
Schedule regular diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and sensitivity trainings. This is an opportunity to collectively and individually evolve into a well-rounded and inclusive human. Trainings should be mandatory for personal development, not be seen as punishment, and consistent. Offer training on implicit and unconscious bias that offer strategies for overcoming them. Cultural competence training is equally as important, as it helps people gain better understanding of different cultural practices and traditions, as well as hair care needs.
Seek diverse education. Everyone should know on a basic level how to tend to various textures and types of hair while catering to the diverse needs of all guests, especially a niche stylist. If you are a specialist, you should be able to execute a cut, color, style or add extensions to any texture that shows up in your chair.
Seek out education facilitated by people who don’t look like you for texture specific and niche classes such as color, cutting and styling. This will disrupt the comfortability of the familiar and introduce you to new knowledge or perspective. It also places the educator in an authoritative space, which will disrupt the subconscious bias that suggests that Black educators are subpar.
Diversify Your Hiring Practices
Be intentional about hiring BECAUSE of various differences, not IN SPITE OF. Implement hiring practices that do not lean on subjective bias, such as removing names from applications and only considering qualifications.
Be intentional about where you source your hires. Be sure to post openings in diverse hiring pools and attend diverse events.
Partnerships and Community Engagement
Encourage the salon to engage with local diverse communities and organizations. Partnering, attending and supporting initiatives that promote and amplify diversity are a great way to solidify the efforts of the salon family. Consider allowing each staff member the opportunity to choose and create cultural activities for everyone. This could be an in-salon session on a hair tip or trick based on their hair care or service or a culture themed lunch! Allow them to be creative. It’s important for the staff to learn, celebrate and embrace other cultures and traditions. This will strengthen the bonds among you. Sidenote: Be mindful not to lean too heavily on your Black stylists for free texture education. Let them share what and how much at their own discretion. Pay for education.
Close
I hope you found this article helpful on your journey to true inclusivity! When it comes to DEI and anti-racism, a constant state of self-reflection and awareness are key to your growth. Remember, you can turn a misstep into an opportunity to “fail forward” by being receptive to feedback and learning how to make better, safer decisions in the future.
Diversity In Person
If you’re interested in starting or advancing your own anti-racism journey and strengthening your skills with texture, consider attending the Texture VS Race Summit in Baltimore, Maryland from March 17 -19, 2024.
For three days, stylists from across the country will gather for hands-on education with texture, hearts-in conversations surrounding inclusion and diversity and mindsets to make the shift towards a more inclusive and safer industry for all.
Visit https://www.kolourkulture.com/tvr-summit-mar-24, @texturevsrace and @keyaartistically for more information.