Robyn Morey’s original idea was to open her own hair salon.
Morey styles hair out of her Buffalo home. Her 16-year-old daughter is also learning cosmetology. Morey wanted to open a hair salon where she and her daughter could one day work side by side.
But, as her daughter, Nevaeh Dowell, went through cosmetology school, she complained to her mother that the school wasn’t providing products for natural hair textures and wasn’t teaching students Black hairstyles. As Morey spoke to more cosmetology students, she realized there was a local need to train people to style Black hair.
So Morey changed her plan. She now has her sights set on opening a school where stylists can learn Black hairstyles that aren’t taught in cosmetology schools, such as cornrows, dreadlocks, braids and ponytails.
What helped give Morey the confidence to make the shift was what she learned through the EforAll Business Accelerator program, which aims to help people in underrepresented communities open and grow their own businesses.