Today we’d like to introduce you to Shakita Ward.
Shakita, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The SuperNatural Chix journey began when my four years old daughter, Carstyn, came to me crying because she wanted her hair to flow down her back like her classmates. She was so upset that her hair was curly and not straight. I tried to encourage her and reaffirm how beautiful her coils were, but standing there with a full sew in of Brazilian straight hair wasn’t very convincing. I realized that I had to show her how beautiful our coils were. I decided that day to go natural. I shaved my entire head and was left with a low Caesar cut. She was blown away. Although she didn’t like the idea of me cutting my locs, I knew that she would understand soon. As my kinky coils grew, she fell more and more in love with the texture of my hair, which inadvertently cause her to fall in love with her own. She was then satisfied with her beautiful coils and no longer wanted her hair straightened.
After a few months of being natural, I had accomplished my goal of reassuring her that her hair was beautiful, but my kinks had reached the dreadful “awkward” stage of growth. The awkward stage is when your natural hair is no longer that cute little pixie cut and not quite long enough to do much with. I wanted to get extensions, but I couldn’t revert back to straight hair and ruin the progress that I had made. So I searched until if found hair extensions that matched my texture. I found a vendor that offered these extensions and decided that it would be an amazing idea to offer them to other kinky women with the same dilemma. From there SuperNatural Chix was born.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road to success hasn’t been easy. Starting a new venture takes time and dedication and of course capital. Our family has had to make so many financial sacrifices to jump-start SuperNatural Chix, but it has been so worth it.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We offer Natural Textured Clip ins Extensions, Wefted Bundles, Ponytails, and Wigs. We have every texture from 3A-4C covered. Our hair extensions are made specifically for Kinky, Coily, and Curly hair textures. The goal is to help women of color embrace and enhance their natural textured hair instead of straightening it and adjusting it to society’s standards. Business is going very well. We exceeded our one-year financial goal within six months of launching. Our hair has been used by Felicia Leatherwood, hairstylist to Issa Rae and other members on the insecure crew, and so many other celebrity stylists. We look forward to what’s to come for our Brand.
What were you like growing up?
I’ve always had a love for hair. When my mother was a cosmetology student and she brought home some mannequins and I remember teaching myself to cornrow. At the age of 12, I was the known neighborhood braid lady. I braided all of the boy’s hair in the neighborhood and when I learned how to add extensions, I braided the girl’s hair too. I had a full-blown braid shop running in my mom’s garage. I would charge $10 ahead and that’s when I learned how to be an entrepreneur. I’ve always been a hard worker and a young hustler. In 2009 graduated from The University of Texas at San Antonio with a Bachelor’s in Business Management and Entrepreneurship. After college, I worked as and Investment Banker for JP Morgan Chase for seven years, but I somehow always knew I would end up in the beauty industry.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.supernaturalchix.com
- Email: loveyourhair@supernaturalchix.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/supernaturalchix
- Facebook: facebook.com\supernaturalchix
Image Credit:
Brantley Studios
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