Today we’d like to introduce you to Shayla Meeks.
Hi Shayla, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My journey started when I first went natural at 14 years old. Before that, I had been getting relaxers my entire life like many of my Black-female peers. I had no idea that my hair was curly. Isn’t that wild? I was introduced to my natural texture when the natural hair movement started to really spread in the early 2000s. My mom decided that she was going to transition to natural and I remember asking her, “how did you get your hair to be curly?” Her answer was intriguing and exciting to me, “…you know that your hair is naturally curly right?” That’s really all it took for me to be set on growing out and exploring my real hair texture. I remember the first day that I did the big chop. I was 14 years old and I had a mini TWA (teeny weeny afro), when I looked at myself in the mirror, that was the first time I ever considered myself beautiful.
As I grew my fro out, I was cool just letting it be an afro pretty much and I didn’t shy away from frizz despite the comments I would get about my hair texture. Apparently, it was cool to go natural only if you had a curl pattern that was looser. I didn’t really care though. I still wore my hair the way that I saw fit. I experimented with many different styles throughout the years but I still had a special place in my heart for my fro. Erykah Badu was always it for me hairstyling-wise. She would show up to red carpets with a big kinky afro and it was EVERYTHING to me. I always had a knack for doing hair so I really wanted to wear my hair like Erykah Badu’s but it was so difficult to find kinkier hair extensions. I decided to take some braiding hair commonly used for kinky twists, crochet it on my head and leave the hair loose to get my Badu look. That was IT for me and kind of became my signature hairstyle. When I started modeling and posting my photos online wearing this big kinky hair people started to notice and began asking me how I got my hair that way. So I started creating YouTube tutorials. Next thing you know I was gaining followers and views by the thousands and now here I am.
I still have such a passion for kinky textured hair. I think there is still a stigma around wearing afro textures but I see the progress. People always expect you to define your curls but the fro will always be my first love! Right now I’ve been doing so many things, learning a lot about myself, my creativity, and the direction that I want my life to go. Most importantly the impact I want to have on my community. I finally have a plan and it starts with Mekoh’s Curls. Mekoh’s Curls is still in the works because it’s so special to me and I want to make sure that it is exactly how I intend. Just know that in everything that I do, I have the little Black girl in mind with the coily, kinky afro hair!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
One thing that I learned about life is that nothing is ever a smooth road. It’s just not how God intended things to be and there is a reason for that. Mekoh’s Curls has been at the forefront of my mind for over 2 years now and it has been such a rollercoaster for me. In the social media age that we are in, there are so many outside influences that make things even more confusing for a 20-something that is still trying to figure things out. I’ve gone back and forth many times about where I want to take Mekoh’s Curls, which has been my biggest obstacle. I really had to take a step back and think about the why behind what I had planned. I realized that money is not the motivation for me, popularity is not the motivation but purpose is. If it’s not purposeful then it’s just not right for me.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m naturally creative at heart and I am always going to create. I never really anticipated me wanting to wear my hair like Erykah Badu’s to influence anyone but it did. In the beginning, there was no plan, it was just me expressing myself but I’m so proud of myself for having the courage to be authentic. Regardless of what everyone else was doing or what was trendy. I believe that I played a role (even if it was just a small one) in shifting beauty standards for women in the Black community with my videos. Now there are hundreds of Black women on YouTube creating tutorials on how to get a big kinky afro using extensions. Big brands are even creating kinky textured wigs! Seeing the progress is amazing! But we have so much more to do.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I’m all open arms and love! Follow me on social media, Instagram is the easiest way to get in contact with me (@me.koh). Search my channel on Youtube: Mekoh and check out some of the videos I discussed! Mekoh’s Curls will be re-launching any day now so please stay tuned. If you have any dope concepts that share my vision/mission you’d like for me to be a part of let me know. I’m always ready to create but most importantly I’m always down to connect with other dope, like-minded people!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/me.koh/
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/kH4COOF1Ouk
