We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amber Smith. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amber below.

Amber, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

Many times in the beauty industry people like me are solely described as “hairstylists” like it’s just a job. What other creatives fail to realize is that there is an art to what we do. We don’t just do hair, we create works of art that can be worn on one’s crown. We use all different types of mediums that fall outside of the traditional hairstyling tool bag like: wire, pipe cleaners, hot glue guns, foam balls, yarn, crochet hooks, etc.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Amber Nicole and I classify myself as a Creative Beauty Artist and entrepreneur. I got into my industry as a child. I’ve always been good with my hands from visual to culinary arts. I took a liking to hair and beauty as a child. At the age of 12 I completed my first work as a stylist doing my own hair with twisted extensions. From there I was picked up by an award winning, Essence magazine featured salon called Kinks Couture at the age of 15 where I worked as a Braiding Specialist. The owner AnneMarie Clinton mentored me and treated me just as any other working stylist in the salon. When went to college at The University of Florida I figured that I would just do hair to make money  pay my way through school. That turned into taking the university by storm as a traditional Hairstylist.

During my junior year of college (2020) Covid struck and everything got shut down. In this time my business plan started coming to me. I wanted to use my talent as a stylist to create work that changed the traditional way people with textured hair expressed themselves through their appearance. With the help of my sisters Jade Smith and Lashay Stokes we came up With the name Created to Create By Amber Nicole. By the end of my senior year of college the business grew into a team of 5 and we opened our first beauty studio in Gainesville, Florida. We went on to use our resources to work with other creatives and produce our own creative shoots.

Once I graduated and my lease was up, I decided to take a leap of faith and move up to New York City in fall of 2022. Since then we have worked in Film, Music, creative photoshoots, Fashion Week, and even on Broadway for “JaJa’s African Hair Braiding”! Our mission is to “uniquely and sustainably revolutionize the beauty industry through cultivating creativity”. We create styles that can be classified as art in my eyes. We tend to cater primarily to people of color, and encourage them to embrace the natural textures of their hair without altering their look to meet Eurocentric beauty standards. It’s amazing to see us embracing our natural roots genuinely feeling confident in a world that doesn’t always accept our kinks and curls. we can be fashionable and true to our roots the same time!

We also make sustainable beauty products that we use in house on all of our clients. We just launched our first product in December of 2023 called “Bio Butter” and it has taken off! This is only the beginning and we plan on taking this international!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Many black and brown individuals whether they be business people, athletes, actors, teachers, etc live in a world where they are taught that their hair must be “tamed” or fit a certain look that is heavily influenced by the Eurocentric beauty standard. Our hair is criminalized in workforce and not adequately represented in the entertainment industry. Since I was a little girl I falsely believed that big events or special occasions (graduation, prom, weddings,etc) meant my hair needed to be processed in order to tame the way my tresses naturally flowed out of my head. I want change this narrative Create art that changes the way the world sees our hair.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding thing is when I work with a client who has never truly embraced their natural roots and create a style that they feel confident in. I’ve literally had people in the entertainment industry tell me that they’ve never worked with a stylist who could genuinely make them look good or feel confident without a wig or processing their hair to give them a more “refined” look.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.createdtocreateofficial.com
• Instagram: @createdtocreateofficial
• Facebook: Createdtocreateofficial
• Youtube: @createdtocreatebyambernicole
• Other: TikTok @created2createofficial

Image Credits
Juvair Andrews: @creativedemands on ig Mecca McDonald: @by.pedestal on ig Tushouney Phillips: @tushouney on ig