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

Renee, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

We’re pioneers in Plant-based hair color! We’re the first Loc & Natural Hair Salon to offer a full range of Bleach-free, Plant-based hair colors. How it differs from conventional hair color:

•Contains NO bleach

•Safer for hair, less potential for damage

•Safer for client & stylist (less toxic to scalp & less fumes)

•Eco-friendly, sustainable, from renewable sources

•Contains 90% plant-derived, minimally processed ingredients

In light of several class-action lawsuits involving harmful hair products, there is growing demand for safer and sustainable options in the beauty industry. We are at the forefront of this movement, creating a full range of beautiful hair colors that help protect both our clients and the environment!

Renee, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Sure, I’m the owner and founder of Naturalcentric Hair Salon, a full service Loc and Natural Hair Salon in Bowie, MD serving the DC Metropolitan area since 2002.

Since the hair industry has long been exclusively focused on hair styling via caustic chemicals, Naturalcentric was one of the first Natural Hair Salons established for clients with textured hair who wanted healthier and more sustainable options, an alternative to mainstream hairstyles that caused severe burns, damage, and hair loss.

As a licensed hair professional, I’m an award-winning Master Pioneer ™️, Master Loctician, Natural Stylist, Barber, Braid Stylist and educator. I’m the recipient of the exclusive SELF Image Award for “Natural Hair Industry Leader” and the prestigious “Natural Hair Oscar”—Master Pioneer Award (2023). I’m a four-time instructor at the annual Happily Natural Day, a three-time presenter at the SELF Image Awards Foundation Gala, instructor at the annual DC Love Locs Expo, Madam Walker’s Braidery and School, and others.

I’m currently pioneering the area of Plant-based hair color, a revolutionary approach to permanent hair color that utilizes no bleach, and plant-based, eco-friendly ingredients to attain vibrant colors, while also promoting optimal hair health for our clients. Internationally published, my work has been featured in Sophisticate’s Black Hair Magazine countless times, Drum Magazine (of South Africa), Essence.com, Hair.com by L’Oréal, and others.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Any business that survived “The shutdown” has a story! The Covid crisis was the scariest time in business for myself and many others. A federally mandated shutdown, ongoing overhead costs, new sanitation mandates but the needed products on back order everywhere for weeks, clients with deposits on the books for services in limbo with no way to ensure when those services could be delivered, colleagues permanently closing their businesses, years-long suppliers going out of business or implementing sweeping price and policy changes, and personally dealing with the illnesses and sudden deaths of loved ones. Simultaneously!

Calling it a pivot seems quaint now. With a brick-and-mortar location to maintain, but no way to predict how long our doors had to remain closed, we found some solutions! We began offering virtual hair appointments for the first time ever. With severely limited resources, clients needed help in maintaining their hair until in-person appointments resumed. So, we had interested clients send a list of the products and tools they had at home, and we guided them through a hairstyle via video chat! Many of these clients had NEVER shampooed their own hair, but we made it work with what they had on hand. We had some out-of-state clients, some couples, some mother/daughter duos, and in between questions, comments and belly laughs, we were able to safely produce a decent hair session for clients who still had to look presentable for work video calls. Definitely a defining moment in business!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think our reputation was largely built the old-fashioned way, through consistently providing quality services. As a business well established before social media, word-of-mouth was the original “viral post”, and online reviews have been the digital version. We currently have over 50% of our clientele with 10 years or more at our business, and we are eternally appreciative! One client has been with us over 20 years, and in that time has referred at least five family members, several friends, coworkers, and even passersby! We also have many out-of-town clients who travel more than two hours one-way to see us from all around the country– Philadelphia, Connecticut, New Mexico, Ohio, Tennessee, California, and Georgia to name a few, including two international clients! All of this helps tell the story of our consistency and top-quality services.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.naturalcentric.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/naturalcentric
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/naturalcentric.hair.salon
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-prophet-13365092

Image Credits

Photography: Keston Duke