Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Zenda Walker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Zenda, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
When my daughter, Zara, was four she started having insecurities about her Afro-coily hair texture. She wanted her hair to look like her friends who had straight hair. It was an innocent toddler ask, as her friends that had straight hair wanted her coily hair. Kids always want what they don’t have! But as she was approaching kindergarten, there was a shift in her self-esteem and she started using words like “ugly” in reference to her cultural hairstyles. She started to withdraw and become unmotivated in school. Zara’s struggle felt familiar. I too had an incident when I was in kindergarten that caused me to also become insecure about my aesthetic. I soon learned that many Black people of all ages with curly, coily, Afro-coily hair have life experienced that cause them to have feelings of lack, self-hate, sadness and exclusion. When C.R.O.W.N. (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) research validated our experiences and legislation around hair discrimination became a global conversation in 2019, I became even more motivated to share our story and activate a movement to celebrate “hairitage.”
It was time to change the narrative for my daughte, heal my inner child, and acknowledge the inner child of so many. So during our hair wash days, I started to take more time to soothe Zara during the shampoo and conditioning process. As a hairstylist, I was able to educate her on the science behind textured hair and how to care for and style it. As a history enthusiast, I started researching the history behind our curly, coily, Afro-coily hair and together we celebrated how our hair connects to a bigger story-our ancestry.
I noticed an almost immediate change in Zara. She started to feel confident and express pride in the braided, twisted, and beaded styles I created each week. I realized that I could help other families to have more meaningful conversations around “hairitage”- the hair customs, traditions, practices and beliefs that are passed down from an ancestor or predecessor. I wrote a children’s book titled “Zara’s Wash Day”- a semi-autobiographical story that celebrates hairstyles of the African Diaspora. After self-publishing in 2021, the book went on to win the 2021 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Grand Prize and the door opened to visit school districts and libraries to talk about the lessons of the book. I soon began consulting with schools and beauty companies about culturally responsive content. By 2023, I signed a two-book deal with Running Press Kids. “Zara’s Wash Day” re-releases June 4, 2024 and “Zion’s Crown,” the second book in the Know Your Hairitage series (featuring a boy main character) debuts September 10, 2024.
What is most exciting about building the Know Your Hairitage brand is that I felt so helpless in 2020, struggling to find my place in the social justice movement. Writing “Zara’s Wash Day” during that challenging time was my way of creating a celebratory message that our children needed at that time…and still do. It is a love letter to the children who suffered in isolation and a healing for generations of people who longed for a books with characters that look like them. Helping children to cultivate a lifelong love of reading by publishing inclusive stories and supporting schools in building diverse classroom libraries is something I am truly proud of. Sharing this journey with my daughter is priceless.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I always had an affinity for styling hair. My childhood dolls all had the most popular hairstyles of the time and I even started doing my own hair at a young age. By the time I left for college, I became quite skillful in braiding and styling my naturally Afro-coily hair. I became the go-to stylist on my college campus because of the lack of textured-hair services that were available to Black students. When people started to compensating me to do what I loved, I knew that my hobby would evolve to something more. Even through my graduate studies, I couldn’t shake the desire to do hair professionally. I worked a corporate job by day and upon completing my Master’s degree enrolled in beauty school at night to get my cosmetology license. I took a huge risk and resigned form corporate America to work in the salon industry. I started from the ground up a salon assistant where I cleaned bathrooms, laundered towels, swept floors, and shampooed clients. I was determined to work my way onto the salon floor so I printed business cards, and handed them to anyone who would be a hair model. I worked after work on clients and accelerated my salon education to become a full-time stylist on the floor of one of the top salon’s in Boston. It was there that I was recruited to become an independent contractor for beauty brands in the Procter & Gamble portfolio. I held several positions in corporate beauty including sales, education, marketing, and research and development. I went on to work for several Fortune 500 companies in design and delivery of many products that you see on the shelves of your favorite beauty retailers.
It was during my time in corporate beauty that I realized there was a gap in how brands were developing product for diverse audiences. Quantitative data was helpful but qualitative data and cultural nuances were being missed and much of the miscommunication was due to the absence of representation in much of our formative education.
The Pandemic in 2020 was a pivotal time. Being forced into isolation, home schooling and baring witness to civil unrest and brutal injustice, was triggering. I marched with my daughter and other families in protest but felt helpless, scared and angry. I took more time with my daughter during our hair wash days as a form of therapy for us both. I massaged her scalp longer through the shampoos and conditioning moments. We watched our favorite movies and cuddled more. She always asked questions about her hair texture and why I styled her hair in braids, twists and Afro-puffs. I used to tell her, “It’s what my mom did and her mom, and it’s just our family tradition!” And then I realized, hair wash days is where I can win as a mom (because I was in no danger of winning home-school mom of the year). So we started to research more of the why. Why is our hair coily? Why is braiding such an important part of our family tradition. The answers led us to a glorious ancestral journey that we could be proud of. My daughter instantly became more confident about her cultural hairstyles, and hair wash days were never the same. I realized, I could help other families to thrive and celebrate “hairitage,” and “Zara’s Wash Day” was born. My children’s books are the foundation for Know Your Hairitage Consulting which also includes insights research, curriculum for school districts and brand strategy for corporations who seek to develop or enhance inclusion initiatives.
We believe that affirming a person’s cultural identity is critical to advancing educational outcomes and connecting with your ideal customer. If you are looking for assistance with audience insights, curriculum development, education panels, employee resource group programming, corporate messaging and brand strategy we’d like to hold hands with you in the journey. Subscribe to www.knowyourhairitage.com or send an inquiry to [email protected].
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
On my journey to becoming an award-winning author and business owner, I had to learn to embrace fear but not allow it to deter me. I sat on my finished manuscript for three months because I was scared to hit the publish button. I was scared of becoming public and vulnerable. I was scared of people not liking the book, but I may have even feared adoration and success and what comes with it. I learned to do it scared. I learned to take fear along for the ride and to buckle it in the back seat. I learned to own the driver’s seat.
I also had a misconception that everyone winning awards in the media was just so awesome that they continued to be celebrated for their superior talent. Yes many people who are rewarded most likely are awesome and have amazing talents. But I learned that you actually have to believe in yourself to pursue the accolades you want. I applied for the literary awards I won and in some cases paid an entry fee. It was the belief in myself that was a critical step in the path to being a celebrated author.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Becoming an author was my pivot. I became comfortable working in the beauty industry but always felt like I could do more. My books and consulting is the perfect marriage of all the skills I acquired from playing with my dolls hair, to being the college campus hairstylist, corporate educator, to now an author and corporate consultant. Entrepreneurship has required an entirely new level of emotional intelligence, resilience and business acumen. I’m learning so much about myself, business and how to balance family life. I believe that the rejection and mistakes along the way truly prepared me to launch my books with excellence. I’m excited to share both “Zara’s Wash Day” and “Zion’s Crown” with the world!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.knowyourhairitage.com
- Instagram: @authorzendawalker @know_your_hairitage
- Facebook: Know Your Hairitage
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zendawalker/
- Twitter: @knowurhairitage
- Youtube: Know Your Hairitage
Image Credits
Pink dress: Maya Darasaw, Madworks Photography Zenda & Zara: Maya Darasaw, Madworks Photography Zara’s Wash Day Cover: Publisher-Running Press Kids (Illustrator: Princess Karibo) Zion’s Crown Cover: Publisher-Running Press Kids (Illustrator: Princess Karibo)