MACON, Ga. — A Macon woman returned home to open a hair salon specializing in treating natural hair styles for black women.
Jasmine Carson opened her Creationz That Jazz salon at 4500 Billy Williamson Drive, Suite 3.
"Growing up as a little girl I was picked on for my natural hair," Carson said.
She went through what a lot of Black women know all too well, learning how to embrace their natural hair.
"I forced my dad to give me a relaxer. Think it was like the 6th or 7th grade, and from there I had straight hair. In beauty school, when they teach you the chemicals that are in a relaxer are horrible and everything that touches your scalp actually goes to your blood flow," Carson said.
She left Macon to pursue a job working in the accounts payable department at CNN in Atlanta for about a decade. She came back home to follow her passion of doing hair, specializing in natural styles for black women.
"No heat. I stopped doing flat irons here. So I only use the blow dryers. So, I do all protective styles. Curls, bantu knots, two-strand twists, knotless braids. I try to focus on our natural hair styles, going back to our culture in Africa," she said.
She works with clients of all ages. Encouraging them to embrace their natural styles.
"I know in 2021 our hair is not as accepted as we want it to be, but here that's what I focus on even with my children and my adults. I want them to feel beautiful with their natural curly hair that God gave them," Carson said.
She's using her platform to promote black history in the community, hosting her first drive-thru movie event in Carolyn Clayton Park, showing the film "Hidden Figures" based on the first black, female mathematicians to work at NASA.
"It wasn't long ago that our ancestors made these sacrifices for us to sit in the positions. I wouldn't be able to have my own this business if it wasn't for Martin Luther King or Malcolm X. I wouldn't have this opportunity," Carson said.
Her drive-thru movie event is next Friday, Feb. 26 at Carolyn Clayton Park. It starts at 6:30 pm.
You can find more information on Jasmine's salon at the Creationz That Jazz website.