“I Love Natural Hair, But Not the Community | Why I’m Walking Away from My Natural Hair App”

If you’re a fan of TRANSPARENCY, keep reading.

In 2024, I launched one of my biggest projects to date. I secured a major developer to build the Trusted Natural™ app. I believed in two things; the beauty of natural hair and the desperate need for clients to find stylists they could actually trust. I spent two years and thousands of my own dollars designing, testing, and launching a platform to pre-screen stylists for skill, professionalism, and credentials worldwide. The goal was simple: cut through the noise and give clients peace of mind.

My love for natural hair has been constant. I still stop strangers to compliment their coils. I still get emotional watching children fall in love with their texture for the first time. That part of me is permanent.

But building for this community taught me something I wasn’t prepared for: Loving the hair and loving the industry are two very different things.

THE EVOLUTION THAT STALLED

My mission was rooted in more than just tech, it was rooted in history. I grew up understanding that for Black people, hair has never been just hair. I read Willie Morrow’s 400 Years Without a Comb. This book was a critical blueprint, because it documented survival as a slave without compatible grooming tools and how dignity was maintained despite a system designed to strip it away.

But I realized that while our history evolved, the industry didn’t. We moved from forced assimilation to celebration, yet we brought the old survival tactics-gatekeeping, secrecy, and the crabs in a barrel mentality into a space that should have been defined by liberation. Many are selectively celebrating the texture while weaponizing the trade.

THE LAYERS WE DON’T TALK ABOUT

Beneath the surface of community lies a lingering stank: colorism and texturism. Yes I’m talking about it! These aren't just industry bugs, they are ingrained features. It isn't just the stylist who cherry-picks manageable textures for their Instagram portfolio to gain status. It’s also the customer who walks in with a deep-seated bias, valuing a stylist’s worth based on how close they can get them to a socially acceptable curl pattern.

The natural hair movement has created a hierarchy where tight coils are treated as a problem to be solved rather than a texture to be maintained. When both stylist and client operate from internalized texturism, partnership becomes impossible.That relationship becomes a transaction of trauma.

WHAT I RAN INTO

I spent many moments second-guessing myself. Was I overthinking this? Do other people feel this way?The community felt performative. The partnership and support over competition posts were everywhere, but behind the scenes, I watched mentors sabotage mentees and leaders treat collaboration like a zero-sum game. The natural hair world was starting to look like a megachurch. Hints of Frankincense meet you at the door, but once you step inside, you realize the sanctuary is just a marketplace, and the blessings are reserved for those who can pay the tithe.

A CULTURE OF CALL-OUTS

Because of social media and a lack of social grace, issues that could have been resolved with a private text became public takedowns. The space felt more focused on being right than getting better.

Accountability matters, and I’m not perfect. I have absolutely called out beauty influencers who patronized VANITY and didn’t pay their bill or submitted charge-backs pretending they never received the service. Hotepness and integrity were at war!

And yes, your favorite D.I.Y Microlocks influencer probably goes to the salon. The modern-day grifter is a “creative.”

WHY LEAVING ISN'T QUITTING

At first, shutting down Trusted Natural™ felt like grief. I mourned the version of myself that thought I could fix a culture by building an app.

But growth can sometimes looks like subtraction. I’m not abandoning natural hair. I’m refusing to let a dysfunctional industry define my relationship to it.

Endings make room for work that aligns with who you’ve become, not who you were when you started.

SO WHAT’S NEXT?

I’m still building…just not here. The new projects on my desk are rooted in transparency, quiet competence, and collaboration with people who believe that we win when everyone wins. And to be honest, having clarity has opened up so many doors-now that I have the room.I love natural hair. I love the way textured hair feels in my fingers. I just had to stop breaking my own heart trying to love an industry that didn’t love itself. That’s not defeat. That’s self-respect.