Let’s Talk Empowerment & Equity

“I worked as a hair model myself before I started my agency. At the time, hair was one of the only industries where I could get my foot in the door in the world of modeling. It was a learning experience for me; but through those experiences, I realized the need for diversity and the need for models of colors in these spaces. I was often the only black woman on these sets for major salon brands, and a lot of times, they didn’t even know how to do my hair. Even when working with major brands, I often had to do my own hair…which was crazy! It’s the biggest sigh of relief as a black model to walk in and see someone like you, Jeannetta, doing the hair. Because often, it’s not like that.”

“Through the trials and tribulations I experienced, I thought to myself: The one thing I can control is exposure to black talent. The one thing I can change is how you are perceiving us, and how often you perceive us in these capacities. Lots of times, agencies don’t even represent that many black models. We’ve seen a huge increase over the last few years with the diversity initiatives becoming popular in corporate spaces. But I think there’s a long way to go.”

“As a fellow black woman and hairstylist who has specifically focused on all textures, I can definitely relate to a lot of what you just said. Why is it something I had to learn in order to succeed, but other people didn’t have to do that? You have situations where people show up on set who are key hair, makeup, wardrobe experts, but who don’t have the experience needed to be able to create on a plethora of different types of people. I will always fight to use an agency like yours…it plays a huge role in what you’re doing in this industry.”

One day, an amazing photographer friend of mine in Cleveland partnered with a studio to create art with a couple of girls she and I cast. We all came together and had a day of shooting to create positive representation of black girls in art. Let’s just be who we are. We don’t have to change our hair. We just show up as we are. We don’t have to conform to anything. Wear whatever we want to wear.

Months later, during covid lockdown, I got a phone call from one of my friends, who said, “Ariona, do you know you’re in Public Square on a huge billboard right now?”

“They used a photo of me around all these black women as the main image. (I would have hated it if it was just me). It was only supposed to be up for a month, but the company decided to keep it up longer. It just so happened, that was the summer of the George Floyd murder. The riots broke out…people were destroying windows. Taking out stores. Vandalizing everything. Lighting things on fire. My friends recorded a video of the protests walking past this huge billboard downtown of me and the women. Black women standing right there watching over everything. It wasn’t about me looking at myself on the billboard. It was about the little girls looking at the billboard seeing themselves. Seeing a reflection of themselves in those spaces…high up. It was a huge affirmation to me and my business. I may be in my twenties, still in the process, still figuring it out…but my purpose is there and I know where I’m going.”