Issue link: https://www.ahpindiestylist.com/i/1547346
Explore your benefits at ahphair.com 37 ◁◁◁◁◁◁◁◁◁◁ ◁◁◁◁◁◁◁◁◁◁ ◁◁◁◁◁◁◁◁◁◁ specialization has made Laura passionate about regulation around hair texture education in cosmetology schools, and she uses her social media platform (@lauragunterbeauty) to share about texture education and tips for editorial photo shoots and business literacy. "I want to leave the industry better than I found it, and I feel the way I can do that best is by sharing my message that learning about curly and coily hair is not optional but necessary," Laura says. To learn more about how she hopes to achieve this—and for more about her story—AHP Indie Stylist sat down with Laura. AHP Indie Stylist: How did you become interested in specializing in textured hair? Laura Gunter: I'm from a very small town in Alabama, and in rural Alabama, if you were a white stylist, you worked in a white salon and you had mostly white clients. And if you were a Black hairstylist, you worked in a Black salon and you had mostly Black clients. It was very divided. is was 20 years ago, so hopefully that's changed. I had just moved to Atlanta, and I knew I had a skill set I needed to develop—it was very important to me financially to work with a new demographic of clientele and to make sure I didn't have to say no to anybody when they sat down in my chair. At first, the growth felt like it came from a place of selfishness, of wanting to make sure I could make money. But then as I was learning at the hands of amazing mentors (like Pekela Riley), I learned how much deeper it goes and how hair doesn't have a race, but hair does have a culture. I went from doing zero textured hair clients to only doing texture. I believe when you notice you have a blind spot, you have to disregard almost everything else in order to fix the blind spot. I'm not going to say I'm perfect at texture now, but I do think it's incredibly important. I choose to speak about texture as someone who did not grow up learning about texture, who didn't have access to this education. Now, I want to show other people how they can get to that point too. IS: In your AHP Hair Pro of the Year entry, you mentioned wanting to see changes being made around texture education and regulation. What would you like to see? LG: L'Oréal has worked with the Texture of Change initiative to work on getting bills passed in every state, but our industry still has a ways to go. I hope we can get a bill passed in every state that makes texture education a requirement for a state board and makes it a requirement of cosmetology education. It shouldn't just be one class or one day of cosmetology school. If I'm teaching you a color technique, you should learn that color technique on a straight [hair] mannequin and a curly [hair] mannequin. ere should be a balance. For every technique and every haircut, students should learn how to do it on multiple textures. IS: It seems like that knowledge could trickle down from the stylist to the client too. LG: Yes. We are the people who our clients go to for what's trending, what's cool, what's hot. If we're embracing the idea that natural texture is hot, then they'll be like, "Yeah, it is." More and more people are born with curly hair every day because we are becoming more mixed in the world when it comes to our ethnicities. So even if you're a hairstylist who feels like [textured hair is] not what your clientele looks like, it will be one day. And if you don't want to become obsolete, you have to move with the times. You need to learn how to do a wash and go and a rod set because more people want to embrace their natural texture. On top of that, you need to learn how to use heat effectively (so people can switch back and forth between their curl pattern and wearing their hair straight) and use color effectively (so people can have highlights and still wear their hair curly). It's deeper than just, "I have curly hair and want to know how to style my hair curly." It's every touchpoint of education. It's color, cutting, styling—all of it. IS: Before your current role, you spent time as a cosmetology school educator and brand educator. How did those experiences shape your career? LG: I knew I wanted to be an educator my first day out of cosmetology school. But I needed to work on my foundational skills and be grounded in my