PORTLAND, Ore. — Portlander Melody Brown is aiming to bridge the gap when it comes to educating people on how to style textured hair with the first and only two-month program in Oregon.
"One thing about a woman is our hair is our crown," said Brown, the owner and master hair stylist at L&M Hair Company in Southeast and Northeast Portland, where she styles and teaches others how to work with Black hair.
Brown created the first and only two-month textured hair stylist program in Oregon. Her program helps license and educate stylists on how to work with wigs, locks, braids and more, something she said isn't adequately taught in beauty school.
"I didn't know how to do really much hair, to be honest. I didn't know how to really curl that well, so, Melody kind of took her time with me," confessed Gino Watson, a hair stylist at L&M Hair Company.
"Textured hair is really not taught in beauty schools," Brown said. "They have a small section of it and they really don't do hands-on with textured hair and then they gloss over it, so people don't really feel confident in doing textured hair."
To add to that dilemma, Brown said there's not enough stylists to keep up with the demand in the Rose City.
"It's so difficult to the point where I only just stay in family. I haven't been to a salon in over a decade because it has to be a safe, trusted space, and that's very slim here," said client Whitney Meskimen.
Brown has hired multiple stylists, including Watson, after completing her program — giving people the ability to make six figures even in their first year.
"Working here, I've got my own apartment, my own car and just a lot of my own things ... kind of like, establishing myself," Watson said.
Six people have already completed Brown's program, with tuition ranging from $4,000 to $6,000, all depending on what stylists want to specialize in. In total, Brown has also helped 17 get their natural hair care license from the state.
"You know? Hard work pays off. Staying true to your vision pays off and following your heart and leading with integrity ... I feel like you'll be able to pretty much do whatever you put your mind to," Brown said.