33-year-old Liliane Coulibaly Caly is a hairstylist empowering her fellow African women to wear their afro hair proud. She is the owner of hair salon; Akoya Hair, in Senegal.
Her salon specializes in Afro hair and a range of natural hair products made in Senegal. She decided to venture into hair making because she was denied a job over how kinky hair natural hair is.
“I went for an interview at a big local firm and they were very interested in my profile but because of my kinky hair they refused to hire me.”
“They wanted someone with straight hair. I thought, then it’s about time we could show that our hair is very beautiful and that we can style them to go to work.”
At the salon, “it’s a daily struggle,” she says. “Everyday we receive women who want to accept themselves with their type of hair.”
Her passion for natural hair has since always been a key driver for the work she does for her community and it started in school, when people would ask her to do their hair.
“When I was a student here in Dakar, I created a small hair salon in my student apartment. I used to offer hair care and I used to make skincare products for my friends and they kept asking for more.”
Now a leading salon in her community for outstanding work as a hair stylist and also the owner of a range of natural hair products made in Senegal, she organised the Dakar Natural Hair Day for young girls to have open conversations about their lovely hair.
“We organised a big event called Dakar Natural Hair Day. Children learned to braid hair on black dolls. I chatted with the kids, and told them they had great hair because often, mums don’t know how to handle their children’s hair. Unwittingly they tend to say to children that ‘your dry is dry, your hair is this, your hair is that.’”
Liliane Coulibaly says such negative comments contribute to lowering the children’s self-esteem. “If we want to see women with confidence in the country tomorrow, it starts at an early age,” she insists.
“When I was younger, my mum didn’t know. She was combing and it hurt. Today it’s nice to see kids come into the salon and get their braids done. They come with trust.”
