Honouring Her Roots A young black woman decided to take matters, business, and hair into her own hands, while preserving and celebrating her roots.
by Naomi Mudiay
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ecessity is the mother of invention. Plenty of ideas, skills and businesses begin where there was lack of something, and a niche was identified. This is exactly what happens when you move to a different continent with most of the population having a different texture and colour of hair from your own. As a Black woman living in Dublin, one of my challenges has been finding someone who can wash and braid my hair without burning me. After several failed attempts of having my hair done at the usual hair salons around the corner, and hearing excuses varying from ‘we don’t have the right products’ to ‘it will take longer than usual’, my only resort was to look up any black hairdressers. The search was proving to be futile, but I was eventually introduced to Adowayo. I reached out to this remarkable business owner after a thorough look at her work, or rather art, via social media. The aesthetics and content she displayed on her Instagram business page is enough to pull one towards the follow button. To say I was relieved when she finally replied would be misleading, because I was both nervous and excited to meet her. Her work is impeccable; she has done styles I have not seen before and the way she captures the process is simply flawless. We settled to have the interview online, and I appreciated her timing keeping skills. ‘’I have actually never been interviewed before,’’ she giggled and let out a warm laugh as she introduced herself. ‘’Moving to a different country,
Model pictured after braiding. Photo by Elisaveta Dantsig
leave alone continent is definitely top of my list of ‘life changing experiences’ and I am almost always glad to meet people who somehow relate to the changes and adjustment that is needed for you to survive.’’ We briefly discussed the challenges, weather and culture shock that is attributed to moving from home. ‘’Abuja is extremely hot, and Dublin can get extremely cold. I will never get used to it,’’ says 26-year-old Adowayo. Adowayo came to Ireland as a student, where
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