7 minute read
Urban Call Briefs
from OTC - July 2020
by OTC Beauty
by Lafayette Jones
Linda Leak Television Host, Producer and Entrepreneur
Franklin B. Carver
Director of the Environmental Science Technology Program at Forsyth Technical Community College
Kenneth Browning
Barber, Hair Designer and Educator
Lenita GriffisBrowning President of Browning Salon & Beauty Consulting
Dr. Torain the Black Dragon
Linda Leak,
Television Host, Producer and Entrepreneur
Linda Leak, a native of Chicago, began her career in communications with an earned scholarship during her first year of high school. She was selected
Linda Leak Television Host, Producer and Entrepreneur to manage the on campus TV station. Her first major interview was with the Chicago Bulls! Her passion for the industry grew as she continued to perform in front and behind the camera.
Her degree in marketing catapulted her into major Fortune 500 companies such as Johnson Products, Hallmark Cards, Duracell Batteries and Pharmaceutical Companies. Leak attributes her most successful accomplishments in sales within the health and beauty industry as she maintained a seven-year tenure at Johnson Products Company. As a result of exceeding her goals by well over 100% in her first year as sales representative, Leak was quickly promoted to a key accounts representative role and maintained that same successful pace within the entire West Coast market.
In addition, she owned several companies including a Payphone Company. Her combined experiences as a small business owner, corporate America and TV producer landed her the opportunity she always desired to help others excel within their businesses. In 2016 she created, hosted and produced “The Variety Talk Show.”
The show is a business networking program designed to assist all businesses with succeeding via many media platforms. These platforms include network TV, radio and live streaming. The objective was to help every business maximize exposure and sales. Throughout her career within Variety Talk as host, Leak has completed over 10 red carpet award shows. Amongst the list of hundreds of celebrities interviewed, included are Danny Glover, Earth Wind and Fire, Al Sharpton, Cameo, Kristen Bell, The Stylistics, Marla Gibbs, Lattimore, Brian White and many more!
Franklin B. Carver,
Director of the Environmental Science Technology Program at Forsyth Technical Community College
Franklin B. Carver
Director of the Environmental Science Technology Program at Forsyth Technical Community College Dr. Frank B. Carver is currently the Director of the Environmental Science Technology Program at Forsyth Technical Community College, located in Winston Salem, North Carolina. He is also a retired Environmental Health Officer (EHO), holding the rank of Captain in the United States Navy.
With over 30 years of experience in the environmental/occupational health field, Dr. Carver holds a B.S. Degree in Health Education from Fayetteville State University (N.C.), Master of Science in Environmental/Occupational Health from East Tennessee State University, along with a Doctorate Degree in Higher Education Administration from Ohio University. Dr. Carver has worked in industry for more than five years as an Occupational Health and Safety Supervisor and in Liberia, West Africa for more than four years in environmental/occupational health and education administration. He has taught and directed environmental health science programs, including occupational health and safety at the University of Liberia, Cuttington University (Liberia), Mississippi Valley State University, Western Carolina University, Ohio University, and North Carolina Central University. His most recent position before joining the faculty at Forsyth Technical Community College was President and CEO of CARVER
by Lafayette Jones
and Associates: Green Environment, an organization that provided sustainability, occupation health, and remediation services. Dr. Carver is an active member of several state, regional, and national professional organizations. He has published six books/manuals and over 35 major refereed articles. Dr. Carver is the recipient of numerous awards and recognition for both his civilian and military services. He is currently Chairman of the Trustee Board at Goler Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church located in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
Kenneth Browning,
Barber, Hair Designer and Educator
Kenneth Browning is a respected barber, hair designer, and educator with over forty years of experience creatively designing and cutting all types and textures of hair. An early Pivot Point
Kenneth Browning Barber, Hair Designer and Educator instructor student, he trained with Leo Passage and some of the industry’s best in the 1970’s and translated and introduced general market design principles to ethnic hair care applications offering moveable, flowing hairstyles for relaxed hair. As a hair show competition winner and salon owner in the Chicagoland area, Artistic Director for Debbie’s Beauty Schools, and International Styling team member for Johnson Products, Carson Products and Namaste’ Laboratories, he has mentored and trained successful stylists and hair cutters nationally and internationally before relocating to the Lowcountry to teach future professionals at the Academy for Career Excellence in Ridgeland, South Carolina. After retiring from the school system in 2017, Kenneth trains future educators in Methods of Teaching in South Carolina and mentors many of his former students with whom he remains connected. Kenneth’s motto for his students is “Learn it, earn it and then give it to someone else”. He is a living example of doing just that!
Lenita Griffis-Browning, President of Browning Salon & Beauty Consulting
Lenita GriffisBrowning
President of Browning Salon & Beauty Consulting Lenita Griffis-Browning is the president of Browning Salon & Beauty Consulting, an organization for mentoring beauty, barber and cosmetics industry professionals. Her past career positions include Director of Education and Technical Product Development for multiple manufacturers including Johnson Products, Carson Products and Namaste Laboratories in addition to Cosmetology Department Chairman for Remington College in Columbia, SC. She was co-owner of the Subject Hair salons in the South Suburban Chicagoland area.
She has been responsible for recruiting and training platform and technical staff, managing research testing salons, evaluating claims in loss prevention, expert witnessing at trial, conducting distributor trade workshops and managing consumer communications help lines, as well as orchestrating trade shows. As a platform artist, textured hair expert and lecturer, Griffis-Browning has been a guest artist and educator for trade shows and educational programs on four continents. She has been a Milady Career Institute trainer since its inception and a Methods of Teaching provider in the state of South Carolina. Her culmination of corporate, school, and salon experiences give her particular insight for teachers, managers, stylists and students of the beauty industry that she shares with passion and humor in CEU classes, seminars and Milady Master Educator classes.
Her current project involves volunteering with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). She is working to create awareness that addresses the alarming increase in suicides in our society, especially among young people and to remove the stigma of needing help with mental wellbeing. Her ultimate goal is to engage barbers, cosmetologists and other beauty industry professionals in improving our communication skills when dealing with someone who has a psychiatric illness and to support people in crisis through free, external resources.
Dr. Torain, the Black Dragon
Dr. Torain, also known in the beauty industry as Torain the Black Dragon, received his Doctorate of cosmetology from the Board of Cosmetology in the State of Virginia through the auspices of
Dr. Torain Miracle University. He is a licensed Hair Designer with an Instructor’s Certificate the Black Dragon and extensive professional experience. This has enabled Dr. Torain to practice his cosmetology profession and teach throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, French Guyana and many of the Caribbean Islands.
He has also been awarded a diploma from the eminent Vidal Sassoon Academy in London, England; working for a number of internationally iconic companies such as Dudley Products and Paul Mitchell as an instructor.
Barbados, Trinidad, Canada and many of the major cities of Mexico, the United States and England. Dr. Torain publishes a weekly newsletter (Global Beauty News) that reaches twenty thousand cosmetology industry readers in Europe, Africa, Hawaii and Australia. These articles are frequently published in prominent magazines that promote the beauty industry in the United States. One major accomplishment he is particularly proud of is his invention and universal promotion of the Fusion Hair Extension Technique. Over the decades, it has become an accepted practice for hair designers of an entire era and is still in use today.
Each month, Urban Call Briefs covers subjects that provide readers of OTC Beauty Magazine with information on multicultural consumers, Hispanics and African Americans, who are the fastest growing consumer segments in the U.S. The mission of this column is to build a bridge of communications and information between manufacturers and retailers and the ethnic consumers they wish to serve better. The column offers resources covering marketing, retail merchandising, consumer research, purchase behavior, fashion and beauty trends, industry events and people, trade association news, new product launches and a potpourri of information designed to help the readers make intelligent decisions about the customers they serve. Urban Call is a registered trademark of Segmented Marketing Services, Inc. (SMSi). For more information, call 336-759-7477 or visit www.segmentedmarketing.com.
The preceding article is the property of SMSi – Urban Call Marketing, Inc. and may not be reproduced without written permission from the author.
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