Shanay Dudley

Shanay Dudley EDUCATION AS A PASSION

Passionate about all things education and beauty, Shanay “Topcurl” Dudley is a highly sought-after leader and educator in the cosmetology and beauty industry. Licensed in cosmetology since 2000, she founded Topcurl Beauty Academy and established Salon Topcurl in Bowie, MD, in 2018. Shanay holds her license in the District of Columbia, Virginia, Texas, and Maryland. If that wasn’t a big enough accomplishment, she is also the Only National Board Certified Cosmetology Teacher in Maryland. All I could say was, “this is truly a WOW Woman!” The roots of this brilliant WOW Woman’s formal cosmetology education and career began in the public school system in her hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, where she obtained her cosmetology license at the young age of seventeen. From there, she attended college fulltime while balancing a full-time salon career. After graduating from undergrad college, she became a State Certified Cosmetology Instructor and Program Coordinator in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Since 2006, Ms. Shanay has trained many high school and private career cosmetology graduates who are now licensed professionals, from cosmetologists to nail techs. Outer beauty is the one thing that often amplifies the inner confidence of women, and Salon Topcurl does a magnificent job at elevating the beauty and spirit of women. At the same time, Topcurl Beauty Academy trains top talent in cutting-edge techniques, professionalism, and business ethics.

this is truly a WOW Woman!

In 2021, Topcurl Beauty Academy expanded to Alexandria, VA, to include esthetics and beauty instructor programs. Shanay’s lifetime commitment is to develop and implement the highest educational, ethical, and professional standards through her cosmetology school; therefore, she continues to take classes and improve her learning to support diverse, eager students who attend the Topcurl Beauty Academy.

Her example of selfless leadership, tenacity, and resilience will leave a footprint in the life of every graduate of Topcurl Beauty Academy, and her confidence indeed touches every person coming through Salon Topcurl.

I was intrigued to learn about this beautiful WOW Woman, and here is a little peek inside our conversation.

WOW: Shanay, you are a true Woman of Wealth! In all of your profound accomplishments, let me start by asking what wealth means to you? Shanay: That’s a great question. When I think of wealth, I see beyond the typical monetary value. I value good health, good relationships, and financial stability. So those are the things that encompass wealth to me. WOW: Awesome! My friend, Dr. Michael Roberts, loves to say, “rich screams, but the wealthy whispers.”

Shanay: Yes! I love it! I love it! WOW: So what’s your driving force that keeps you going? What makes you excited to get up in the morning?

Shanay: I have two things that are my driving forces. The first drive is my two sons, Sean and Justin. I never wanted them to feel like they couldn’t do or have things when I was a single-parent. I worked two jobs to make ends meet to give them the additional opportunities to play in paid organized sports and travel.

They have both become an intricate part of the growing beauty empire. My oldest son, Sean, works at our Bowie, MD location when he’s home from college and is also apprenticing under me to focus on male grooming and commercial real estate upon graduating college. I believe this will help him fully understand the beauty business from both the business and practitioner sides which will be critical to our ability to expand and open new beauty schools and salons.

My youngest son, Justin, is considering learning electrical applications to assist with repairs throughout the businesses. Upon graduating high school, he also plans to get into real estate investing.

Ultimately, the second drive is watching the smiles and the glow of the beauty graduates who receive their beauty licenses from the public school I work for and my private career schools. It’s been refreshing for me to help them and serve as a sound support system for them even after graduating from school.

It has always been my dream to give back as a mentor. I stand behind the four-step system that a person

should learn first, implement and grow, expand the business and then mentor the future. The fourstep system is my circle of what professional responsibility should reflect. WOW: Okay, fantastic. How have you remained grounded with your overwhelming astounding success, especially as a relatively young woman?

Shanay: Well, I often pray and thank God for choosing me. I consider myself a servant of the beauty culture. Coming from humble beginnings as a ward of the court ultimately allows me to appreciate coming from a place of lack and ultimately receiving the gift of a prosperous life. I have started a monthly self-care regimen to help me balance. I must admit I have found myself burnt out on more than one occasion. The rebuild is no fun, so I allow my team to support me more with the task because I can’t do it all at this level of success by myself. WOW: Did anyone in particular play a critical role in your journey? Shanay: I have watched people indirectly from afar to gain insight into how successful businesses are built and operated, but ultimately, I would have to say it’s just not one person who directly played a critical role in my journey. I wish I had a mentor to make it easier starting up, but I didn’t know anyone personally who had a beauty school. I did receive motivation and support from my friends who became family, family members, and in some instances, complete strangers, who would just listen to my endeavors and encourage me to open my salon and school. Other people tend to see the things that we don’t always see in ourselves.

My two sons are probably the most motivating forces; they motivate me beyond my ability to motivate myself a lot of time. They helped me indirectly remain strong and push through all my obstacles to endure, to be able to provide for them as a single parent. One of the key lessons I have come to value through my journey is, “It’s not how long it takes; it’s simply that you finish what you start.” WOW: I know there was a price to pay to get where you are now. Can you share some of the hurdles you’ve overcome and some of your most significant achievements? Shanay: The biggest hurdle was growing up as an orphan or ward of the court in Baltimore, Maryland. That, in itself, is just a rough place to grow up, and to do it without having parents and living from household to household, I had to quickly learn how to adjust to the norms of the person who had custody of me and their household structure. So yeah, that was a massive challenge for me, and sometimes I felt myself in low spots of life, wondering why all of this was happening to me? I just wanted a loving, stable home. To “kick the sunken spots” of life during grade school, I would try to find ways to motivate myself to get over things I couldn’t control. That was my only outlet for happiness. I

believe that is one of the things that turned out also to be a driving force of my success. Years of strategizing while playing chess afforded me the skills to use in my day-to-day life by staying twenty moves ahead of my position in life. If I had let my circumstances and environment control my outcome, I don’t know where I would be today. I was in a situation where I had to grow up faster than I wanted to.

As it pertains to my greatest accomplishment, I would have to say it’s been a blessing to have the ability to physically birth my children because I have friends who aren’t able to have kids. I vowed to my kids that I would create a family structure that brought in togetherness, a feeling that I, as an orphan child, yearned for and wanted desperately to make for them, a massive accomplishment for me.

The second greatest accomplishment for me will be obtaining the highest credential that a teacher can have, the National Board Certification for Teaching. I’m the first and only cosmetology instructor in the whole state of Maryland to hold this honor. Less than half of all national prospectus candidates pass this rigorous process on the first try, as I did. So that is a huge accomplishment that I don’t take for granted.

Everything I’ve gone through has humbled me more in the sense that I’m constantly self-reflecting, saying, I can’t believe I’m here; I’m so appreciative. I’m so thankful! So, the obstacles allowed me to appreciate and value the positive things that happened in my life even more.

WOW: Can you tell me at what age did you become an orphan?

Shanay: Well, most of my life, pretty much. I was three or four years old when I left my mom and went to live with my Aunt Odessa, who is the next best thing to my birth mother. By the court definition, I wasn’t officially an 46 WOW Magazine

orphan until the age of eight, and it’s been a journey. I still have copies of those documents, and I plan to expand more on my experience in my upcoming memoir book.

WOW: Okay. Will you take a moment and say something to someone who may still struggle with being an orphan. What would you tell them?

Shanay: One of the biggest things I would say to them is to try not to look to other people for validation and motivation. I often run across people who look for others to validate or motivate them, and I can honestly say it doesn’t work. I had to learn how to motivate myself to push through and persevere. I would sometimes talk to myself and say, “Shanay, you got to get it together, you can do better, you know you can.” As cliché as it may sound, it helped me with self-love.

As an orphan, we often become loners because we are so used to not having a real support system; therefore, it’s important to learn how to be your best fan. It’s great to have that support system eventually, but it may not come when you want it to come, or come when you need it, and it comes in different ways that you may not have thought, but don’t wait for outside validation.

I didn’t experience togetherness or support until I had my kids, so they are the ones who give me strength; even though they are younger, I learn so much from them and our bond is what has given me a sense of togetherness.

WOW: Yes, yes. Now, let’s shift and talk about what economic development means to you and how do you create it? You have self-development but what about economic development for a person? How can one achieve that?

Shanay: I have to say, there are multiple ways you can alternately conquer the goal of economic development. For me, coming from the poorest areas of Baltimore, I would say being creative with the business financing and figuring out how to generate income. I’ve always lived by three golden rules for managing money. 1. I save a third of my earnings. 2. I spend a third on necessary expenses, and 3. I use the other third for fun, leisure, and other things I may need.

Once I was able to implement the three golden rules consistently, I stuck with that model and then ultimately reinvested back into the community by creating jobs, beauty mentees, and participating in community service projects. I think it’s imperative and desperately needed.

Each one, teach one, so through Topcurl Beauty Academy, I’m able to teach some of those savvy business skills that I’ve learned by trial and error and to pour that back into the community members that come to the school so they know that’s the system of professional growth.

WOW: Tell us about the school’s culture

Shanay: Surprisingly, we have a broad age range of participants as young as high school students, who are on the verge of graduating high school up to the late fifties. When speaking to the ladies about their experience and what brought them to Topcurl Beauty Academy, I find they all come for different reasons. Some older women work for the government during the day and decide they want to pursue their passion for beauty, and some are looking for part-time hobbies. It’s trendy to be a nail tech, so some of the younger ladies are pursuing that path.

Our school does participate in granting scholarships from the state and private organizations, so some of the young ladies can get grants to attend the school, which is phenomenal for us to assist them in reaching their goals.

They all bring different skill levels and expertise to the table, and some are entirely new, never even picked up any tool or equipment for beauty; and to see them light up and glow when they obtain that license it’s just a breath of fresh air. It allows me to relive my personal experience of getting licensed for the first time over and over. Our school culture is familyoriented. Graduates love to come back to visit and ask business questions. They are the daughters I always wanted. WOW: Do you have a salon as well as the Academy? Shanay: Yes, I have Salon Topcurl. It’s a suite concept salon consisting of seven private salon rooms with licensed professionals such as estheticians for skincare, natural hair care stylists, nail techs, and cosmetologists. WOW: Well Shanay, it has been a pleasure hearing your story, and again I say, “You are a Real WOW (Women of Wealth) Woman. I have to visit you at Salon Topcurl, and I can’t wait to see your Beauty Academy. Do you have any last words as we close our time together? Shanay: No, Thank you so much for the opportunity; I greatly appreciate it. Topcurl Contact Information: Owner: Shanay Dudley Website: www.Topcurl.com IG: @Topcurl & @ TopcurlBeautyAcademy Cosmetology, Nail Technology, Esthetics and Makeup Artistry Programs