From Pennsylvania to Queensland, Australia, I love the curl artists I’m with! Curl specialist Amanda Rickman and her husband Peter, run multiple salons and a training academy. In fact, Purely Curls is Queensland’s first “curls only” salon.
Amanda and I met years ago through Curly Hair Artistry. Throughout the years, Amanda and I have reunited to train with other curl artists across the US. Maybe it’s the redhead in us, but we’ve built up a wonderful camaraderie and network of support for each other. We train together, we cry together, we laugh together and we grow together.
Back in the day, working solo in my little salon in Penn Hills, I never imagined I would meet curl artists like myself from all over the continent, let alone from other parts of the world. But, I focused. I prayed. I manifested all of it and that’s when “curly hair love” came to me. And so did friends like Amanda.
I love and appreciate how my life has changed with the people who have come into my life. Amanda and Peter are like family to me.
Always Branding Ourselves
We curly hair artists love to trade behind the scenes. When I send things out to a fellow stylists, I always include a little something of ours with our branding. So all the way in Australia, Amanda is decked out in a Kindred Curl first edition artist apron and my heart cannot thump any harder with love and respect.
I feel the same way when I show up to a training and a fellow curly hair specialist whips out a pen you sent them long ago and they tell you they’ve been using it ever since. Or I open a notebook and see a sticker from another artist, or drop my hand into a bag and there’s something from a friend’s salon – in their branding – that reminds me that I am not alone.
Grateful Beyond Measure
I am grateful beyond measure for my curl family and the growth it’s inspired in me. Years ago, I coined “Namacray,” meaning “the crazy in me sees the crazy in you.” Today, a pandemic keeps forcing us farther and farther apart physically, but friends like Amanda and Peter shrink the distance. And as fellow small business owners, we intimately understand and get each other’s crazy right now.
Amanda is an incredible curl teacher. If you’re inspired, you can follow her on Instagram here, and like the Purely Curls Facebook page here.