Kelly Swann started out as an apprentice Oasis Curl Salon. Originally she knew nothing about the art of hair styling. She was a great student and went on to have her own salon in Denver, Colorado.  Shortly after taking ownership of her own salon, Let Em Have It, in Denver, Colorado, Kelly and her team experienced a terrible tragedy. She reflects on how they coped–and didn’t, maybe–and what absorbing such a heartbreak means for a salon that is deeply interwoven in their community, including the clients as well as the stylists. On this episode, Kelly and Wafaya reflect on the deep commitme ..read more

Luby Ismail came up in the same Egypt as Wafaya; longing for straight, silky hair, and taking hot irons and chemical relaxers to it to try and meet the beauty “ideal.” As an adult, Luby is an intercultural educator and public speaker, and realized one day that she couldn’t be authentic in her teaching if she wasn’t authentic in herself. Her journey includes living with multiple sclerosis, and in this episode, she educates us on ways even people with the best intentions can fail to see the fullness of lives that differ from their own.   From founding Connecting Cultures, which fights Islam ..read more

Scott Musgrave started Curly Hair Artistry as an online education forum back when Facebook was in its prime, and Wafaya Abdallah was what you might call an early adopter. His philosophy of embracing natural hair texture and cultivating curls, instead of "dealing with" dry, frizzy hair, was still cutting edge a decade ago (no pun intended). Since then, they've teamed up to take the learning into real life in curl cutting workshops, and in their personal and professional friendship, sharing philosophies of wellness and the deeper meaning of "work." On this episode, Scott and Wafaya talk about le ..read more

For some people, walking into a curl salon is the first time someone looks at their hair, often worn out, bedraggled or caked in product, and says "OMG what beautiful curls! I can't wait to see them!" That was certainly Hannah Gaber's experience when she first went to Curly Oasis, recommended by a friend who knows the struggle. The journey of learning and self acceptance--and finding an unexpected community of curlies--is what inspired this podcast. That moment of acceptance and having your potential reflected back to you can be a game-changer, and that's what drives Wafaya Abdallah and her te ..read more

Michael Yost has been a hairdresser for 25 years, and a business owner for 16 of those years. Much like the rest of the industry, he didn't think much about styling curls or natural texture until the last seven years or so, even though he's a curly man himself. Around that time, he also sold his business, and now, Michael is the president of Strategies, which teaches salon and spa owners how to create, run, and grow a team-based business around a co-elevating culture that builds up profits by building up people. Like Wafaya, Michael and his organization believe that good numbers are a reflecti ..read more

Curl Stylist Sydnei Cave grew up with a lot of the same "curl wisdom" as many women of color. Oil your scalp, braid your hair, use relaxers. But, as she became educated in hair science and curl styling, Syd increasingly understood that those approaches were based in a philosophy of beauty generations before her had adopted as a legacy of slavery. First, absorbing society's attempts to keep women of African descent as "tame" as possible, to control them and then, as Black women in the United States fought for civil rights, to present themselves as close to whiteness as possible to be taken seri ..read more

On the Curl Code, we hear stories and struggles of learning to care for unique curly crowns, and how that so often leads to a larger discovery of authenticity, and making the decision to show up in our full light. Each episode tells a story of learning to care for curls, led by Curly Oasis salon owner and curl educator Wafaya Abdallah, with people of all backgrounds--curly or not! Tune in to get some practical advice on hair care and self care, learn about a co-elevating team-based business model, and see how embracing our most authentic selves allows us to vibrate at our highest fre ..read more