Fall 2022
Taylor Miller
Tucker’s Beauty College – Hammond, IN
Taylor has always been enamored with haircutting, coloring, and braiding, and now with the addition of science, art, and technology, she says this was what drew her to choosing a beauty professional as her career choice. Once she is licensed, she wants to have a direct impact on social change by providing her services to women in domestic violence shelters and young girls in school for discounted rates or complimentary twice a month. Helping someone transform their appearance and bring out their true beauty can make a difference to someone, and everyone deserves to feel and look like a million bucks regardless of their economic status.
She hopes to inspire beauty for the next generation and through her entrepreneurial inventions and artistic abilities and perseverance she hopes to inspire others to pursue their passions. Her beauty motto has been the same since she was a little girl and that is “I am smart beautiful, and I am somebody” and she hopes to spread that to everyone she touches along the way! Check out her winning submission HERE.
Kiara Haley Hargress
Aveda Institute – Birmingham, AL
Kiara starts by saying, “beauty is personal”. Her view of beauty recently has been changing. Growing up in a generation where social media has such a heavy influence on beauty standards, she says she aimed to always stay up to date on the current trends. Today, she finds herself searching for inner beauty. She believes that maintaining a clean and presentable appearance plays a role in our confidence however, beauty stems from within. Beauty from within causes you to carry yourself with confidence and not be affected by outside influences. Our individuality and uniqueness is what makes us beautiful and demolishing the “clone standard” will continue to break the mindset that beauty only looks one way. She strives to do just that when she becomes a licensed professional. Check out her winning submission HERE.
Spring 2022
Karla Maiden-Vazquez
The Temple Annapolis: A Paul Mitchell Partner School – Annapolis, Maryland
Karla expresses in her video submission how “beauty is intended to be a direct reflection of what the world is represented, people from various backgrounds with various skin tones, figures, and hair textures. It is detrimental to not only reflecting our society but also in a sense, shaping it.” Karla grew up as a mixed kid in a single parent home, her mother struggled to style her hair simply because naturally curly hair was not the norm. Using chemicals, straightening irons and tools to straighten the hair to make it more manageable. She says that thankfully our society is more accepting of the natural. She wants to give people with curly hair access to reliable and knowledgeable stylists who can provide services that cater to their natural style. She wants to inspire people to work with their curly hair instead of being fearful of it. Many people, stylist, and non-stylists alike, believe that the only way to manage is it to apply heat or chemicals. Her goal is to guide low-income communities about the many ways to style textured hair, supply information on affordable products and provide complimentary hair experiences to those that are unable to afford them. “If we want to change the world, we need to start with our neighbor.” She sites Madam Walker, National Negro Business League Convention in 1912, who started out as working in the cotton fields, was promoted to the washtub, then the cook kitchen and from there she promoted HERSELF into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations. She is a direct example that no matter where you begin success can be within reach if you have the motivation to work for it. Beauty is more than just what someone does to feel pretty, it is it’s a life-changing experience. Karla’s motto is “Success is not linear, if we want to be able to reach our goals than we need to do everything in our power to preserve, move forward with tenacity, and to never let the hardships of this world shake who we want to be even in the face of adversity.” You can check out her winning video submission HERE.
Aneek Colbert
Paul Mitchell the school – Tampa, FL
“My cosmetology journey has not been easy, waking up as early as 4:00 am to catch the bus to go to school to follow my dream can be difficult.” Aneek always envisioned beauty and hair as a tool for social change and she intends to make an impact. “I see beauty as life as a fashion show and the world is my runway.” She knows she can succeed if “she keeps pushing, keep pushing and keep pushing”. Aneek explains that the fashion innovator that inspires her the most was Louis Vuitton, who at 13 years of age ran away from home to live on the streets of Paris to make fashion his life. She herself ran away from a toxic household and found herself homeless. But that did not stop her from following her dream. Some days she would sleep under a table but still found a way to get to school and now she is happy to say she is graduating this month. When times get tough, she reminds herself that if Louis can do it, I can do it. Her motto is “Aneek Reaps Beauty Freak” when the name rhymes and the hair changes frequently. “Different rare and I love switching up my style frequently. Be your best self every day.” You can check out her winning video submission HERE.
