June 11, 2009

BY NADRA KAREEM

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

During tough financial times, people tend to skip the luxuries in life — eating out, shopping, visiting the hair salon.

For African Americans on the job hunt, however, missing hair appointments may put them at a disadvantage because black hair care requires more than simply washing and blow drying, according to Kehinde Ololade, owner of The Spice Salon on Pico Boulevard.

“It all starts from how you look,” she said about making a good impression in job interviews.

To keep black job seekers from losing out because of their hair, the salon is offering 30 to 50 percent discounts to the unemployed throughout June. It’s a move that old and new customers both appreciate.

Anne Njoroge and Crystal Williams, both 29, recently visited Spice Salon for the first time after hearing about the discounts offered there.

“You can’t ever get a first impression back,” Njoroge said. “With nice hair, you walk a little bit taller. (Hair) is an extension of your personality. When it’s done right, I feel like I got my mojo going on.”

Njoroge traveled to the salon from Long Beach after hearing about the special on television. She works in the film and music industry but interviewed at a temp agency on the day she visited Spice.

“Right now any (work) is good,” she said.

Williams, a Central Los Angeles resident, heard about the discounted prices at Spice from her father’s girlfriend. She is searching for work after losing her job at a daycare center and visited the salon to have her hair pressed and curled.

Hair “is really important,” Williams said. “It gives the person who has an interview confidence. People look at you from head to toe.”

African Americans in particular have long been stigmatized in the workplace because of the way their hair is styled.

Jasmyne Cannick, a Spice Salon client for three years, has direct experience with this. The activist and writer wears her hair in locks. While she worked for a politician, other blacks often asked her, “How can you work in Congress with locks?”

She said they asked the question because they were accustomed to blacks being singled out for wearing their hair in ways many people deem inappropriate.

Considering the troubled history African Americans have had with their hair in mainstream workplaces, Cannick believes that the discounts Ololade is offering clients “is a smart business move.” She predicts that clients who took advantage of the deal will remember Ololade’s generosity.

“It’s a way to give back to the community,” Cannick said. “They’re going to come back and be repeat customers.”

Ololade certainly hopes so. The 42-year-old Nigerian immigrant opened Spice Salon in 1998 after moving to Los Angeles from Houston. As the recession first began to surface in 2007, business at Spice was cut in half, she said.

“Two-and-a-half years ago, the companies started downsizing gradually,” she said. “The business at the salon was really slow.”

The clients who used to visit the salon weekly or biweekly slowly stopped coming because their financial situations made it difficult to pay.

Ololade said she had to take action because it was the worst slowdown in business she’d ever experienced. She thought, “This is really bad.”

Even those not yet in the workplace appreciate Ololade’s move.

Armando Almanza, 22, is scheduled to graduate from the University of California at Los Angeles on June 14. He hopes to get a job as an emergency medical technician after graduation but knows the job market right now is challenging. Recently in the salon for a haircut, Almanza empathized with the unemployed.

“It’s really beneficial,” he said of the salon’s discounts. “When people lose their jobs, they can’t pay full-price for everything. It’s really helpful and makes people feel appreciated.”

The Spice Salon specializes in color, relaxers, texturizers, cuts, press n’ curls, weaves, locs, braids, twists and natural hairstyles. It is at 4855 W. Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles.

For more information, call (323) 936-7830 or visit www. TheSpiceSalonLA.com.