Logo

In January of 2020, Nia Pettitt officially opened the doors to the Curl Bar, the salon for curly hair located in London. The salon's concept by Nia was not just about making customers feel attractive, but providing an environment for each client to feel embraced and celebrated.

Bring a brick and mortar business to existence

Establishing a hair salon with curly locks was a longtime dream of Nia's. "I used to travel to America for my hair to be done, as it was never easy to find a salon in London, let alone the UK," she says. "I was looking to design an experience that was comfortable as well as relaxing, which also represented visually what I wanted as a young girl." The customers responded positively to her vision. When the books opened at The Curl Bar, appointments were quickly booked.

"Your life will change when you decide to open a business. Consider if you're prepared for the change." Nia advises aspiring business owners. Nobody could've predicted just the magnitude of changes that would be coming for Nia and The Curl Bar. Only two months after opening, the salon was shut down for a time due to the COVID-19 shut downs within the UK. However, even a temporary halt of operations did not slow Nia down.

"I did not have a plan to grow the business or even in the case of the epidemic," she says. "I simply view every moment as a lesson to be learned from." When The Curl Bar was closed, Nia shifted her focus on social media, interacting with her stylists and her followers digitally until the salon was able to safely open again.