The Braiding Experience We Deserve: Natural Look Braiding Studio

Every Black woman reading this knows the other version of the story. The braider in a sketchy neighborhood, the unclean house, no bathroom, a stylist who is hours late and then takes phone calls and eats lunch while your hair sits half done. Monica Henry lived that version enough times to decide she would build the opposite, and Natural Look Braiding Studio is the result.

Monica is originally from Oklahoma City and relocated to Fayetteville with her husband and their two children in December 2021. Her background is actually in education and in ecommerce and supply chain management, a corporate ladder she climbed for years, but she comes from a family of hairdressers and never lost the pull toward braiding. When she decided it was time to chase her lifelong dream of owning a business, braiding was the thing that let her connect with her community on a deeper level and share her love of holistic health and wellness at the same time.

Her studio is built around two commitments that go together. The first is protecting natural hair health and honoring braiding as the deeply rooted cultural institution it has always been in the Black community. The second is the experience itself, a clean, comfortable, professional, and safe space, with high quality salon grade products free of harsh ingredients and braiding hair chosen for being chemical free and gentle on the scalp. In other words, the standard of care so many of us have wished for and rarely found.

Monica is also candid about the business side in a way that could genuinely help someone reading this. Her advice to other Black entrepreneurs is to network and to have real capital, because the main reason so many Black businesses fail is being underfunded. She spent the better part of two years building her personal credit and setting money aside so that when she needed financing, she could actually get it. And the best advice she ever received is one to keep close. You cannot do this alone, so meet people, attend events, support other Black owned businesses, find a mentor if you can, and lean on your community, because we all want to see you win.

You can find Natural Look Braiding Studio and book your next style through their Instagram, @naturallookbraiding_nwa.