Martha Makuena is the owner of Paulma Afro Salon, the first African owned black hair care salon in Beijing, China.
Black women in the military and/or military wives stationed throughout the world often complain about the lack of availability for their hair care products and/or salons. But, there’s one country that has opened up to the idea, you just gotta get stationed there.
But for those that are stationed in Beijing, China, they don’t have to worry anymore. Martha Makuena is the first black hair care salon in the city and she’s taking appointments. Her customers are diverse and she has filled a much needed area of hair care services, that ironically, in China they struggle to fulfill.
In the U.S., there’s no shortage of Asian beauty supply stores, but obviously the owners may not come from Beijing. Makuena delivers services to a diverse clientele and knows how difficult it was for her black customers to find products for their hair that she makes available.
But, Makuena said that Africans have the stigma of being a flight risk. They open a business for a moment and capitalize on the people, then run. But Makuena declares that she’s in it for the long haul. Makuena has degrees in cosmetology as well as fashion design.
Check out her story.
-J.C. Brooks
May 6th, 2013 at 11:06 pm
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