Beyoncé to Fund $500K Grant for Cosmetology Schools and Salons
Beyoncé is giving back to the industry that helped her become the performer she is today.
On Tuesday, the Grammy-winning artist announced that her just-launched haircare line, Cécred, and public charity foundation BeyGOOD would be jointly funding a $500,000 annual grant for cosmetology schools and salons.
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“Hairstylists have an immense impact on the people in their chairs,” a statement from BeyGOOD reads. “They create a sacred space where we can show up how we want and express ourselves through our hair. We’re honored to give back to this amazing community.”
The fund will be dispersed annually across scholarships and salon business grants in five cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and New Jersey. The specific beauty schools were chosen due to their large, diverse community of hair stylists, according to the announcement shared on social media.
In a cover story interview with Essence, Beyoncé opened up about her haircare line and how growing up in her mom’s salon helped her realize what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.
“It was in her salon that I realized my dreams of being a performer — inspired by one of her clients who happened to be an opera singer,” the performer told the publication. “I distinctly remember telling my mom that I wanted to be just like her client.”
She continued, “So much of the fabric of who I am came from her salon. It is something that just connects to all of my senses, and it’s a beautiful place to grow up. That’s my foundation — and I think as an artist, so much of my bold experimentation with hair comes from being inspired by art and sculptures; getting creative with braids; figuring out new techniques; and exploring ways to maintain hair growth with protective styles and wigs, while still feeling fabulous.”
Beyoncé also gave some insight into her decision to cut her hair into a pixie in 2013, explaining that she wasn’t making an aesthetic choice at the time. So much of her identity as an artist had been connected to her hair, and she wanted to shut that down, she noted in the cover story.
“It was a very big emotional transformation and metamorphosis that I was going through,” she said. “Cutting my hair off was me rebelling against being this woman that society thinks I’m supposed to be. … It was very intentional, and it was what I needed to do. And after that, I became super brave. It was the first step to many more audacious decisions I made in my life and my career.”
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