Today we’d like to introduce you to J’nae Carmon & Taylor Longshaw
Hi J’nae & Taylor, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
We met in cosmetology school in August of 2021. Towards the end of the school year, we competed in a nationwide hair contest for cosmetology students and won first place! After this, we realized we worked really well together and started orchestrating our own creative photoshoots and named our creative brand TwoRooted. After graduating cosmetology school in October of 2022, we worked alongside one another in a salon for about a year before deciding to create a space that caters to an underrepresented demographic in the Austin area.
TwoRooted Salon opened in August of 2023 with the mission to “Curate an environment that embraces all, while encouraging others to present themselves authentically and creatively. At TwoRooted, we specialize in curly and coily textures, and strive to keep each person’s hair health and integrity at the forefront.”
Since then we have serviced over 700 clients and have enjoyed giving back to our community. We have hosted classes to help parents learn how to take care of their children’s hair, styled the hair for Black Women in Business’ 10 year anniversary, and went back to our cosmetology alma mater to judge a scholarship competition. We are looking forward to expanding and servicing more of the Austin Natural Hair Community!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The process of finding the ‘perfect space’ was challenging. We wanted to make sure that our targeted demographic could easily get to our salon, as well as being in an environment that felt welcoming, safe, and had ample parking for our clients. After months of touring different potential locations, we came across a quaint house on Main St. in Downtown Round Rock. We immediately felt like we found the space for us!
After finding the space, we had less than one month to complete renovations and open our doors. With the help of friends and family we completely transformed the ‘quaint house’ into our salon home. We gutted out the interior: scraping off wallpaper, sanding and re-staining the hardwood floors, and hand painting each room with a different design concept. We then built the furniture and intentionally decorated the salon with Black art and literature, making sure our guests feel welcomed and at home.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
TwoRooted has enhance the Austin beauty industry through opening a salon in Downtown Round Rock. Staying aligned with our mission of caring for those with curly and coily hair textures, we have created a cultural environment where our guests feel seen and celebrated. In addition to services, our clients receive hair and product knowledge, a custom care regimen, and at-home care tips in an uplifting and overall positive environment. Through treating one client at a time, each guest has an individually tailored experience and their stylist’s undivided attention. Thus creating a safe space for questions and overall transparency between clients and stylists.
We specialize in all things curly hair including, but not limited to, curly cuts, braids, locs, extensions, and color.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
We feel blessed and grateful to be in the position to make a lasting impact in our community. As we both believe in divine timing, we know that creating TwoRooted was God’s plan for us. We are thankful to have the continued support of our loved ones and clients (our extended family). Being reminded that we’ve already made a difference has encouraged us to continue growing and expanding our outreach. Now that we are approaching year two, we look forward to continuing to serve and educate the Austin natural hair community on loving and embracing their hair.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tworooted.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/tworooted
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094991405314
