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In January of 2020, Nia Pettitt opened the doors of the Curl Bar, a curly hair salon, located in London. Nia's idea for the salon did not only revolve around making clients feel gorgeous, but also providing an environment for each client to be embraced and admired.

Bringing a brick-and-mortar business to life

Establishing a hair salon with curly locks was a longtime dream of Nia's. "I often traveled across America for my hair to be done because it was difficult to find a salon even in London and even in within the UK," she says. "I wanted to create something that was safe at ease, calm, and represented visually what I wanted as a young girl." People responded to this vision: when they opened the doors at The Curl Bar, appointments soon filled up.

"Your life changes once you make the decision to start your own business. Consider if you're willing to make the necessary changes," Nia advises aspiring business owners. Nobody could've predicted just what kind of change was about to arrive for Nia as well as The Curl Bar. Only a few months after its debut, the bar was forced to close temporarily because of COVID-19 closures within the UK. Even a definite stop in operations didn't slow Nia down.

"I did not have a plan for growing the business, let alone in the epidemic," she says. "I just take each moment as something to learn from." As The Curl Bar was closed, Nia shifted her focus on social media, interacting with her stylists as well as her customers digitally until The salon could fully reopen.