Meet Josee, Abigail and Naomi
This is the mother/daughter team behind Cynthia Erivo’s wig for Wicked, Josee Mampuya, Abigail Anyanna and Naomi Nassor.
Besides running a salon for over 30 years in the heart of North London — that their mum, Josee launched by herself — the trio have also worked on other films like Jurassic World, styling the likes of DeWanda Wise and many more.
With so much experience under their belts, in this weeks episode, we talk to Josee, Abigail and Naomi about their journey into the hair industry, building a salon business from the ground up and their view on celebrity hair styling.
Where to find Josee’s salon, Naomi and Abi: Josee's Instagram | Naomi Instagram | Abigail’s Instagram | Salon website
The interview
Here are all the questions we asked Josee, Naomi and Abigail, so you can fast-forward to the best parts.
[01:17] How did you get started in the hair industry?
[09:38] What made you want to open up a salon and move the business out of your home?
[27:00] How did you find managing the salon as a business after experiencing struggles with the fines?
[30:27] How did it feel knowing that all three of you helped to bring the character of Elphaba to life?
[37:42] How did you all work together to create Cynthia Erivo’s wig in 2.5 days?
[44:27] What has life been like since the film was release? Has anything changed
[49:33] What are some of the biggest issues you're seeing in the textured hair industry and how can we start to tackle this?
[01:01:48] What's your one piece of advice for up and coming stylists?
[01:11:44] What's nest for all of you?
Who have Josee, Abigail and Naomi styled?
Some takeaways
For stylists 💇🏾♀️
Josee was very fortunate when she started her business, to have a mentor who helped her understand the more people you bring together, the more wealth everyone can build as long as there is a sense of togetherness. As Josee started to get booked and busy months ahead, she started to think about bringing more women into the fold to turn her passion into a bigger business, especially women who, like her, had come from Africa to the UK.
One of the big challenges that Josee had in the early days was the art of running the business financially. She ended up paying £34k in tax penalties when she opened up her second salon because she was unaware of the laws around tax, business management etc. This is something we know stylists tend to struggle with and it just goes to show the domino effect and implications if these things aren’t done effectively. Josee ended up having to leave that shop for another one and had to work around the loss in income as well.
What was truly lovely to see was how inspired Naomi and Abigail were by their mums entrepreneurship from such a young age. Josee was looking after a family of four children, her husband, fifteen young women who were braiders in her salon and hundreds of clients and has supported so many of them in the hair space. It just goes to show what is possible when you pursue a dream, and focus on truly serving your customers.
Abi mentioned that the three of them were a bit naïve to the size and scale of Wicked as a film. Fortunately, their family was around to help them all understand how far the wig had the potential to reach. The three had limited knowledge on the film the wig would be used for, but used the opportunity to bond together for three days of endless braiding. Something to remember about TV, film and even fashion is you may not get all of the information as studios don’t want to risk anything about the productions being leaked ahead of time. This mother daughter trio has the name of the actress and information about the wig they were replacing before getting started, not much more. If this is a path that you want to pursue, bear in mind you will have to bring your best work to the table, with only a bit of information about the project.
A lot went into creating Elphaba's wig! Not only did Josee, Naomi and Abi have to work endlessly for three days to get it done on time (after another wig wasn't able to fit underneath the famous Elphaba hat), but they also had to restart the process at one point when the team checked in and mentioned that the braids were too big. Something for stylists to bear in mind for the big screen is, do-overs will happen and you have to be prepared to sometimes go back to the beginning to create something that's more incredible.
All three women emphasised one key thing. The Black hair industry is big enough for everyone that's in it to profit from it. Naomi mentions that supporting one another and celebrating each others wins, is a very important aspect of the industry growing. Abi explained that staying humble and treating everyone well (especially as you don’t know who is coming through the doors) is essential to building long term relationships that can lead to more work. And Josee, said it best: customer service is the secret. Every client is a walking billboard, so make sure they feel special every moment they are in your hands.
Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Overcast, and YouTube.
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From,
The Mane Hook-Up team
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