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In the month of January, Nia Pettitt officially opened the doors of The Curl Bar, a curly hair salon, in London. The salon's concept by Nia was not just about making customers feel beautiful, but offering the opportunity for all clients to feel embraced and celebrated.

Bring a brick and mortar business to life

Establishing a hair salon with curly locks was always a goal of Nia's. "I often traveled across America for my hair to be done, as it was never easy to find a salon in London or even that in the UK," she says. "I was looking to design something that felt safe at ease, calm, and represented visually what I wanted as a young girl." People responded to that vision: When they opened the doors at The Curl Bar, appointments quickly filled up.

"Your life changes when you decide to open a business. Consider if you're ready for that change," Nia advises aspiring business entrepreneurs. It was impossible to predict what kind of change was about to be coming for Nia and The Curl Bar. Only three months following its opening, the salon was shut down temporarily due to COVID-19 shutdowns in the UK. Even a definite stop in operations didn't slow Nia down.

"I didn't have a formula to grow the business or even in the case of the outbreak," she says. "I am just taking each day as a lesson to be learned from." As The Curl Bar was closed, Nia shifted her focus on social media, interacting with her stylists as well as her followers online until The salon could fully be able to reopen.