July 22, 2025 • 7 mins
In this episode, Amber Payton chats with Meme Kelly, the powerhouse behind Silk Me Kids.
From salon chair to classroom, Kelly shares how she’s combining cosmetology and youth education to instill confidence, promote self-care, and build the next wave of beauty industry leaders.
Listen now!
From salon chair to classroom, Kelly shares how she’s combining cosmetology and youth education to instill confidence, promote self-care, and build the next wave of beauty industry leaders.
Listen now!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So I'm here with Megan Kelly and you're the founder
of Silk Me Kids. Yes, yes, tell me a little
bit about it. So Silky Kids was derived because I'm
actually a kid's hair stylist, So that is the brand
of a kid's salon. We're located in New Orleans, Louisiana,
and I also have a Junior Beauty Academy where we
offer services to teach kids how to do hair, makeup, nails,
barbering services, product development, how to be many entrepreneurs on
(00:23):
the rising in the industry.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
You're teaching kids how to do hair. Yeah, we start
from seven to seventeen.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
So you're teaching them so they know how to breid
correct And I'm thirty four and I don't know how
to braid. See I was needed way back when, but
I'm here to back in ninety one. I'm here now,
so I can imagine that, you know, even working with
kids and doing their hair, because kids are full of energy,
you know, they get a little fidgety sometimes. That well,
you have to have another level of patients to be
(00:51):
a kid's hair stylist, so it gotta be in you.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Like I'm doing kids hair.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
We start at the salon at two years old doing
kids hair, so we go from two to six team.
So any other stylist they may start, they may just
do teenagers and stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
But I broke.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
That and I was like, I'm gonna start a younger
than that because I had a client that had a baby,
was in a wedding and she couldn't find nobody to
do our hair.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
So I was like, Okay, I'll do it.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And at that time, I didn't even really have an
interest in just doing kids hair. I just was doing hair,
and from that point on, it just was something that
just took off because I surveyed my city to see
that nobody really was doing kids hair, so I was like,
I'll just jump into that. And then I've been doing
it since twenty seventeen, going on eight years. Now, where
does that level of patience come from?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
You just gotta have it. You just gotta have it.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
So you also, I know you talked about you have
like a beauty school. Yes, so it's called the sum
Kids Academy Junior Cosmo Enrichment Program, So it's multiple levels
to that. We have our independent classes while we teach them,
which we just finished a six week beauty camp a
summer beauty camp and then they had a banquet where
they graduated and they got awards and certin and things
(02:01):
like that.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So we're really pushing them.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
You know, they're the next generation of beauty professionals. So
I'm a licensed beauty educator, so I'm able to teach
it to them correctly. Now, whatever they do afterwards, that's
all on them. But they got the foundation correctly, okay.
And that's the education part with the independent classes, and
then we also do after school programs, so we partner
with schools and institutions that want to offer it. So
(02:26):
one of them we do with the DBI, which his
daughter's beyond incarceration. We curated their after school program, and
then we partner with an elementary school as well and
we did their after school program, so that's another part
of it. And then we also do career fairs at
schools and things like that. And we actually have an
interactive like booth, so we have them come and do different.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Skills at the booths.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So they could be roller setting, they could be flat ironing,
they could be braiding, they're doing nails. Like We're going
through all the skills and girls and boys do it.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
The boys kill it every time. Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I'll just loved teaching them on the spot and they
learn those skills on the spot.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
So you have a focus with the youth. Yes, where
does that come from? I know that that's what you
mentioned that that's an area that not a lot of
people were tapped into, right, But where does that come
from for you?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I think with me.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Where I'm the oldest, so I have like a motherly
type of vibe. I'm also a cancer which my birthday
just was Tuesday. Hey, we'll have people, lady, and I'm
the oldest son. I'm a cancer too on period. So
it's just that motherly type of thing that I have
and I love to help.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I've always been a giver.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
I've always just put myself before others to do my
part in a community. And it's always been that way
even when I got in the industry. I do back
to school events free pres Day where we do hair
for free for kids going back to school. We do
it twice year, back to school time and Christmas time
because we know the financial strain that happens with parents,
(03:56):
so with that we actually just do our part with
gets back and I have just fostered that, and anybody
around me they have to have that same type. I
understand people don't really like kids like that, but when
you're dealing with me in the brand that I'm growing,
having the ability to be able to at least tolerate
and have a little bit of patience, it'll get you by.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
It gets your by, Okay.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
So I'm gonna give you a catch you off guard
a little bit if you have to tell me about
one of your biggest success stories with any any youth,
biggest successor.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Who is it? What's her name? How does she finil?
One of my attendees.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
She attended a lot of our independent classes in our
summer camps.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Her name is a Milli, a Millian. It's her name,
Millian McAll.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
So she came into our program with a passion for hair,
with a passion for just anything involved in a beauty industry,
and she was willing to learn. So we taught her
everything that she needed to know to be successful. And
even with that inspiration for her, it inspired her to
write a book.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
And the book was inspired.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Because she actually attended our beauty camp and is basically
helping her in the industry with being a future beauty professional.
So that's an amazing success store for me. And then
she just came back and attended our camp, So now
she's a second rounder with our camp and she's just
constantly evolving with us. So eventually she'd be getting a
(05:25):
paid internship to actually be one of our student instructors
for the camp. Wow, you are doing amazing things in
the community and for the youth, and soya thank you
for all that you do.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
How do we find you on social media? How do
we get more?
Speaker 1 (05:42):
I'm on Instagram. I have my personal Instagram, which is
it's still a content page either way, whether it's personal
or not, y'all.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Get a little bit of here, a little bit of
that going.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
On, but it's Redhead, Ried HGA d Underscore Hairstylist. And
then I have the actual brand page, which is Soap
Me Kids, s I L K M E K I
D S.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
We also have a website www.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Dot Silky Kids dot org and they can find all
of the information about classes and things of that nature
and also by products because we do have hair care
products for kids. And then we'll also just launched a
homeschool initiative. We're actually offering homeschool beauty electives for kids,
that is inter that is homeschools, because usually their parents
put them in art, dance, things like that, they never
(06:27):
had anything as far as beauty, So I'm.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Actually launching that initiative. This all very nice.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Well, last question, how are you enjoying the conference? It's
going well, I'm excited. We are actually exhibitors here, so
we will have a setup where they can see and
learn hands on skills at our booth, and then we
also have a braiding class that we're doing from twelve
to three here at the conference as well on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Come on through that. We're gonna be talking, We're gonna be
touching on all kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Okay, thank you so much for talking with me today.
Hope you enjoy the rest of your time at the conference.
It's so much to do. Yes, Yes, I'm excited to
be here. I'm excited to be a part of the organization.
I've been a part of the organization probably since twenty nineteen.
So when I did in New Orleans, we have like
they have different cohorts, so I was in a scale
(07:16):
up program and then I actually went into another program
with this Black Women in Retail Power by Walmart, so
I was a part of that.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Also was in the pitch competition.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I went to the second round, and so they give
us the opportunity to come and bring what we did.
They're here, so I'm excited about that and I'm looking
for more of those opportunities for me and my team.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Keep going, Thank you. Keep going.
So I'm here with Megan Kelly and you're the founder
of Silk Me Kids. Yes, yes, tell me a little
bit about it. So Silky Kids was derived because I'm
actually a kid's hair stylist, So that is the brand
of a kid's salon. We're located in New Orleans, Louisiana,
and I also have a Junior Beauty Academy where we
offer services to teach kids how to do hair, makeup, nails,
barbering services, product development, how to be many entrepreneurs on
(00:23):
the rising in the industry.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
You're teaching kids how to do hair. Yeah, we start
from seven to seventeen.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
So you're teaching them so they know how to breid
correct And I'm thirty four and I don't know how
to braid. See I was needed way back when, but
I'm here to back in ninety one. I'm here now,
so I can imagine that, you know, even working with
kids and doing their hair, because kids are full of energy,
you know, they get a little fidgety sometimes. That well,
you have to have another level of patients to be
(00:51):
a kid's hair stylist, so it gotta be in you.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Like I'm doing kids hair.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
We start at the salon at two years old doing
kids hair, so we go from two to six team.
So any other stylist they may start, they may just
do teenagers and stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
But I broke.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
That and I was like, I'm gonna start a younger
than that because I had a client that had a baby,
was in a wedding and she couldn't find nobody to
do our hair.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
So I was like, Okay, I'll do it.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And at that time, I didn't even really have an
interest in just doing kids hair. I just was doing hair,
and from that point on, it just was something that
just took off because I surveyed my city to see
that nobody really was doing kids hair, so I was like,
I'll just jump into that. And then I've been doing
it since twenty seventeen, going on eight years. Now, where
does that level of patience come from?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
You just gotta have it. You just gotta have it.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
So you also, I know you talked about you have
like a beauty school. Yes, so it's called the sum
Kids Academy Junior Cosmo Enrichment Program, So it's multiple levels
to that. We have our independent classes while we teach them,
which we just finished a six week beauty camp a
summer beauty camp and then they had a banquet where
they graduated and they got awards and certin and things
(02:01):
like that.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So we're really pushing them.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
You know, they're the next generation of beauty professionals. So
I'm a licensed beauty educator, so I'm able to teach
it to them correctly. Now, whatever they do afterwards, that's
all on them. But they got the foundation correctly, okay.
And that's the education part with the independent classes, and
then we also do after school programs, so we partner
with schools and institutions that want to offer it. So
(02:26):
one of them we do with the DBI, which his
daughter's beyond incarceration. We curated their after school program, and
then we partner with an elementary school as well and
we did their after school program, so that's another part
of it. And then we also do career fairs at
schools and things like that. And we actually have an
interactive like booth, so we have them come and do different.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Skills at the booths.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So they could be roller setting, they could be flat ironing,
they could be braiding, they're doing nails. Like We're going
through all the skills and girls and boys do it.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
The boys kill it every time. Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I'll just loved teaching them on the spot and they
learn those skills on the spot.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
So you have a focus with the youth. Yes, where
does that come from? I know that that's what you
mentioned that that's an area that not a lot of
people were tapped into, right, But where does that come
from for you?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I think with me.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Where I'm the oldest, so I have like a motherly
type of vibe. I'm also a cancer which my birthday
just was Tuesday. Hey, we'll have people, lady, and I'm
the oldest son. I'm a cancer too on period. So
it's just that motherly type of thing that I have
and I love to help.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I've always been a giver.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
I've always just put myself before others to do my
part in a community. And it's always been that way
even when I got in the industry. I do back
to school events free pres Day where we do hair
for free for kids going back to school. We do
it twice year, back to school time and Christmas time
because we know the financial strain that happens with parents,
(03:56):
so with that we actually just do our part with
gets back and I have just fostered that, and anybody
around me they have to have that same type. I
understand people don't really like kids like that, but when
you're dealing with me in the brand that I'm growing,
having the ability to be able to at least tolerate
and have a little bit of patience, it'll get you by.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
It gets your by, Okay.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
So I'm gonna give you a catch you off guard
a little bit if you have to tell me about
one of your biggest success stories with any any youth,
biggest successor.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Who is it? What's her name? How does she finil?
One of my attendees.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
She attended a lot of our independent classes in our
summer camps.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Her name is a Milli, a Millian. It's her name,
Millian McAll.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
So she came into our program with a passion for hair,
with a passion for just anything involved in a beauty industry,
and she was willing to learn. So we taught her
everything that she needed to know to be successful. And
even with that inspiration for her, it inspired her to
write a book.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
And the book was inspired.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Because she actually attended our beauty camp and is basically
helping her in the industry with being a future beauty professional.
So that's an amazing success store for me. And then
she just came back and attended our camp, So now
she's a second rounder with our camp and she's just
constantly evolving with us. So eventually she'd be getting a
(05:25):
paid internship to actually be one of our student instructors
for the camp. Wow, you are doing amazing things in
the community and for the youth, and soya thank you
for all that you do.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
How do we find you on social media? How do
we get more?
Speaker 1 (05:42):
I'm on Instagram. I have my personal Instagram, which is
it's still a content page either way, whether it's personal
or not, y'all.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Get a little bit of here, a little bit of
that going.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
On, but it's Redhead, Ried HGA d Underscore Hairstylist. And
then I have the actual brand page, which is Soap
Me Kids, s I L K M E K I
D S.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
We also have a website www.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Dot Silky Kids dot org and they can find all
of the information about classes and things of that nature
and also by products because we do have hair care
products for kids. And then we'll also just launched a
homeschool initiative. We're actually offering homeschool beauty electives for kids,
that is inter that is homeschools, because usually their parents
put them in art, dance, things like that, they never
(06:27):
had anything as far as beauty, So I'm.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Actually launching that initiative. This all very nice.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Well, last question, how are you enjoying the conference? It's
going well, I'm excited. We are actually exhibitors here, so
we will have a setup where they can see and
learn hands on skills at our booth, and then we
also have a braiding class that we're doing from twelve
to three here at the conference as well on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Come on through that. We're gonna be talking, We're gonna be
touching on all kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Okay, thank you so much for talking with me today.
Hope you enjoy the rest of your time at the conference.
It's so much to do. Yes, Yes, I'm excited to
be here. I'm excited to be a part of the organization.
I've been a part of the organization probably since twenty nineteen.
So when I did in New Orleans, we have like
they have different cohorts, so I was in a scale
(07:16):
up program and then I actually went into another program
with this Black Women in Retail Power by Walmart, so
I was a part of that.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Also was in the pitch competition.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I went to the second round, and so they give
us the opportunity to come and bring what we did.
They're here, so I'm excited about that and I'm looking
for more of those opportunities for me and my team.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Keep going, Thank you. Keep going.
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