Closing the Curly Hair Education Gap: Working with Textured Hair

In this episode, we kick things off with a candid roundtable discussion on why clients with curly hair still struggle to find stylists who feel confident working with their texture. We then dive deeper with Janine Jarman, Founder of Hairroin Salon and creator of Curl Cult, to unpack what’s really missing in beauty education and why curly and textured hair is still treated like a “specialty” instead of a standard. From mishaps to the fear stylists have around cutting curls, this conversation breaks down the misconceptions holding the industry back and introduces a more modern, inclusive approach.

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Content Strategy & Direction: Shanalie Wijesinghe 
Creative Producer: Emily Badgley
Creative Direction & Copy: Jake Broselle
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Sound & Music: Tristan Callaway and Servando "MAXXX" Moquette
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Gaffer: Colin Shepard
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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_04 (00:02):
I'm excited to talk about this one because I feel
like people are so afraid ofcurly hair or just texture.
I love that Janine has created aproduct that allows us to like
lean into it, you know, and andalso use it in different ways
more than just like the spiralcurl that people know from
perms.

SPEAKER_02 (00:19):
Yeah, I'm really excited about the conversation
as well.
Just because I know it'ssomething that's kind of like, I
don't know if it's taboo or it'ssomething that's not really like
a priority when speaking of likedifferent hairstyles and
textures.
So I'm really excited to likehear what she has to say about
this.

SPEAKER_01 (00:34):
Yeah, definitely exciting.
I feel like it's still crazy in2025 as somebody that has curly
hair to find a stylist who iscomfortable working with my
hair.
To have that phone callconversation that's like,
listen, I'm begging you to makesure that whoever touches my
hair is comfortable has donethis before.
And just, you know, crazy thatthat's still very much so

(00:55):
relevant in this day and age.

SPEAKER_00 (00:58):
Yeah, hopefully uh this just speaks to a larger
shift in our industry aroundinclusivity and texture and
curls.

SPEAKER_04 (01:06):
Yeah, whether it's like manipulating it to be curly
or like a blowout, like everyoneloves a good blowout, like that
versatility is super importantbecause I have experience like
firsthand where I go in and Icome in with my crazy curls, and
maybe I do want even like thatsuper sleek, like snatched look,
and I get like the trianglehair.
And I'm like, okay, it's okay,like I'll go fix it at home, you

(01:28):
know?
And and I work in the business,so I I know what I'm doing, but
imagine how often that happensto people, you know.

SPEAKER_02 (01:35):
Yeah, yep, it's definitely happened to me where
I'm like in the bathroom fixingit right after, like, okay, now
it looks good.

SPEAKER_01 (01:42):
Fighting tears in the bathroom.
Right, just trying to smooth andsmooth, and I'm like, I'll just
go home and take care of thismyself.

SPEAKER_04 (01:48):
Yeah, funny enough, like one of the times at
Boulevard that we were doingheadshots, I went to, you know,
one of the random blowout barsto get a quick blowout, like
thinking I could just do that,like on a lunch break.
And I was like, you rememberthis mad dash home to like like
fumbling over the keys to getthe hair straightener, and like
Joss was in the bathroom helpingme.

(02:10):
Like we were all like making ithappen because it was a
disaster.
So whether you're going curly orstraight, like you gotta be able
to work with textured hair, youguys.
Come on.
So really excited to have thisconversation with Janine.
This ad is brought to you byBoulevard, the beauty industry's
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(02:31):
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get started today.
Janine Jarman, celebrity stylistand salon owner, founded Curl
Cult to help people embracetheir natural texture.

(02:53):
After seeing the challenges hercurly hair clients face and
experiencing them herself, sheset out to rethink the
traditional salon perm.
The result, a simple, healthy,and sustainable curl treatment
paired with at-home products,curls will absolutely love.

SPEAKER_03 (03:09):
I have textured hair.
I've always done textured hair.
I've always leaned into doingall types and textures.
And I was very taken back withhow much our industry hasn't
supported that.
Yep.
And not for like because theydon't want to, it's just brands,
um, schools, salons.

(03:30):
Like the education isn't there.
And it there's a lot ofsegmenting where it's like, oh,
curly hair is for people ofcolor.
Or, you know, or if you havelike any kind of texture, then
we're just gonna smooth it andor curl it with the curling
iron.
There's a lot of like conformerelse going on in our industry.

(03:52):
And I'm okay.
I'm up for that challenge.
It's I realized that I thought,oh, I'm gonna teach everybody
how to get plumped on permingand like a gentler, easier,
softer way to perm hair andcreate texture.
But I found out quickly thatwasn't enough.
It was also, oh shoot, you needto know how to cut curly and
textured hair.
Okay, you also need to know howlike because I have curl

(04:14):
supportive products.
I'm like, right?
Because you like curl needlightweight curl products.
And they're like, how do we usethem?
And I'm like, oh my God, ever wehave to teach all the things.
And, you know, thankfully, mybackground is in education for
brands.
So that's that's been it.
It's the three-pillar approachof like texture creation.

(04:35):
So it's a three-pillar approach.
It's texture creation andsupport, whether we're
rearranging it, giving it,enhancing it, and everything in
between, you know, reallybreaking outside of the perm
box, if you will, of perm isn'tjust granny curls.
It's permanent texture.
So what does that look like foryour client?
Is it somebody who has curlyhair here, but not up here?

(04:57):
And getting it to just be allcopacetic together.
Is it elongating a curl patternor, you know, rearranging a curl
pattern?
Is it giving someone a curlpattern so they can wash and go?
So that's the texture creation.
Second pillar is shape shifting.
How are we supporting a haircutfor curly textured hair?
Because it's totally differentthan cutting straight hair.

(05:19):
Absolutely.
You have to cutthree-dimensionally.
You can't just hold it out withtension because that's when we
cry.
Because now it's gonna take nineyears to grow our hair back.
Right.
And that too, thesemicroaggressions of like, I get
it.
I get why hairdressers don'twant to cut curly hair because
they're like, the last time Idid it, that person, you know,

(05:41):
put a hex on me because I did itwet and pulled the hair, you
know, like because yeah, therejust isn't access to like, hey,
this isn't harder.
This is just different.
And here's how we here's astraightforward approach to how
to do it.
And then the other part isstyling and supporting it from,
you know, for them at homethrough products.

(06:03):
And how do we diffuse dry?
What products do we use when andwhy?
And how do we apply them?
You know, it's was a foreignconcept for a lot of stylists as
I'm teaching them.
Like, oh, you put curly hairproducts in wet.
And they're like, oh my God, buthow would they know?
That feels crazy.

SPEAKER_04 (06:20):
That's true.
There's so many people who likehave curly hair themselves, yep,
that don't know how to do it,and then they look to their
professionals to be that guidingvoice, and sometimes they don't
even know.

SPEAKER_03 (06:31):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (06:31):
So it goes a long way.
Like, we think it's like, oh,duh, like you do hair, you
should know these things, butno, it's so different.

SPEAKER_03 (06:38):
When and how, unless they have curly hair themselves
that they're leaning into,unless they have education that
is like, you know, designed forcurl texture support and all of
its intricacies, like, there'sso many opportunities that
aren't aren't even beginning tobe explored from the cosmetology

(07:00):
level to regular brands.
You know, it's like, oh yeah, wehave some cool products thrown
in into the arsenal, but it'slike aerosol stuff, like things
that you're like, huh?
Not quite.
No, you don't.
Uh, you know, so it's yeah,we're I hope to be that brand
more than just like, I knew theperm was just the start because
that was a big part of it.

(07:21):
How do we get texture to beeasier for a client instead of
trying to always erase it?
I that's not my goal.
I want somebody to be able tolean into it and to have an
easier time with it at home andlet texture make their hair
easier.
But how do we get nowhairdressers on board to not
think of doing curly andtextured hair as a specialty,

(07:41):
but as just another tool intheir tool belt.

SPEAKER_02 (07:46):
This was just a taste of everything covered in
our full episode.
Keep the conversation going onLast Klein of the Day, now
streaming wherever you get yourpodcast.