Stylist Spotlight: Simeko Watkins-Hartley (Pt. I)

At a time when we need it the most and in an area where true hair care was lacking, we find a haven where curly and kinky-haired girls can come and obtain real help for their tired tresses. Tucked away in Orange, NJ lies Meko New York, Natural Hair Care Spa & Boutique where owner Simeko Watkins-Hartley seeks passionately to give clients quality hair care, providing them with education and guidance to complement their beautiful hair styles!

I had a chance to sit down with Simeko at her hair care spa to talk about her career, her hair journey and how she’s doing her part to educate and help others to embrace what they were born with.

TBN– First of all, thank you so much for doing this interview! Now, in speaking with a few stylists, they’ll often say that their obsession with hair began at a very young age. Would you say the same is true for yourself?

SWH: I don’t remember but I do know this- I knew that I either wanted to do one of three things when I was younger: it was either be a teacher, if I was gonna have a career, and if I was gonna own a business I was gonna be a salon owner or own a daycare center. So I ended up doing one of the three things.

TBN- Talk a bit about how you got started in this business and how Meko New York was born.

SWH: A lot of people don’t know this but I have been in the natural hair-care industry for over eighteen years, so a really long time, since I was about 19 years old. I worked for one of THE top natural hair care salons in the country which was a great experience for me because I pretty much learned everything I know about the industry, about the business. And I knew that, since I always wanted to own a salon, this was a great experience for me and I knew that leaving there, I would eventually own my own salon. When I left in 2001, I wanted to start my own salon but it didn’t happen at the time and I was okay with that because I didn’t wanna rush anything. I ended up in Corporate America… absolutely hated it! I knew from day one that I wasn’t a corporate girl. I’m more creative so I knew I wasn’t gonna last long there. I started just thinking about it and visualizing it- what would I like my name to be? How would I like it to be if I had my own salon? So I really started working on Meko, New York-my vision, my niche- while I was there. Finally in 2010, Meko, New York was born!

TBN- Over the last year, we’ve seen your work featured a number of times in Essence magazine, you were quoted in the February 2013 issue and you’ve worked with some big names in the industry! Congrats on all the success! What would you say was the turning point in your career or the stepping stone that led to such accomplishments?

SWH– Wow. Truthfully, it’s meeting people like yourself who see my passion in the work that I do, who see my professionalism at all times, the way that I carry myself. I think, really, it’s my passion that drives people, like “wow, this girl really loves what she does. Not only does she love it but she knows what she’s talking about and she’s very professional about it!”

I remember, with getting connected with Essence magazine, I did a round-table with some other well-known natural hair-care stylists in the industry. Just sitting there at the round-table talking about the industry and where we think it’s going, the beauty editor approached me and was like… “I want you for a shoot!” I said “Wow, ME?! REALLY?! Okay, that’s great!” When I left I was, of course, very excited and I thought okay, she’s gonna call me in like a month… she called me the same day and was like, “I want you tomorrow”! Wow!

I’ve actually done shoots before, this is not the first time. Like I said, I worked for another very popular salon so I’ve done photo shoots, editorial work, I just never got the credit because it was behind-the-scenes. So now, I get the opportunity to do it for my own business and kind of really portray my own vision for what I see natural hair to be and I’m really thankful for that and humbled by it. It’s been a great experience so far.

TBN- You mentioned the industry… where DO you think it’s going, the whole natural hair “movement” in general? What are your thoughts on why it’s all about natural hair now?

SWH– it’s funny because it’s always been. There are people who have never relaxed their hair. Eighteen years ago when I first walked into that salon and I saw these women who exude beauty naturally and were proud of who they were… I’m telling you, I felt like, “Oh my goodness! This is where I wanna be! This is what it’s all about.” Slowly but surely, I think women are starting to accept their natural beauty more. For some people, it is a trend and for some people, it’s who we are. It’s learning to love what we were born with, to embrace it and to really make it work. More so because we’re realizing that the chemicals we were using in our hair and styling options that we were choosing to have was what was really causing the damage for our hair, why we’re not realizing our true hair length. We were doing so many things to it that was actually damaging our hair.

So, really educating ourselves and getting wise about our choices- it’s almost like someone who had eaten unhealthy all their life because that’s all they know. Now they start to educate themselves on changing their diet so that they can live a better life- it’s the same thing, so that we can really see our hair for what it is, appreciate it and love it so we can have hair on our head a lot longer *laughs* instead of prematurely balding because of the choices that we’re making. That’s what I’m really hoping it’s about and I think that’s why I’m really passionate about educating people, because I don’t want it to be just a trend. I don’t want women to do it because they see someone else with a beautiful head of hair and want THAT head of hair. The reality of it is you may never have that same head of hair. But, if you learn to embrace what you DO have, you’ll definitely take care of it so you can have it a lot longer!

Stay tuned tomorrow for Part Deux where Simeko talks more about how she helps women embrace what they have as well as her own natural hair journey!

Bye for now!

xoxo

~Toia