How Social Proof Helped Normalize the Fro

Let’s take a trip to an alternate universe.

You’re a child growing up in the United States, and everyone says your hair is ugly. What makes your hair so obnoxious? It’s straight! And everyone knows that straight hair is hideous. You don’t see models or actresses with straight hair. A doctor wouldn’t DARE wear her hair straight. Straight hair is unprofessional. Employers won’t hire you and potential lovers won’t date you if you wear your hair straight.

“But this is the way my hair grows from my head,” you say. “My whole family has straight hair and so do, like, continents of people!”

Well, I hear you, and I hate to break it to you, but this is how our society has been for a few hundred years now. Straight hair is ugly. Plus, they don’t even make products for straight hair. It gets too oily. It’s too unmanageable.

No, if you want beautiful and acceptable hair, you need to chemically alter it into an Afro. That way, bathing, humidity, and rain won’t affect it. God forbid you get caught outside with your hair looking straight!

“But what about chemical burns?” you say.

Well, yeah, that might happen. The chemicals required have some heavy-duty acids in them. But your social life, your professional life, and your love life all depend on you having an Afro. So deal with it.

This story might seem too ridiculous to be true, but for years, it represented the reality for many black Americans living in the United States. Afro-textured hair was deemed so undesirable that people would go to great lengths to make their hair permanently straight.

Afro-textured hair was deemed so undesirable that people would go to great lengths to make their hair permanently straight.

But thanks to social proof, society changed — and that change created a multi-million dollar industry in its wake.

How Social Proof Created A Movement

Up until the last couple of decades, opting to wear your hair in its natural Afro state could be a difficult decision.

More often than not, families did not support it. They feared that people with Afros wouldn’t get the same opportunities as people with straight hair. And these concerns seemed justified. Studies have shown that people hire and promote others who culturally match them.

Not only that; people often associated Afros with the political movements of the 1970s. Could you wear your hair naturally and not have it politicized? How would your colleagues or lover react? If a woman bucked the beauty standard while dating, would men still find her attractive? Wearing your hair naturally took self-esteem and courage.

But in the early 2000s, many women decided to take the risk. So they turned to internet forums, blogs, Tumblr, and YouTube to engage with others who had made the same decision. Through these communities, they received support and social proof. Finally, they could connect with other women about their Afros.

As people shared the looks they were achieving, an influx of pictures started circulating — pictures of beautiful women with natural hair. These pictures got reposted, reblogged, and shared across social media as black women explored the beautiful ways they could style their Afro-textured hair. More and more people took the leap.

In local communities, they were a minority. Their online communities, however, were thousands of women strong.

… And Then An Industry

In the early 2000s, hardly any products existed to care for Afro-textured hair worn in its natural state.

Unbelievable, right?

Companies only made products for straightened Afro-textured hair. So women (and men) started developing their own products and sharing these formulas with other people in their communities.

These communities launched hundreds of black-owned businesses ready to meet the need for Afro hair care. Today, Shea Moisture, one of the biggest brands to emerge as a result of the natural hair movement, reportedly earns 200 million in revenue a year. Carol’s Daughter, another natural hair brand, was acquired by L’Oreal in 2014.

My own story begins in 2013, when a hair stylist RUINED my natural locks. I went online to buy something I had never seen in a brick and mortar store: clip-in extensions for Afro-textured hair. And I found nothing.

How Social Proof Grew Our Business To Seven Figures In Two Years

After extensive googling, all I could find were clip-ins for straight hair. That’s when I created Kurly Klips: clip-ins for curly and Afro-textured hair.

Women in the natural hair community took note. Now they could enjoy instant length while waiting for their natural hair to grow out. Better yet, the extensions looked just like their hair! No more trying to make Afro-textured hair look like silky straight hair extensions. Finally, we had our own.

Since its inception, Kurly Klips has served thousands of women in more than 50 countries. What was the secret to our success? Being first to market helped, but competition began forming within six months.

I ascribe our continued success to social proof, the language of the movement.

We recognized that online communities were at the heart of the movement, so we positioned our brand accordingly. Part of that strategy involved sending mail-in reviews with Yotpo.

Early adopters LOVED writing — and in some cases even filming — product reviews.

By allowing people to share their experiences in ways that felt natural to them, we accumulated more than a thousand reviews in less than three years.

When a potential customer comes to our site, they expect us to say good things about our company.

But user-generated storytelling is a much more compelling form of engagement. It’s what helps us sell.

You would hardly believe there was ever a time when wearing Afro-textured hair felt forbidden. Today, you see women sporting this texture on television, in magazines, on dates, and in professional settings.

Just like straight hair, it’s largely been normalized in society. In great part because a group of like-minded individuals created online communities that proved the beauty of natural hair.

You’re a child growing up in the United States and everyone comments on how nice your hair looks. What makes it so lovely? It’s the hair that grows from your scalp! Lots of people wear their hair this way and you have all the products you need to care for it. Besides, everyone knows that healthy hair is gorgeous hair — no matter the texture.