Help me open the New Curl Consultant Salon & Education Space

My name is Kia Fay, and I’m a salon educator and stylist based in San Jose, CA where I specialize in working with natural texture. It’s been my joy for the last decade to share space and care for so many of you in my two salon suites. For years I’ve known that I’m called to educate, and that I needed a new space that would accommodate teaching, creating curriculum and hosting gatherings. I searched for what felt like ages, knowing I was a tiny fish in a big expensive pond but I didn’t give up hope. I’m so overjoyed to share that I found my dreamy new spot located in the heart of San Jose’s Japantown. After months of waiting I signed the lease for my new salon, and the day after…I broke my hand.

This timing felt heartbreaking, and took me a couple of weeks to wrap my head around but people who really love me have encouraged me to remember that it’s ok to ask for help.

Here’s where you come in.

After years of operating a micro salon suite that only comfortably held two people at a time, I'm beyond excited to have just signed a lease for my first stand-alone salon. San Jose, CA despite being a major metropolitan area has 2.94% Black population and we need to have more safe and inclusive gathering places. I've been honored to build community in such an intimate way for the first phase of my hairdressing career, and now it's time to expand that reach. This means I'll have the space to teach larger groups and hold community events centered around natural hair and Black community health and wellness. Your donations will give me the financial space to comfortably close my existing salon and hire professionals to complete the updates at my new space. I'd specifically like to invest in a new ergonomically friendly shampoo bowl and chairs, client seating, dryers, storage and painting. A portion of the funding would be used to pay my salon rent to help buffer the cost of the time I'll be unable to work while the new salon is under construction and while my hand heals. My new salon is bigger with half the rent, which is an incredible find but I need help to shoulder the one-time initial costs of opening. Finally, I'd like to use these funds to host a community kick-off event once the new space is open.

The Bay Area is an amazing cultural melting pot. It's beautiful to see different communities gather together to celebrate their shared histories and joys. In my role as a salon owner, I've had the opportunity to act as a relay of information for the community in my area. I'm in the unique position to hear about what my community members are individually working on and then I can point them in the direction of the right people and resources that I'm familiar with. When people move to a new area, one of the first things that they do is look for a place to get a haircut. For the Black community, salons and barbershops have not only served as a place for a haircut but also as critical community education and gathering spaces. I'm lucky to live in an area that's home to innovation, and I've worked for years to make my salon and educational work reflective of that culture. Many clients I see want to invest their money back into the community, but they don't know where to go or who to connect with. Because of my access to so many remarkable members of the community and their willingness to share with me, I'm able to help others forge connections.

I'm so excited to have my community gather together in the salon so that we can experience the joy that comes with in-person gatherings. I want the opportunity to offer that healing space to others.

I appreciate you! Thank you for supporting me with your friendship, love, and donations.