Stylist Support Relief Fund
Donation protected
In order to help the stylist community stay afloat during these difficult time, we've launched the #SaveTheSalon campaign to raise money to provide $500 for thousands of stylists across the country.
In support of this goal, we've garnered backing from Ben and Felicia Horowitz, Jack Dorsey's #startsmall, Libra/Pritzker Family, and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.
These donors have pledged to donate TEN dollars for every ONE dollar raise by the community, up to $1 million. Mayvenn is seeking additional sponsors to back the next $1 Million.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating to black communities across the country, and the salons and barbershops at the center of these communities are suffering in unprecedented ways. With closures all across the country, stylists have lost all means of income.
Hairstylists do more than our hair. They give us confidence in ourselves, taking care of us physically and emotionally. As they touch our scalps, they use their expertise to make us feel our best, often listening intently to our most vulnerable concerns and offer thoughtful advice, then following up when we’re back in their chairs. This is why many of us consider our hairstylists our close friends and chosen family. In only one month without their services, many of us are realizing just how essential they really are- we have to ensure that they’re still around when this is over. Â
Impact of COVID-19
During COVID-19, many of us are missing the connection to our stylists, but our financial support is crucial. Maintaining a steady stream of clientele is imperative to a beauty professional’s business. Hair matters to us: black consumers spend over 10 billion annually in the hair care and salon services market. Black hair salons and barber shops are a backbone of black entrepreneurship and an integral part of our communities.
Appointment bookings have fallen 90% in the last few weeks alone, and the future of shelter-in-place guidelines are unclear. Many of our stylists have seen their source of income disappear overnight, and can't predict how things will look in the next coming months.
The added responsibilities of bills, families, and employees to support increases stylists’ financial burden and makes the current state of affairs even more frightening. Most of our stylists are African American, and are disproportionately impacted by the gender pay gap that exists in the United States. Statistically, black and brown women earn just $0.62 for every $1 that non-black, non-Latinx men make. Many of them are entrepreneurs who are unable to file for unemployment.
How Mayvenn Is Helping
Though we’re not a very large company, helping stylists is at the core of who we are and what we aim to do. Mayvenn is pledging to match donations up to $100,000 to add to the fund. We need your help to raise the rest.
How YOU Can Help
Any amount helps. Please give what you can and share this online with the hashtag #SaveTheSalon.Â
Post your favorite selfie after your stylist made you feel beautiful and show them how much they mean to you. Tag us using the hashtag #SaveTheSalon. This will help us spread the message further.
These are difficult times for everyone, for all of us collectively. We hope that you'll join us in rallying together for those that need our support—now more than ever—until we are together again.
Mayvenn is a technology company that was created to empower hairstylists in the African American community. From the beginning, we’ve committed to boosting stylists’ incomes, connecting them with new clients, providing assistance with booking appointments, and we feel it is imperative to help them now.
Organizer and beneficiary
Mayvenn Hair
Organizer
Oakland, CA
Stephen Lasky
Beneficiary