If Your Hair Could Talk, What Would It Say?

For the last year, we’ve explored what hair and identity look like intertwined together. To these women, profiled in John Frieda’s “Your Hair Talks, Make A Statement” series, hair plays an intrinsic part of their daily lives.

For more inspiration from women living their most unapologetic lives, take a look through these seven women and their hair stories.

Wellness advocate Chelsey Luger doesn’t stray far from her roots, both in her long locks or in her career. In 2014, she co-founded Well For Culture, an organization that focuses on methodologies for improving health in her native country. Through that initiative, Luger promotes everything from “ancestral eating” to “functional training and indigenized fitness” via workshops and education. Drawing on the strength of her culture, Luger keeps on the move and strives to make a difference in the community that raised her. Watch her story here.

You could describe Skylar Diggins-Smith with a long list of awards and titles: She’s a two-time All-Star in her league with 1,500 career points to her name, she’s a five-time USA gold medalist, and even has an Azealia Banks song named after her. But the pro basketball player is more than a list of accomplishments. Watch her story to find out what being a confident woman means to her, on and off the court.

Ivette Cabrera came to the United States when she was just three years old, leaving behind the turmoil of the Nicaraguan Revolution. Now, Cabrera creates murals and other artwork in Miami that mostly focus on female strength and wisdom — and much of that inspiration originates from her own background and her evolution into womanhood. Watch her story to learn how her work has inspired her to empower women of color.

Executive pastry chef for Scoops & Sweets Caroline Schiff didn’t let a lack of experience in restaurant kitchens deter her from pursuing her dream. She went from doing the worst kitchen tasks in New York restaurants, like cutting onions and peeling beets (without pay) to slinging cheese at a Brooklyn cheese shop to, eventually, learning the craft of the soufflé. With the help of mentors who were willing to take a chance on her passion, Schiff worked her way up through the Brooklyn restaurant scene. Now, Schiff spends her days making pastries and ice cream while fighting the macho male mentality typically found in the industry. Watch her story to find out how she challenges the expectations and stereotypes of women in restaurant kitchens.

ESports and competitive gaming has grown from an underground subculture to a prominent force in pop culture thanks to, in some part, the female players and hosts that have given the industry a voice. One of those rising voices? Rachel Quirico, also known as Seltzer to her biggest fans. Watch her story to learn how she brings eSports and its positive, inclusive message to the mainstream, while embracing her own individual style.

When an artist statement ranges from “magic,” “light,” “hair,” “feminism,” “mysteries,” and “question marks,” you’ll never quite know what you’re going to view. That’s the beauty behind the work from Ashley Sophia Clark. The Portland photographer believes that visually capturing spirit, tension, light, and playful contexts gives viewers a unique lens into the scene before them. Clark appreciates that her own long locks have gone on an artistic journey with her, bearing witness to her whole life. “It’s been with you through time and space, so it’s collected that energy,” she says. “Long hair expresses a lot of things.” Watch her story to learn about her artistic process.

“Angie Jones — automation engineer, inventor, mentor, public speaker, Java programmer, and advocate for women and minorities in tech with Black Girls Code — hates to be put into a box. By creating her own narrative as a programmer, she’s encouraged others to do the same. Watch her story to learn how she’s defined her own career path and broken out of the stereotypes as a woman and minority working in the tech industry.”