What is Thrive Hair Bar?

Thrive Hair Bar is an express, natural hair salon that provides twists, braids, & blowouts in an inclusive atmosphere by stylists who are trained experts in your hair texture, who prioritize your hair health, and who empower more people to embrace their natural kinks, coils, and curls more often.

Why does Thrive Hair Bar Exist?

Thrive Hair Bar believes all hair textures are beautiful, should be embraced, and can be easy to manage, but unfortunately not everyone agrees with us. Did you know that:

1. Black women are 1.5x more likely to be sent home from the workplace because of their hair?

2. Salons across the nation sometimes have what they call a "texture fee" essentially charging more for the hair types/textures they deem difficult to manage?

3. In the natural hair community, it is not uncommon to spend over 24 hours on "wash day", which is prepping, shampooing, conditioning, detangling, and re-styling your own hair?

Basically it is stigmatized, expensive, and time-consuming to live in the world with kinky, coily, or curly hair and it shouldn't be. Thrive Hair Bar exists to change  all of that.

The Thrive Hair Bar Experience

Thrive Hair Bar provides an invigorating salon experience:

• clients and guests will be offered water and smoothie shots upon entry

• stylists are not only required to be licensed cosmetologist, but they're also required to complete a vigorous 12-step training process preparing them to expertly style all hair textures with an emphasis on kinky, coily, and curly hair

• we have a simple pricing structure, where all basic styles are the same price, we never charge a "texture fee" and clients can opt into our #teamNatural membership which saves them 10% on each visit, includes 2 styles per month, and includes a free hair treatment during their birthday week

• our twist, braid, and blowout packages, which include your shampoo and basic conditioning, are styles designed to easily transition between professional life and social life, and be completed in 90 minutes or less, eliminating that dreaded "wash day".

  

Thrive Hair Bar Customers

Over the 183 days we've been open during the Covid-19 Pandemic, we've provided over 450 services to women, men, and children of various ethnicities in our single chair salon and have earned an average rating of 5 stars across Google Reviews.

What are we Raising Money For?

We're expanding! We're raising $50,000 to open our 2nd location in Washington, DC which will have 6 chairs, giving us the capacity to serve 6 clients at once rather than 1. The $50,000 will help cover part of the build-out of our brand new salon including putting in flooring, a modern restroom, an HVAC system, our 6 styling stations, and our 3 wash stations.

Why Crowdfunding on IFundWomen

We've chosen crowdfunding to start raising funds because it allows us to raise debt-free cash, enabling us to run our growing business without being tied to external investors too early in our process. We've chosen IFundWomen to raise funds on because along with a platform for raising money, they provide mentorship, coaching, and they only take a 5% crowdfunding fee on the funds we raise.

Who's on the Thrive Hair Bar Team?

Thrive Hair Bar’s current team consists of CEO/Owner/Founder and Natural Hair Stylists Ajia Maximillian Minnis, Licensed Cosmetologist Daria Lisbon, and Natural Hair Stylist Janai Jackson.  

• Our CEO, Ajia Maximillian Minnis opened the first Thrive Hair Bar in Arlington, VA in July 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then she's led a team to grow revenue an average of 30% month over month, grown the Thrive Hair Bar team by 300%, and earned grants from both Caress® & Bobbi Boss®. Ajia studied natural hair at Zamora Natural Hair & Braiding and earned her Natural Hair & Braiding Certification from Bennett Career Institute Cosmetology School in Washington, DC. Her entrance into the hair industry wasn't a typical one though. Ajia earned her MA in Exercise Science from Columbia University in 2016 and prior to that, had spent over 15 years in the fitness and dance industry as a performer, choreographer, and instructor traveling the world. This life allowed her to experience firsthand how some of the most popular hair trends were damaging natural hair and how hard it was to find a salon in each city she visited that was well versed in her hair texture. She also saw how some doors, previously open when she wore straighter or loosely curled weaves, closed when she wore kinkier patterned hair. She knew she wasn't alone in experiencing these problems and wanted to solve them in the most efficient way possible, so in 2016 she moved to San Francisco and began working for leading SaaS companies from SalesLoft to Quartzy, to learn about running a  business while helping organizations increase efficiency through leading technology. Finally, in 2020, she returned to the east coast ready to lead an efficient organization that will help to eliminate stigmas, empower people to embrace their best selves, and give people the inclusive, modern salon experience she'd been missing across the world.

The Rewards!

We are selling some really fun, thoughtful, and useful rewards for you to take part in on this page! Rewards include Thrive Hair Bar logo t-shirts, virtual dance & fitness classes, and even sponsoring hair salon services for a foster child in need! You're also welcomed to give without buying anything, every dollar counts! Thank you so much for your support in helping Thrive Hair Bar grow into a successful business that fights stigmas, promotes community, provides jobs and professional development opportunities, and illuminates the beauty of natural hair. Please reach out to us directly with any and all questions!