Today, dear readers, I had the pleasure of interviewing Audrey Telliam, co-founder of the Comp-hair platform. This platform aims to introduce us to hair products specifically designed for Afro hair. This allows us to compare and purchase products tailored to our hair. Comp-hair also offers hair diagnostics and parent-child workshops.
Hello Audrey! First, introduce yourself in a few words.
Hello! My name is Audrey Telliam. I am 30 years old and have been a business owner since 2014. Before creating Comp-hair, I was a graphic designer for a company. It's a platform for selling hair products and providing advice for people with coily, curly, and kinky hair. My goal was and still is to highlight these hair types, give advice on how to enhance them, and of course, offer suitable products.
How did you get the idea to create workshops for coily hair care?
Unfortunately, I closed the platform 15 days ago to dedicate myself entirely to my workshops. Over time, I realized that this is what I enjoyed the most. I love human relationships and helping people have better self-esteem. Product sales still happen, but through the workshops. I want to emphasize that I exclusively sell French brands, to support entrepreneurship in France. I want to prove that we, French people, make products just as good as those in the United States. Regarding my workshops, I have 3 different formulas, all scenarios are represented to satisfy each client: first, the video workshop. This is video coaching to provide essential information on coily hair, followed by online coaching to assess and revisit specific topics. I also offer group workshops. This workshop is reserved for groups of 4 to 6 people in Paris and the close Parisian suburbs. And finally, the individual workshop. I meet with people and analyze their routine, habits, and techniques to give my advice.
Regarding yourself, have you always worn your hair natural?
I had my first relaxer in high school. I continued until 2012. I've been natural for 5 years now! I discovered the nappy world on YouTube. I was immediately interested. But what is it? Nappy or nappy hair is an assumed return to natural hair, which is commonly equated with the afro cut. It's a trend deeply rooted for many years in the United States that has been making a strong comeback in France for about five years. It also carries a claim from women of color to embrace their natural hair and break free from norms imposed by Western culture.
To get back to your workshops, what message do you want to convey to your participants?
I want to convey two messages, which I consider essential. The first is the technical aspect. I noticed that parents focused on the products they put on their children's hair, and not on the techniques. The goal is therefore to acquire the right techniques to avoid tears and stress and thus prevent hair damage.
Secondly, I place great importance on self-esteem. In my opinion, no matter what type of hair one has, one must learn to accept oneself as one is.
The workshop takes place in 3 stages. First, a presentation of how coily and curly hair works and its specificities. Then I present the steps of an effective hair routine and we talk about products. Finally, we apply the knowledge to the child or a styling head. The audience is varied: Black mothers, white mothers, I even had fathers. The common denominator is this desire to understand hair that has specific problems and needs, to value this heritage, not to seek to denature it. And ultimately, for their child to be proud of who they are because this work, this self-acceptance, begins in childhood.
You became a mother to a little girl a few weeks ago: how will you ensure she has self-confidence?
That's a tough question! She's still little, but it all starts with the kindness we transmit to her. We also need to be careful with the words we use. We must reassure her, show her the diversity of the world through travel, reading, etc. I think this will give her a good foundation to face the reality she will encounter.
What are your future plans?
For now, I will continue to develop Comp-Hair. I will study my new positioning regarding hair workshops, which is already quite a lot! I also plan to write more articles on my personal blog!
