DETROIT, MI — A Michigan woman hopes to make history as the first Black woman in the U.S. to franchise a salon business.
Dana White, owner of the Detroit-Based Paralee Boyd Salon, said that by fall her salon will offer franchises in multiple locations across the U.S., according to a press release from the company.
White projects to have 20 locations within two years and 100 locations within five years, the release said.
White’s franchising efforts are assisted by the 2020 Rocket Mortgage Detroit Demo Day.
Paralee Boyd, a salon that caters to women of color with thick, curly hair, earned the top prize in the annual pitch competition that invests more than $1 million in Detroit-based, early-stage companies with an ambition to scale, the release said.
The Paralee Boyd concept is based on teachings from White’s grandmother, such as “treat people as you’d want to be treated.” These values, along with White’s process of lean manufacturing inspired by the auto industry, has created the perfect formula to franchise the business, the release said.
“We are changing how women with thick and curly hair view their time, their dollar and themselves,” White said. “All of our future franchise locations will use our unique approach of collecting data to streamline the salon process, just like manufacturing businesses do.”
White’s efforts to revolutionize hair care for women of color were highlighted in a recent article by CNN.
“If you notice, all blow-dry bars, Great Clips, Supercuts, etc. market and have built their business model toward those with a finer texture of hair,” White said, in the CNN article. “These businesses don’t carry the products or tools nor do they perform styles that cater to women with thick and curly hair. Unfortunately, hair salons are very segregated along the lines of race.”
A Kalamazoo native who attended Western Michigan University, White opened the first salon in metro Detroit in 2012. Named after her grandmother Paralee Boyd, the salon opened a second location in Midtown Detroit in 2017, the release said.
By this fall, the salon expects to offer franchises of the business in Washington D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Miami and more.
White graduated from Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses program, and is part of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Access Network inaugural cohort, the release said.
“Dana’s vision and passion are second to none, and she is breaking new ground for Black women in the beauty industry,” said Asahi Pompey, president of the Goldman Sachs Foundation. “As a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, we are so proud of Paralee Boyd’s incredible growth.”
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