MINNEAPOLIS— The Taylor’d Cosmetology school was founded to give students the opportunity to learn more about ethnic skin care.
“We’ve always been proud of our hair and skin, but we’ve never had the space to be loud about it,” says Nubiah Taylor, CEO of Taylor’d Cosmetology.
Taylor took her dream of becoming an esthetician and business owner and ran with it.
“I’m the owner, the CEO, the instructor, the manager, all those things,” Taylor said.
Growing up in North Minneapolis, Taylor wanted to do something to help others achieve their dream of becoming a beauty professional.
“A lot of girls in the neighborhood asked me what school you went to and where you went to become a beautician, so I always sent them to Empire or Aveda and one day I said what’s for us,” Taylor said.
She says most beauty schools don’t teach her how to work with Black, Indigenous and people of color clients.
“It wasn’t about ethnic skin and nails, so I said you know what I’m going to bring to North Minneapolis,” Taylor said.
Over the past year, Taylor’d Cosmetology has been teaching its students how to care for clients with melanized skin.
Taylor got a helping hand from a nonprofit organization that aimed to give people of color the capital to start a business.
“The new impact fund they like to invest in black business and so I went through these shark tank competitions and then I made it and I showed them my vision and then they gave me the money for the school,” Taylor said.
Classroom education takes place on one side of the building, and practice-oriented learning takes place on the other side.
“These are our five esthetician rooms where our students came to take clients,” Taylor said.
Students can’t graduate without practicing on real people, so they need the community to help book appointments for eyebrows, facials, makeup and waxing.
Taylor says students from diverse backgrounds find a place to learn at Taylor’d Cosmetology.
“We have 60% black, about 30% Latino and about 10% white,” Taylor said.
For students like Jasmine Winn, studying at Taylor’d Cosmetology school is a dream come true.
“I want to be an entrepreneur, so I feel like having the knowledge that I have as an esthetician and knowing the basics of what I need to do will help me succeed in life,” Winn said.
Taylor’d Cosmetology is registering students for the eighth round of classes.
When the school is in its second year of operation, students can receive federal funding so they do not have to pay out of pocket to become an esthetician.
