Shalleen-Kaye and Seanna-Kaye, the dynamic duo collectively known as Natural Hair Does Care, LLC, are two sisters on a mission. They provide Hairspiration, Hair Conversations, and Hair Education, all while curating Naturalista Chic! Known for their thematic postings on natural hair care, styling ideas, nutrition and emotional wellness, served with a healthy dash of wit and wisdom, the sisters make living a holistic lifestyle accessible and fabulous.
One of my favorite series of theirs is when they highlight the preQUEENS and call on all of us to be a positive influence on the preQUEENS in our lives.
What’s a preQUEEN, and how did you come up with that phrase?
Shalleen-Kaye: We saw the major impact of curating positive images in the natural hair community since first creating our social media platforms and our website, naturalhairdoescare.com almost five years ago. We receive the most engagement from our images of young ladies ages 1 month-12 years old. Our audience loves to see their amazing crowns of hair and their fashionista style! One day I saw the word pre-teen and thought to myself, what about preQUEEN*! We are all royalty with our various crowns of textured hair, so raising our young ladies with a “Queen-to-be” mindset will ensure they are confident, self-assured and positive.
What are some ways can mothers be a positive influence on their daughters?
Shalleen-Kaye: It is a great honor to raise a daughter. We are the first teacher, first doctor, first comforter, first leader, first source of knowledge before our daughters interact with anyone else. So in all ways we should keep this in mind. We can show our daughters how we organize our day, how we work for ourselves, how to be community leaders, how we gather in our social circles, how we manage our finances, how to groom ourselves and maintain our personal hygiene, how to travel and so much more.
It is a great honor to raise a daughter. We are the first teacher, first doctor, first comforter, first leader, first source of knowledge before our daughters interact with anyone else.
What if you don’t have a daughter? What are some ways women can be a positive influence on young girls?
Shalleen-Kaye: Some of us are influential over the young ladies in our social groups, our faith-based community, in our careers, or in our community. We should all be what we wish we had when we were young ladies. So look for ways to connect with young girls that we can pour in to and encourage. For example: if we see a young lady struggling with her self-image, or self-confidence due to learning how to style her textured hair, show her the products you use, teach her about creating a regimen, using a professional stylist quarterly and definitely send her over to naturalhairdoescare.com!
Do you think there are things we can individually practice on our social media to make us better influences?
Shalleen-Kaye: Absolutely! Being strategic and planning the content of your social media platforms consistently around positivity is so important . We are extremely mindful of the images we portray and we love to show images of excellence and encouragement. Every day, we start out with #nhdcmoring, an uplifting message that focuses on daily devotion, motivation, encouragement and enlightenment to get us through our day. When we see something that we know will inspire and motivate our community of over 265,000 supporters we use #todaysfaves. And when we share our humor and want to bring a smile and happiness to our community we use #nhdchumor.
Having a positive inner voice is like singing a song in the right key. You don’t want to be tone-deaf to what you’re saying to yourself and about yourself, because that makes you really vulnerable to unexpected hurt.
Why is it so important to be a role model, and why is it something you often say on your social media?
Seanna-Kaye We are influencing young girls whether we intend to or not, it’s only natural for them to watch and emulate the women they see. So since we have an opportunity to make lasting impressions through social media, we encourage our followers to join us in making it an empowering space, not a negative one.
Many of the harshest criticisms we face come from our own self doubt, how do you make sure you’re keeping your own inner voice positive?
Seanna-Kaye: Having a positive inner voice is like singing a song in the right key. You don’t want to be tone-deaf to what you’re saying to yourself and about yourself, because that makes you really vulnerable to unexpected hurt. Instead you have to truly listen to your inner voice, and practice “singing in the right key,” it takes practice to be positive! And definitely don’t compare yourself to others in a way that makes you feel “less than.” Especially on social media you have to be careful not to devalue your own progress based on someone’s posts.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our community?
Seanna-Kaye: Thank you for this opportunity to talk about our mission to positively influence preQUEENs and others to see that they are naturally and wonderfully made.
Shalleen-Kaye: We encourage you to follow us on our social media platforms and to join our readership on naturalhairdoescare.com, where we curate positive images, daily.
What steps do YOU take to be a positive influence on the preQUEENS around you NaturallyCurly World?
*The term preQUEEN is currently under trademark review.
