I do not have a green-thumb when it comes to my new loc-style; I don’t have a clue. I have no idea why a guy who doesn’t know the difference between using a moisturizing shampoo or just plain soap would embark on this journey. The thing is, I have always wanted to wear my natural hair. I used to see dudes with dreads and think, “that’s the look I want.” Unfortunately, my obsession was met with much opposition from people I respected.

Constantly, they would bark at me about how much potential I had and how making such a non-mainstream move could really jeopardize my ability to gain success and move up the corporate ladder. I’m glad I found the courage to follow my own heart…and start my own business!

After enduring the first two weeks of putting my locs in I can understand why those people were so critical, everyone is. For example, I ride a bus called the Rapid (an upscale shuttle bus) to work every morning, and I can vividly recall people staring at me. One day, the bus driver even felt the need to ask me if I was looking for the right bus, even though I was waiting in line with everyone else and had exact fare- ha!

Despite overcoming my fear of many misnomers about this style, I have realized there are many things I must learn about my scalp and hair. My freshman year at college, my mom gave me a plant to remind me of her; I had no clue about plants at the time, but I learned to become a plant expert over time. That said, it has been helpful for me to think of growing my hair akin to growing plants. The key was experimentation, research, and persistence (persistence of the plant’s will to survive and not necessarily my patience). Here are a couple things I have learned in my first weeks of growing my locs:

Roll with the ups and downs. My loctician stressed  the importance of tying my hair down at night- especially since I have cotton sheets. Every night I religiously followed her instructions. So when I woke up only 3 days later and noticed my locs had come apart - some had merged together and they were no where close to as neat as they were the night before- I tripped. I spent almost 45 minutes trying to re-twist them and get them to lie down; no luck. As soon as business hours rolled around (7:55am) I was on the phone describing how my hair had come a loose. All my loctician replied was, “Tempo that is part of the process. If they come out, just re-twist; I will re-tighten them when I see you in a week.” I’m learning to roll with the ups and downs.

Harness your support I remember my first week of college someone walked in my room and said, “you know that plants dying right?” After being pissed and doing some research I learned that that particular plant just happen to grow that way. My girlfriend- one of the only people who haven’t seen my new style, has been that support I needed when I was ready to rush back to the cut I was used to. As with any re-design process don’t expect it to be easy, just commit to giving it a serious chance. If I would have cut my hair already, I would be regretting the fact that I punked out (though it’s not easy to say that I will keep this style forever).

In the meantime, until I am reaping the benefits of my labor, I have my own support network of people who will guide me and encourage me when the road seems impossible, or in my case when my scalp feels like an inferno on my head (I’m still figuring out what exactly to do about the itching).

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