Hidden Gems: Meet Marie Rolla of Black Sheep Salon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marie Rolla.

Hi Marie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Being autistic has left me always feeling like the black sheep wherever I go and I’m often told I’m too intense or too weird for many spaces. I hold a lot of collective rage for the unjust ways the world operates as I watch systems fail my loved ones every day. Opening Black Sheep has given me a small corner of the world where I can feel normal and get a break from it all.

I was fired from my last salon for speaking about racial segregation in hair salons. While many all white salons were out protesting Black Lives Matter in 2020, I spoke loudly about the disconnect between our beliefs and how we uphold racism in our day to day lives, encouraging stylists to get educated and trained to be able to service Black people confidently behind the chair. I often ask non Black friends or clients if they’ve ever gotten their hair done next to a Black person, and the answer is most often a “no”. I hope that my story inspires other folks to take the initiative to learn to work with textured hair.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The first few years of opening took a huge toll on my mental health and my home life and I’m beyond grateful to be on the other side of that now. The longer I’m in business the more I learn and the easier things get.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Black Sheep Salon?
We are working to service the folks who are often refused service or underserved in hair salons. Black folks and folks with curly hair are centered in our space since beauty schools are not teaching this and most salons do not invest in continued education. We only hire stylists who already have experience working with tight textures and we continue to prioritize outside education from Black stylists.

We have an entirely queer/trans staff with the lived experience to provide gender affirming services. Many salons are not confident cutting someone’s hair short for the first time or do not understand the nuances that can make a haircut appear more feminine or masculine, which is a skillset that can literally save a trans persons life.

Even though ADA helps protect disabled people, most businesses do not think about the diverse needs of disabled people. We go above and beyond the ADA minimums and have invested in making our space accessible to disabled people as best we can.

Some features of our space are shampoo beds that lay flat with grab bars to help ease neck and back pressure, a portable shampoo bowl for wheelchair users, a private room with dimmable lights for folks who are light, sound, or smell sensitive or need privacy for religious or personal reasons, chat free appointments, stim toys for neurodiverse folks and kids, fragrance free appointments, true HEPA air purifiers for COVID safety, and flexible cancelation policies for folks with chronic illness.

Our styling chairs have removable armrests that can hold up to 800lbs and our shampoo bowls are wide beds with no armrests that usually prevent a larger body from fitting. Our waiting room chairs were custom welded by a family member since most commercial chairs only hold a max of 350lbs (and often have much lower capacities).

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I find that many people open hair salons without a clear vision or mission statement. Times are tough and the economy is tanking and in order to survive you need to find something that sets you apart from other businesses. My journey learning to work with textured hair has taught me so much more than I had expected, so I always encourage people to welcome diversity. What started out for me as an idea has blossomed into a beautiful community and I’m forever grateful for this experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.blacksheepsalonLBC.com
• Instagram: @blacksheepsalonlbc
• Yelp: https://yelp.to/98l-3_zI_B