Meet Najmah Nelson of P.S. Naturally Yours in West End

Today we’d like to introduce you to Najmah Nelson.

Najmah, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I moved to Atlanta from my hometown Plainfield, NJ in the summer of 2009. I came to Atlanta with the hopes of working in the field of TV and Film productions, which is what I majored in at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. I was a 2008 recession graduate and many companies that I applied for in the DMV and NYC areas were not hiring at the time. My very first job out of college was working in my hometown as a permanent substitute teacher, turned full-time science teacher at a charter school. Though I began to teach, a career in television and film was still something I wanted to pursue. One day, I had an epiphany, I no longer wanted to live in NJ and decided to move closer to my mother well, moved in with my mother, who already resided in Atlanta. Moving out of my comfort zone and home state was something I was happy to do, a leap of faith if you will.

Moving in with my mother gave me a sense of security in a new city, but she also became the plug to help me further my career (not a position in film though lol). My mother was an assistant property manager for a major real estate company in the metro Atlanta area and she knew many tenants and vendors that worked in her building. One of the tenants she became familiar with was Dikembe Mutombo. Being the bold woman that she is, she asked one of his associates if Mr. Mutombo was hiring for any positions. Luckily, he was at the time. I interviewed for the marketing manager position, landed the job, and began to market for four of Mr. Mutombo’s Planet Smoothie locations. Not knowing what it really meant to be a marketing manager for a franchise owner, I did not do as well as I could have in that position. However, Mr. Mutombo was an amazing supervisor and was always willing to ensure that his employees found success in their own way. After working for Mr. Mutombo for about a year, I was laid off.

When I received my two weeks notice, I begin to think, really scramble about my next steps and to be honest, I had no idea where to start for a new career. So, where does a 24-year-old go to think and release their sorrows? To the club, of course lol. At a popular downtown Atlanta club, I ran into someone who was filming promos for it. I stopped him and put on my Jersey girl attitude and voice and said, “Ay whose gonna edit that film for you?!” He said, “I am!” We started exchanging film jargon and turns out he and his partner owned a film company called Obsidian Creative Studios. I interviewed with them, showed them my reel then I joined the team as a production assistant. This company was a startup, but the owners had a lot of connections. We landed gigs with Gucci Mane and Rick Ross, Travis Porter, Verse Simmons, we even interviewed with Dallas Austin and others. Obviously, these were fun and exciting times for me, I was working in my field, meeting stars, having many late nights, filming, editing, learning new lighting skills etc. These times were also very broke times, I did not make much money but was excited to work in the field I paid so much money for lol.

The company disbanded a year later, and I was again at the “what the hell am I going to do?” crossroads. At that time, I no longer was thinking about pursuing film as a career, I was in the mode of, it is time to get to the money. While working in film, I met so many people making an income from their authentic talents, so I decided that I would do the same and work for myself. I have always been great at doing hair, it was just a natural talent of mine that actually paid me during my matriculation at Morgan State. So, when I decided to work for myself, I just went for it, to be honest.

I started to do hair as a natural hairstylist, it was not easy at all. I did not know how to really market myself; I did not know the ends and outs of the industry. It was all bad in the beginning. To the point that one day, I literally broke down and cried and I had one of those moments where I felt sorry for myself. Here I was a college-educated woman, I had not made a lot of money, and no career that I was proud of at the time. I was devastated. However, I knew that I wanted to work for myself and I did not want any mental setbacks to hinder my goals. I worked in a barbershop initially, then a barber and natural hair salon called Royal Crown Barbershop a few months later.

Royal Crown, as it is popularly known for, became the cornerstone of what I have created in my business today. I worked at Royal Crown for about ten years as a professional natural hairstylist. During that time, I have created my 16:14 Oil which is for hair, skin, and nails. 16:14 Oil is all-natural and organic ingredient oil that promotes hair growth, glowing skin, and healthy cuticles. I also created my business, P.S. Naturally Yours, LLC in 2014.

P.S. Naturally Yours was created to promote mental spiritual and emotional health and healing for women. As a hairstylist, I began to commune with so many people from different backgrounds and experiences. I experienced my client’s triumphs, their losses, their births, marriages, etc. But I also noticed most of my clients, who many are women, did not or do not have a healing outlet. So, I wanted to create that within my business model.

As a child, I have always been empathic to people’s emotions and I always wanted to see people functioning in their happiness. I inherited those attributes from my mother and grandmother, who are both natural empaths. Seeing people working towards or functioning in a healthy and happy existence does something for my spirit. However, I created a rule that I would work on creating a healing environment within myself before fully pursuing working with other women.

In 2016, I obtained an Egyptian Yoga certification and a reiki certification to align myself with my physical and spiritual healing paths. Then one day in 2017, I opened a book that was sitting on my bookshelf for years called Sacred Woman by Queen Afua. This book is a very intense yet highly rewarding piece of work. I thought I could do the tasks alone. However, Sacred Woman is meant to be done with a group of women to work on several levels of healing; how a woman speaks, how she dresses, how she loves her self and others. So, I called all the women who I was close to and we read the book and did the activities connected with each chapter, which are called Gateways. We had such an amazing time doing this work that we did it again in 2019. While doing the work given by Queen Afua, I became more inspired by the wholistic healing path, which further makes me want to pursue a new level of health and healing with my business. This is where I am currently with the growth of P.S. Naturally Yours. In the near future, we will be doing retreats, growth and healing seminars, yoga classes and many other healing experiences that promote light work of all kind.

I am thankful that my path has guided me to such an awakening and that I have been part of a lot of women’s growth and healing. I know that personally, I am far from perfect, I am still working on my personal healing and growth. Yet I am in a space of gratitude and divine peace.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
To be honest, my road has been exactly what it needed to be for me to stay in alignment with my divine path. If it were easy, I would not be able to grow. Even when I reach my current goals, I believe there will still be adversity to experience. There are levels to life, and with each level, there will be battles to have, personality traits to abandon and adopt, people to welcome in my life or to remove out of my life. To me, it’s just what it is, but it is all divine. I am just grateful for my determination and fortitude that I possess. Without those attributes, I doubt I would have gotten as far as I have.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with P.S. Naturally Yours – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I started P.S. Naturally Yours in 2012, P.S. Naturally Yours was created to promote mental spiritual and emotional health and healing for women. The name breaks down as Postscript Naturally Yours, we use postscript as an extra seal of love. My business name derives from an idea that each of my clients writes an open love letter to themselves, where they address their goals and what they want to do to work on their healing. They sign it and we “postscript” it by assisting with designing what they can do to achieve their personal healing goals. Our clients begin to follow their personalized self-care regimen or service, whether it is natural hair care, yoga, reiki, or simply connecting with the women’s healing circle.

I am most proud of the growth that I have experienced with P.S. Naturally Yours, I have been able to host powerful healing circles, a women’s retreat, and taught several yoga classes. I have benefited from my work, as I have grown personally and spiritually due to stepping out on faith and creating my business. I am also proud that my client-family has benefitted from my services and have felt the love exchange that I give to them as well.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are looking to expand and to grow. My main goal is to open a women’s healing center and to do global retreats based on self-care, self-love and dynamic personal growth and healing.