Today we’d like to introduce you to Ceciliamarie Wellington.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am a Licensed Master Cosmetologist (2012), Trained Cosmetology Instructor and State Board Prep (2016), Home-Grown Braider, Seasoned Loctitian, Licensed Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA-2017), Certified Home Health Aide (HHA-2018), and Poet. In every professional position and career opportunity, I was placed in some type of leadership role. As I get older, I’m starting to interpret those opportunities as teachable moments for me to be able to put my life experiences into words that can help people. I didn’t acknowledge that I was fighting my way through childhood trauma, abuse, and suicide all before the age of 16, because burying that pain seemed easier at the time. By having my Heavenly Army, host of Ancestors and assigned people to my life, I was able to survive. Who would’ve thought that all because my Aunts didn’t want me to get punished for messing up my hair, would one day be the foundation of my light to the world.
POETICSTYLIST DESIGNZ LLC is a space of spreading Knowledge and Love through effective hair care, high vibrations and positive energy. My goal is to actively spread my light by sending endless positive vibes and high vibrational energy radiating through my fingers, into my clients’ hair, and out into the universe. POETICSTYLIST DESIGNZ LLC originated in the DMV one day while I was still in hair school at the Hair Academy in New Carrollton, MD. Because I am also a poet, I wanted to merge both of my loves together to create my email address, and BOOM, POETICSTYLIST was born. It wasn’t until I was working at “Natural Kinks Natural Hair Studio” in Washington, DC that the DESIGNZ aspect was born. That’s also where I gained my introduction into the professional salon experience and training in the natural hair world. After years of riding the bus, taking the train and taxis with my big ole suitcase full of hair tools and supplies to all of my clients houses, I can believe that it was all worth it. Every challenge, obstacle, and lesson all lead me to this place at this time in my life. Do I see some situations where I could’ve taken an easier route? Sure, but then I think about the lessons I could’ve missed out on that helped shape me in some way.
Although I am trained on a plethora of hair types and textures, I specialize in aiding women on a journey of self-care and building confidence through love and respect for their natural hair. I specialize in a very sensitive subject that many people, especially women, have a hard time talking about; Alopecia. In my family, most of the women go bald so I have a very personal relationship with this subject. Alopecia is the partial or complete loss of hair where hair would normally grow. Although there are many types of Alopecia, the two most experienced in my field are genetic and tension based. Androgenic Alopecia is hereditary hair loss caused genetically and/or hormonally. Traction Alopecia is hair loss most likely caused by excessive hair pulling and tight hairstyles that eventually damage the hair follicles. After over-twisting my first journey of locs and pulling out my edges, I was living with my own embarrassment of not having edges with the looming possibility of losing all of my hair due to Androgenic Alopecia. In 2012 I abruptly decided to cut and color my locs and after not being satisfied with how I looked, I combed them out. It took me two weeks to finish, but letting go of my locs gave me the push I needed to really dive deep into hair exploration, and in 2013 I finally cut my hair into a mohawk. The way my confidence and presence elevated after making that change is still guiding me to this day. With this freedom, I’m able to encourage other women to take control of their hair by offering cutting services as well. For any situation, if the hair follicles are damaged or diseased, then there really is nothing to do but try different hairstyles that make you feel confident and whole. Don’t waste time causing further damage to your hair and soul. “When a woman cuts her hair, she changes her life.” -PoeticStylist
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My life has never been easy. Some of my hardest obstacles in building POETICSTYLIST DESIGNZ LLC range from trying to thrive in an unsafe family environment TO still believing in myself enough to get out of bed. However, my biggest challenges were internal; overcoming trauma and learning self-love. Being told by the very people who claim to love me, that “doing hair isn’t a real job” and to make sure I had a “plan to fall back on”, always rang in the front of my mind. These were the people that I respected highly and often looked to for validation of my own self-actualization.
What if they were right and wanting to be a Cosmetologist was a dead-end fairytale? What if I’m not good enough to really do hair full time?
Being 26 and skeptical about my possibilities of success, I had no choice but to jump out on faith. After successfully completing Cosmetology school at the top of my class, and passing both state board exams on the first try, I was starting to feel an energy that I never felt before: self-worth. I used to say all the time that Cosmetology was my last stop because I actually love doing hair so this had to be it. Now looking back, it was always supposed to be hair. I was doing hair in the band room at school, at my church, at home and anywhere there was a chair. I did so much hair at Norfolk State that I stopped going to class and had to forfeit my band scholarship. I’ve risked everything to stand behind the chair and plant positive seeds into the world through my hands, so it’s only right that my harvest season has begun.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My ministry is educating people about their personal hair care while also unveiling the beauty of falling in love with your natural hair. To be from a people that was told at every angle that our hair was deemed “unprofessional”, “difficult to deal with”, “ugly” and the list goes on. To now live in the space of acceptability, appreciation, and global beauty. In Good Hair 2009, Chris Rock showed us how unwanted our kinky/curly hair was to the public and to ourselves. No one wanted to buy hair that looked like that so it was shunned and discarded.
To fast-forward to 2021 and can very well be in a room filled with humans with natural hair and/or hair additions that could also fit the bill. To some, this is temporary to fit what’s trending right now, and to others, this is a time to finally come out of the shadows and remove those internal masks. To the ones who understand that learning to appreciate your natural hair is a self-care love journey, Welcome Home. To my fellow Alopecia folks, you are going to be just fine. I believe others are waiting to see some representation so they can also embrace their situations. This year alone I have started loc journeys on multiple clients who are living with Alopecia, and I have seen major improvements in the integrity of their hair. The hair is locking, getting stronger and thriving which doubles as a confidence booster for my clients. This also further lets me know that I’m headed in the right direction and my Great-Grandmother, Mae Mae was right.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My story is just beginning and there’s so much more to write. I give credit to my sister, Chrystinamarie who inadvertently chose me as her mother when she was in the womb of our mother, as I did the same and assumed the mothering role for her. She may not be biologically my daughter, but she has always been in spirit and in life. In more ways than one, mothering her forced me to break those generational curses to give us both a better shot than the examples that were made before us. It was time for the women in our family to finally be heard as more than wives and baby machines. I give credit to my Aunty Rhonda, for teaching me how to be a woman and always showing up for me in love. I give credit to my Aunt Carlina, for taking the time to embrace me under her wings and teach me everything she knew about braiding hair, starting with how to braid. From Pre-stretching the kanekalon hair so I don’t waste it in tangles, to taking time to grease my fingers so the kanekalon hair doesn’t rip my hands to shreds. I give credit to my Great-Grandmother, Mae-Mae who told me at a very young age that I have “growing hands” and they will take me very far one day.
Of course, at the time, I had no idea what she was talking about, but now I think I’m starting to grasp her manifestation for me. Since she was unable to walk and had limited mobility in the latter part of her life, she needed assistance with a lot of her personal care, which included managing her hair. She used to let me comb and style her hair in fun styles suitable for her bedbound lifestyle.
By the age of 13, I was adding kanekalon extensions to my own hair in such a way that no one could believe that I did it myself. Those women planted seeds in me and I am standing on their shoulders as the CEO/Founder of POETICSTYLIST DESIGNZ LLC and a Spirit-Chosen GENERATIONAL CURSE BREAKER. Because of those women, I now know I was experiencing being mothered in multiple ways by different women who I unconditionally love and respect. That is the foundation behind the sunshine.
Contact Info:
- Email: poeticstylistdesignz@gmail.com
- Instagram: @poeticstylistdesignz
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/poeticstylist4u
Image Credits:
Chrystinamarie Wellington
