WEBVTT - Wash Day Woes 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.520 Hey, y'all, Eve's here. I know you're ready to get 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:05.600 into this episode, but really quick. We have been loving 0:00:06.080 --> 0:00:09.080 connecting with y'all over black storytelling, and if you've really 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:11.600 been loving the show, then we would really appreciate it 0:00:11.600 --> 0:00:14.200 if you would leave us a rating and review, subscribe 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:16.840 to the show, and share it with your friends. Thanks y'all, 0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:22.239 Now time for the episode. On theme is a production 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:45.159 of iHeartRadio and fair Weather Friends Media. Hey, y'all, welcome 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:45.880 to our channel. 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:50.600 I'm Katie and I'm Eves, and you're tuned into Friends. 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:53.040 With FROs, a channel where we show you how to 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:54.520 pretty fi your puff. 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:56.680 How to let your silk press sing and big. 0:00:56.600 --> 0:00:59.880 Chop Bellow, how to help your braids go from busted to. 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:03.680 And how to let your kitchen cook because naps are 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:05.520 what Eves natural. 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:08.240 We'll make sure your hair is looking right so you 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:09.959 can keep fighting the good fight. 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:13.480 That's right. This channel is all about pro black hair hair. 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.800 So without further ado, let's get into today's tutorial. 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:21.640 Today's episode wash day Woes. 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:26.520 Early in my high school years, I stopped getting perms, 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:30.720 and it wasn't really a principal thing. They just didn't 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:33.679 work for me. They burned no matter what I did. 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:37.520 I hated the process and upkeep, and I wasn't the 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:40.360 biggest fan of how I looked with my straight hair anyway. 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:43.560 And my mother didn't get relaxers, so I saw what 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:46.280 it was like to live without, so I decided to 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:48.600 let my hair grow out without getting touchups. 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:51.680 I do remember when you went natural, mm hmm. 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:55.800 It was a rough period, but so freeing that I 0:01:55.840 --> 0:01:58.760 didn't have to deal with the creamy crack anymore. So 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:01.680 I committed to growing it all out, got made fun 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:05.120 of here and there, and eventually had a head free 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:06.800 of relaxer chemicals. 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:07.160 Yeah. 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:10.160 I went natural a couple years later than you when 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:13.440 I was in college, I think my sophomore year or 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:17.560 right after my sophomore year. But you're definitely like one 0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:18.960 of the people I look to. I was like, well, East, 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:20.359 what natural? So I can too? 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:26.079 Oh yeah. But for me, throughout that whole transition, I 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:29.280 never would have made it. Q Marvin sapp if it 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:32.000 weren't for the natural hair YouTube girlies. 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:34.519 They have given so many people free game. 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:38.160 Yes, ma'am, and I was one of them. Now, they 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.800 weren't super popping on YouTube around the time that I 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:44.200 started my process. At first, I was reading articles on 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:47.920 old hair blogs with tiny pictures, scrolling through the comments 0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:50.480 section looking for folks who could co sign or condemn 0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:53.520 the tips given by the author, you know, trying to 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:56.880 figure out what the hell and loc method is. The 0:02:56.919 --> 0:03:00.760 struggle was real, but baby, when folks started putting hair 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:04.440 tutorials up on YouTube, it was a game changer. And now, 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:07.359 years after the phenomenon first blew up, we have been 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:11.760 blessed with so much information, so much value, and look, 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:14.320 a lot of it is wrong, girl, But to be honest, 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:17.720 all the misinformation is one of my favorite parts about 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:18.400 the whole genre. 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:21.400 Now you're gonna explain that a little bit. 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:25.960 Okay, okay, hear me out first, the misinformation begets reality 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:29.840 TV worthy drama. People have called out YouTubers on how 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:33.359 their advice is just flat out wrong. Sometimes the trends 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:35.680 don't be having no basis. In fact, it's just all 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:39.920 vibes and that's entertainment, yes. But second, and less messy 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:42.560 than that point is that we all end up learning together, 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:45.600 Like figuring out how to care for your individual hair 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:48.560 is a whole process and we have to experiment anyway, 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:51.520 So we're making mistakes and updating our knowledge when we 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:55.960 learn from it collectively. And third, the misinformation is indicative 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:59.040 of the whole genre. Starting as an each one tach 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:02.600 one project, it was black folks showing other black folks 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:05.240 how to do their hair, and the educators were on 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:09.280 a wide spectrum of experience and professional status, So of 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:11.720 course some debris came in with a tide. If you 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:12.680 know what I'm saying. 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:15.400 I'm catching your drift. That makes sense. Folks from all 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:18.719 backgrounds definitely felt empowered to share whatever ounce of knowledge 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:20.920 they had and a lot of folks have benefited from that. 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:25.320 Yeah, And since the birth of the genre, its creators 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:28.320 have gone through a lot having to figure out how 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:31.640 many more ways they can spin a twisted updo for content, 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:35.280 upgrading their filming equipment and setup. 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:37.440 Ooh, figuring out how to show what they're actually doing 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:38.240 in the tutorial. 0:04:38.400 --> 0:04:43.080 Oh my god, child, I'm saying, detailing washday routines, peddling 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.800 weed for foreign companies, arguing about the merits of hair types, 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:51.560 hair porosity, washing, weekly oil usage, prepoods, protein treatments, you 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:52.000 name it. 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:55.120 They have the whole storytelling genre from the ground up. 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:59.120 Exactly what I'm saying point number one. Think about the 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:02.000 way is that hair YouTubers format their videos to be 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:05.080 able to educate us best. The ways that they narrate, 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:08.640 the intros they use I got beef with those but alas, 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:12.279 the obligatory slow mode three sixty and glamour shots at 0:05:12.320 --> 0:05:15.080 the end of the video all hallmarks of the genre 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:19.200 that creators built and solidified over time. Our nervous systems 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:21.080 know what to expect when tuning in to a hair 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:22.080 video at this point. 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:26.240 It's given formulaic, it's giving Shakespearean play, it's giving aque 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:31.320 Act two, Act three, it's giving climax, it's giving falling action. 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:35.080 All of the things. They created a set of standards 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:38.440 and practices that they use for their brand of visual storytelling. 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:41.560 We're used to our parents and aunties and family friends 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:44.480 showing us how to do hair, but filming it staying 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:47.960 engaging but not belaboring points, learning what to cut and 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:51.680 what to keep, working with technology and figuring out how 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:53.640 to get people to see it all. In the end, 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:56.400 they have put in work to create quality content that 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:59.240 actually feeds the people and looks good, and. 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:01.279 They've honed the craft in such a short period of 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:04.800 time formula is tight as car rolls after a fresh. 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:06.919 Install, crispy as greased parts. 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:08.200 So what's your next point? 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:10.520 This one's related to the artistry of it all too. 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:13.960 It's that hair YouTubers are all the archetypes that we 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:17.800 see in our favorite stories. They're unreliable narrators. Like I 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:20.360 said earlier, they don't always know what they're talking about, 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:23.279 and something they say that works for them will absolutely 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:24.400 not work for everybody. 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:28.000 They're also unsung heroes. They've saved me once or dice. 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:30.680 Let's be real a million times when I couldn't think 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:31.880 of a style to put on my head. 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:36.360 Yep, And they're villains. Let a non perm YouTuber get 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:39.039 a relaxer and watch the people turn on her with 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:40.280 a quickness. 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:42.080 In the comments, cussing name Colin. 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:45.240 They inhabit the roles of celebrities as they gain audience 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:49.920 and visibility, struggling artists when they're learning hair techniques, mentors 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:52.839 as they teach us new hairstyles and hair care methods 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:55.800 and introduce us to new products. And when someone's doing 0:06:55.800 --> 0:06:58.039 their thing on YouTube for a while, it can be 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:00.479 a whole coming of age story. You get to see 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:03.400 how they and their hair grow and evolve, we see 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:06.679 their channel grow, we see them get married or have kids, 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:09.560 and we see them decide to stop sharing on YouTube, 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:12.480 or we see them come out with their own product lines, 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:15.360 like Layla Washington of the YouTube channel Fusion of Cultures, 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:18.640 who started a skincare company called Wilsea Botanicals. 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:21.120 All that main character and energy. 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:23.760 Yep, and that leads me to my next point. The 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:26.920 genre and as creators carry some weight. They have a 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:30.120 big presence on YouTube. They created a community that's been 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:33.320 thriving for more than a decade now. Their followers are 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:36.360 super engaged, partly due to the fact that YouTubers are 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:39.440 charismatic and beautiful and personable and doing things that are 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:42.600 aspirational for lots of people, but also because of the 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:45.880 nature of the beast. We're interacting with the content in 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:49.760 the most authentic way, taking the creator's advice and tips 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:52.520 and using them on our own or on others' bodies, 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:56.040 and we might be watching their videos over and over again, 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:57.520 rewinding and replaying. 0:07:57.800 --> 0:08:00.400 They've had a definite impact on creator culture on YouTube. 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:03.080 A lot of hair YouTubers like Whitney White, also known 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:06.920 as Natural eighty five, are ogs in the YouTube content 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:07.760 creation lane. 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:10.640 They became more than just people who knew how to 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:16.040 do hair. They were bloggers, influencers, entrepreneurs. They started getting 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:19.240 paid the big bugs, by sponsors and YouTube itself. Once 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:24.280 they started doing numbers, their recommendations bought or not drove 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:27.400 many of their adherents to purchase items that they wouldn't 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:31.080 even think about needing had their favorite YouTuber not used 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:32.400 it in their latest upload. 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:37.280 Girl and some of those products collected dust. Popularity came 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:39.600 and went, some just fell out of favor, and some 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:41.120 just weren't great to begin with. 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:45.200 True, but we can't deny how these YouTubers filled a 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:48.559 gap that was growing as more Black people embraced their 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:52.559 natural hair journeys and sought a vice from bloggers. Not 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:54.640 that we weren't embracing it before. 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:57.640 See Black as Beautiful and the glorious froze of the 0:08:57.679 --> 0:08:59.280 sixties and seventies. 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:02.680 For sure, It's just that the phrase slash concept of 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:06.040 a natural hair journey was gaining steam as a measurable 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:09.800 phenomenon in the early oughts. And speaking of airs and hair, 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:12.800 this takes me into the next point, which is this 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:17.480 one's pretty simple. Hair YouTubers are documentarians. They document changes 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:20.280 in style over time. I can look back at videos 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:24.120 from past years and see when Senegalese twists, Voho braids 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:27.080 are band two knots were really popping. Through their videos, 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:29.760 we get a timeline of black hair trends. 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:32.440 And sometimes the YouTubers are the ones setting those trends. 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:35.120 And amplifying them by sharing them and spreading them to 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:39.480 wider audiences. So my next point is the last. But 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:41.920 who would we be if we didn't make you wait 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:45.920 to get it till after the break. 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:53.920 We're ready for you. 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:57.680 Last point, all right, this is my favorite one. That's 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:00.680 why I saved it for last, is that as a whole, 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:04.360 black YouTubers have used the art the storytelling to help 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:07.840 us consider our relationship to our hair and how it evolves. 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:09.960 They've made us think about how we best love on 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:13.040 our hair, consider the reasons we want to reject perms 0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:15.640 and embrace the kinks or not. They've made us question 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:18.640 our hair care practices and pay more attention to what 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:21.760 we're doing to our hair and why. They've encouraged us 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:25.000 to consider what brands we support, where we direct our money. 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:28.160 They've given us direction when we needed it most and 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:30.960 they've spurred innovation in the hair care industry. They have 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:34.920 helped us think more critically and act more intentionally around 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:35.480 black hair. 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:38.080 And that's what the best storytellers do. Make you think 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:42.960 more critically right and actually spur action in the real world. 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:47.920 I know, seeing the girls with the big afros, you know, 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:50.920 hair goals, hair goals, and now I can look and 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:53.319 see myself with a big aufro. I'm like, dang, I'm 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:54.640 really my own hair goals. 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:57.839 Did you see yourself like this in the future when 0:10:57.840 --> 0:10:59.319 you first started watching them? 0:10:59.640 --> 0:10:59.720 Oh? 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:02.800 Yeah, yeah, I wanted my hair to be long as 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:05.080 it is, Like I wanted to be long month too, 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:07.760 Like what's going on here? I think at first when 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:13.640 you start looking at these YouTubers, you're really impatient. But 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:15.480 now like on once your hair is like at the 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:17.240 length where you're like, okay, I can like do these 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:19.360 styles that I want to do. You're kind of like 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:22.120 more relaxed about it, you know, but also like happy 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:24.719 to see other people really experimenting with their hair. I 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:27.760 don't experiment with my hair that much anymore, but being 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:30.440 able to see how people like tell stories with their hair, 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:33.440 Like there's that one girl who like does sculptures with 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:36.080 her locks. You know that. Yeah, I've seen her, Like 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:38.120 there's so many cool ways to do it. But then 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:40.680 also just like living your life with your natural hair. 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:44.160 It's like that's also like a story that we're telling 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:46.400 is like a collective, right, because I think when like 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:49.120 our parents was raising us and putting it on in 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:51.080 perms in our hair, like that was like a different 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:55.360 mindset that people were having. Absolutely, and so now like 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:57.760 you don't really see little kids with perms like that. 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:00.760 And I was singing the just for Me themes on 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:03.880 the other day. Yeah, like that's how ingrained it was. 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:05.760 They were it. You're like, dang, I want to look 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:06.040 like her. 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:09.640 When that yes, it poked out to the side, it hurt. 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:13.800 Yeah, And like so to see that shift collectively is 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:16.080 really interesting. And I liked what you said about these 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:20.240 YouTubers being documentarians because I remember when the Lemonade raids 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:22.040 was it, you know, like be yes, they had the 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:24.400 girls shook when that hair, you know what I'm saying. 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:26.960 So like being able to see those different iterations because 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:28.920 you know, like YouTube's been around for a minute now, 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:33.440 so it's it's really like a great archive of like 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:35.240 what everyone was doing with their hair. 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:38.560 Yeah, and I'm not the fondest of this phrase, but 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:40.160 I'm going to use it now anyway because I think 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:42.720 it's fitting. They are kind of thought leaders in a 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:45.760 way when it comes to hair. Because when you just 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:47.800 said something about you wanted your hair to be really long, 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:50.439 that made me think about how much we prioritize length. 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:52.200 And I think a lot of that did have to 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:54.440 do with the way that YouTubers were sharing. Like I know, 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:56.720 a lot of that is also society things that are 0:12:56.760 --> 0:13:01.120 deeply ingrained in US, but I think there were so 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:05.720 many like videos about length checks on YouTube. It's like okay, 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:07.880 Liane check and the best way to do your line. 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:12.000 Check white t shirt. Yeah, wear the same shirt every time. 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:14.480 And different tips for being able to get your hair longer, 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:16.959 like when that chebe thing got really big, like putting 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:20.040 mud on your hair was something to You're looking at 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:21.680 me like you have no idea what it is. Girl, 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:22.560 that's how deep it goes. 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:23.560 Please skip me. 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:26.160 And I don't even know if I'm pronouncing it right, 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:28.120 but it's just there have been so many things to 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:33.040 help you with hair length, and so many YouTubers talking 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:35.920 about how your hair is growing, it's about length retention, 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:38.120 and this is how you keep it. Make sure you trimp. 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:40.560 After that, it felt like there was a swing back 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:43.160 toward your hair is great at any length, and I'm 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:45.600 looking for people with TWA's who can do this. Are 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:48.080 I feel like when I go to YouTube that I 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:50.400 can't find people. I always see people who are doing 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:52.640 styles that don't relate to me because I have four 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:55.280 sea hair or something like that. So it's interesting to 0:13:55.520 --> 0:14:00.840 see how the thoughts that leaders on YouTube when it 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:06.040 comes to hair start to resonate and ripple throughout black folks. 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:09.080 Yeah, speaking of like the I can't find someone with 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:12.760 four sea hair conversation, one, I think with hair YouTube, 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:15.520 there are a lot of like cliches and like tropes, 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:19.280 Like you said, like your hair is growing, it's about retention, 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:21.880 like people saying like the same thing over and over again. 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:24.240 But then also I think, just like I think one 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:25.960 of the major tennants maybe this was like a twenty 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:31.960 tens YouTuber thing, and it's indicative of like larger issues 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:37.840 in like black storytelling is like the racially ambiguous or 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:42.000 like biracial person who just like has long, curly hair, 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:45.360 not because of the routine they're doing just because like girl, 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:47.720 you're mixed with white and your hair is gonna curl 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:51.359 that certain way or elevated. But you see it perpetuating 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:54.480 these like different ways of storytelling that you wouldn't think 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:58.480 would seep into like someone's bathroom or bedroom, but the 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:01.560 way that the audience reacts to them is very similar. 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:02.000 I think. 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:04.800 I think that reflects the way that it's changed over time, 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:08.400 because there was an era, and you'll see in some 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:11.880 of these people's videos that we mentioned in today's episode, 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:13.760 like for a Natural eighty five who has a My 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:16.880 Natural Haircare Journey video from like two thousand or nine 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:19.120 years ago, so from a while ago where it was 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:23.440 just her showing pictures of herself. There is no narration happening, 0:15:23.640 --> 0:15:26.920 there is her showing a tutorial, There is no edit 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:29.560 of an intro in the beginning, music only played in 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:32.600 specific spots. All of the things that come with videos 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:35.680 that people make on hair YouTube today and over time 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:38.880 that morphed into Okay, I understand, I'm a personality and 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:41.240 people need to come to my page. Okay, I get 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:44.000 subscribers and this is how I do it. Okay, YouTube's 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:46.600 algorithm is changing. I feel like I can say with 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:49.720 confidence that back then it wasn't as much about getting 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:52.320 more people to see. They cared about sharing, of course 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:55.320 that's why they posted it, but it wasn't so prioritized 0:15:55.360 --> 0:16:01.720 to gain more followers or gain more engagement. And also 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:04.960 all of the hate that came with it afterwards. You know, 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:07.920 they had to combat about against that over time too. 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:11.520 So it's more I guess, freedom to be able to 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:14.560 put up what you want, how you want, versus there's 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:18.520 more thinking now around. Okay, I can't say this, I 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:20.840 can't be this real. I can only be a little 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:23.880 bit real. I have to be this authentic with the 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:26.640 capital a that everybody use about people on social media 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:30.080 these days, so people understand it as more of a 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:35.240 storytelling platform now that is meant to be constructed, and 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:39.680 that's why all of these expectations like you mentioned have entered. 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:42.640 Yeah, the Internet has just changed since they first started, Right, 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:46.800 Like people weren't personalities, people weren't getting so much money 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:50.400 for like posting themselves doing their hair. But like once 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:55.200 you know, all these sponsorships get involved, once you realize 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:58.960 people can look at the view out your window and 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:01.120 see what city you live in and you've said your 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:02.840 last name a few too many times that they can 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:05.919 pull up on you, like it really changes the dynamic 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:09.400 of how you can share, even if it is about 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:12.359 something like hair. It's also, I think, like a small 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:14.919 microcus of just like how the Internet has changed and 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:16.640 how we've changed along with the Internet. 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:22.160 And there are videos now that people are posting about 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:25.840 how hair YouTubers are struggling. So I just feel like 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:28.680 now is a good time to think about this because 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:30.600 I know they're still going you know, of course, they're 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:34.520 still making videos about hair on YouTube, like their channels 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:36.359 are still popping. I'm not saying that they're not, but 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:38.800 it definitely is a different landscape now. But there are 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:41.639 people who are posting videos saying content creators in the 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:44.400 hairspace on YouTube are struggling, like it's harder for them 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:47.520 to gain more views. People who should have bigger platforms 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:49.520 haven't been able to get bigger platforms even though they've 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:53.320 been working for a decade or even longer. And I 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:57.600 just think it is fascinating and very admirable to see 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:00.960 how something seemingly started from some such a noble place 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:06.680 like sharing how to do hair and techniques for doing 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:11.080 hair is such a familial and warm and intimate thing. 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:13.879 I have so many, like fun and rich memories of 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:17.240 getting my hair done as a child and struggling to 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:19.840 learn podocormra, which I still don't know how to do. Yeah, 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:24.040 I say no, I don't. I wish I did. I 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:26.119 didn't learn how to break though, and that was you know, 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:28.800 that was a struggle too. But I have so many 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:32.920 good memories of that, And I think that people started 0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:37.080 wanting to as a genre, share this experience and this 0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:41.760 knowledge with other people. Is like exploding this culture that 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:46.760 already existed. But it still feels personal. So we went 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:50.200 straight to the source. We spoke with LaToya Eboni, who's 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:53.160 been making haircare videos on YouTube since twenty ten. 0:18:54.240 --> 0:18:59.320 My name is LaToya Eboni. I am an online content creator, 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:05.320 a professional actress as well as an organic skincare formulator 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:07.040 soon to be hair care formulator. 0:19:07.840 --> 0:19:10.760 Can you take us back to when you first decided 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:14.680 to start a YouTube channel? What were you feeling, What 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:18.400 were some of the ideas that were going through your mind, 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:21.520 What was the support and maybe lack of support that 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:23.479 was happening. Can you just take us through what that 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:24.199 time was like. 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:29.800 Yeah, I was in grad school studying acting and teaching. 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:36.119 And I remember one day I was in class and 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:39.560 I just kind of looked around and some of my 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:46.840 female like counterparts would just show up to class with 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:50.040 their hair like still wet, you know, slapped it back 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:53.919 in a ponytail. Meanwhile, I had, like, not only was 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:57.600 I doing prep for, you know, the work at hand, 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:00.320 but I'm like making sure my hair is in a 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:02.880 ball and all the things. Like I'm putting so much 0:20:02.960 --> 0:20:07.800 effort into how I show up. And I remember looking 0:20:07.800 --> 0:20:13.800 around being like, wait, I am doing the most. Meanwhile, 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:17.760 everyone else seems to be very comfortable just showing up 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:23.239 as they are, including their hair. And when you're in 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:27.840 graduate school for acting and you're studying the craft of acting, 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:29.879 you have to do a lot of self reflection, a 0:20:29.880 --> 0:20:33.480 lot of self work in order to take on different 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:38.960 characters and being sort of these fantastical worlds. And I 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:41.439 was doing a lot of writing and self reflecting. And 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:45.600 I remember being at home and I was about to 0:20:45.680 --> 0:20:51.199 go get my relaxer touch up. And I'm living in 0:20:51.240 --> 0:20:59.800 South Carolina, by the way, and I remember thinking like, 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:03.960 why am I so ashamed of my hair? Why are 0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:06.640 we collectively as a people the people that I grew 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:09.240 up with. Why are we so ashamed of showing up 0:21:09.400 --> 0:21:13.600 as we are? And of course there's a whole lot 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:17.439 of historical context around that, But I really wanted to 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:22.920