A Word From Carolina Contreras
My name is Carolina Contreras, a Dominican activist and social entrepreneur. Over 4 years ago we created Miss Rizos Salón, an afro-curly safe haven that empowers, celebrates and educates thousands of women, men and children in the Dominican Republic. Our curly hair salon is like no other and with your help we are bringing Miss Rizos Salón to New York City! Our communities are rapidly changing, bringing this space Uptown is a celebration of our culture, beauty and our entrepreneurial spirit.
Our story
Five years ago, I decided to quit my job and move back to my native country of the Dominican Republic to honor my purpose and follow my calling. I had an ambitious goal to eradicate discrimination on the basis of hair and change the way Dominicans saw themselves and each other. I wanted to do it by bringing to life missrizos.com, a curly hair blog I created in 2011 and turning it into Miss Rizos Salón, a place created to celebrate and empower us.
Thanks to the help of so many incredible people and all of my savings lol, in December of 2014 we opened the doors of Miss Rizos Salón in the Colonial Zone in Santo Domingo. We started with a team of 2 and we are now a team of 20! We see more than 500 women, men, and children every month and we’ve reached more that 5,000 little girls in all of the country.
Many of our clients fly from around the world, but specifically from New York City, to visit our salon. So, for years we’ve been anxiously awaiting this moment to finally bring our incredible service and love for curly hair to New York City! Although this all comes with an immense sense of fear and many questions, yet again, I’ve decided to do it afraid and together with an incredible team, make this idea come to life.
Support: Indiegogo Spotlight: Miss Rizos Salón New York City
Support: Indiegogo Spotlight: Miss Rizos Salón New York City
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