Photo courtesy by Flint Beat.
Corinthian Carouthers II, a native of Flint, Michigan, has been in the beauty industry for over 20 years and plans to add to the existing curriculum to guide future stylists.
The beauty school owner, dedicated to caring for natural hair, has multiple endeavors revolving around Black women and their manes, including a special teaching curriculum she helped develop for textured hair, published an e-book. Carouthers even recorded a podcast highlighting the importance of black hair education in the beauty industry.
“When I was in beauty school, we didn’t learn anything about textured hair–how to maintain it, how to comb it, how to style it–all those things are foreign in beauty schools,” said Carouthers, sitting in the lobby of Creative Hair School of Cosmetology, “which she co-owns with her mother and brother.”
According to the Flint Beat, Carouthers envisioned herself working as an accountant in an office of her own after graduating from Flint Central High School in 2001. She was also accepted to Tennessee State University but decided that she wasn’t ready to leave home and stayed in Flint.
“I had a lot of personal things I was working through as a young teenager,” she said of that decision.
After making the decision to stay in Flint, Carouthers wasn’t sure if she wanted to pursue a career in the beauty industry. However, she decided to take classes at her mother’s beauty school – the same one she currently co-owns.
Carouthers said choosing to pursue a career in the beauty industry was the best decision she had ever made.
“And when I did, oh my goodness, it was the best thing for me,” Carouthers said. “I had to learn how to communicate with people. I had to infuse confidence into them through hairstyling. So that felt like a good start for myself.”
She finished the program within a year and studied to get her instructor’s license to teach courses.
“As a newfound instructor, Carouthers provided black hair education that she found lacking in her own early experience.”
The beauty school owner offers the natural hair curriculum she created at her family-owned beauty school by providing students with invaluable teachings that she found most helpful while navigating through the profession.
“I knew that there was more that I needed to give,” she said. “Because books are only going to tell you so much, right? It’s that real-life experience that people want.”
“Carouthers wanted to expand her business ventures by designing a textured hair mannequin to accompany her “Texture on Texture” styling course.” The mannequin would be a useful tool to help those better maintain their textured hair.
She also plans to create “Mommy and me” and “Daddy and me” workshops for parents who want to learn how to do their child’s textured hair.
“I had a lady reach out, she has a biracial daughter and she doesn’t know how to do her hair,’” said Carouthers. She often hears this concern from parents since the school requires children to be seven years or older for services.
“So that kind of was my inspiration,” she said. “I want to bridge that gap.”
The start date for the workshops will be determined at a later time.