Macon native helps sufferers of hair loss at salon, beauty store ‘walk out with a smile’

Erica Conerly has always been interested in beauty and hair. While she was a senior at Southwest High School in Macon, she worked as a beauty advisor at Walgreens and absolutely loved it.

She continued her career in beauty working in a salon and eventually owning one herself, Mane Allure Salon, which won 2023 Best of Middle Georgia in hair salons. After running it for eight years, Conerly opened another business, a beauty store in Byron in July called Culture of Beauty, to give people a place they can receive expert advice on the products they are purchasing. She plans to have a grand opening celebration Saturday.

“I’ve always wanted a business where I could actually be helping someone more so than just styling hair,” she said.

Conerly is a trichologist, a specialist in problems related to the hair and scalp, and she received her certification from the National Trichology Training Institute in Atlanta. Conerly is particularly interested in helping people who suffer from hair loss.

“I love styling hair. I love being creative, but the thing that got me the most was people who suffer from hair loss. There’s a lot of women that suffer from hair loss. And so, when they come in, I mean, they’re crying because they don’t know what else to do,” Conerly said.

Some people don’t want to wear a wig. Others are more open to the idea. Conerly works with each person to find what works for them, including creating different hairstyles so the person doesn’t need a wig.

“I had to find a way to please them and just make them feel good about themselves,” she said. “That’s why I got into trichology to kind of do more of a holistic approach.”

Conerly, also a trained cosmetologist, has been working in hair loss for about six years, and she works to stay educated on the latest trends and techniques.

She deals with many clients from the military and cancer patients, and she saw an uptick in hair loss during the coronavirus pandemic.

In her store Culture of Beauty, Conerly makes custom wigs for clients, and she tries to educate people on the best products for them. She has four employees working at the store who are either in school themselves or learning from her.

A service to the community

Trichologists are in short supply in Middle Georgia. Only four certified trichologists are listed on ustrichology.org in Middle Georgia, not including Conerly. Finding a trichologist who accepts insurance for hair loss, which Conerly does, is even less common, she said.

In addition, most beauty stores are not owned by Black women, Conerly said.

When Conerly attended cosmetology school, she said she mainly learned how to treat and maintain white people’s hair. She has educated herself on how to properly cater to Black hair, so she wants her beauty store and salon to be a place where all people can receive good advice for their specific hair.

Using the wrong products, especially on Black hair, can cause your hair to dry out and eventually break, she said, and her goal is to ensure people have healthy hair.

“It’s about not just putting a Band-Aid over the wound but treating that wound,” she said.

The store in Byron has been well received by the local community, Conerly said.

“We want to expand, and I want to bring more awareness as far as with hair loss. I want to bring more awareness to the community that there is a way to get help. You don’t have to suffer,” she said.

If her clients need time to process their hair loss, she lets them sit in their private room to cry.

“It’s emotional for me to watch a woman who used to have long hair all the way down her back, and she’s losing a lot of it,” she said. “I’ve dealt with cancer patients who they’ve actually lost the hair at the shampoo bowl, so that is an emotional roller coaster.”

Sometimes the cause is the client’s diet or medications they take, but Conerly likes to work to find a solution that fits the client.

“It’s really rewarding to see them walk out with a smile when you can find an alternative for them to have something on their head,” she said.