What It’s Like To…Run an African Hair Salon in New York City

Nestled in NYC’s Harlem neighborhood is Burkinabé hairdresser and business owner Nikiama Kisun Sira Fatimata, who named her salon after her daughter Hanifa. Fatimata herself started weaving her own hair as a little girl. She loved doing that so much that she decided to go to a hairdressing school to learn more. After she perfected her skills, she opened a salon in her home country, which still runs today.

In her New York City salon, Fatimata says her “customers come from all over.” She adds: “They ask around and hear about me by word of mouth. Often it's the customers who refer friends, sisters, family and so on… I have customers from Africa, too. There are Africans who come to have their hair done.”

There are hundreds of African hair salons sprinkled across Manhattan alone, and though they may all offer the same styles with comparable quality, each one is bursting with varying cultures, languages, and energies.

In parts edited for length and clarity, Fatimata tells us what it’s like to run an African hair salon in New York City.

I started braiding in Africa. When I was a little girl, I used to weave my hair. At a certain point, I said, ‘I'm going to quit school and try to go to a hairdressing school, do some training, learn more about hairdressing.’ So, I did and I perfected my skills and then opened my own salon in Africa, [and it’s] still running. That's where I started, so I've got at least 17 to 18 years of experience in hairdressing. It’s been that long.

When I came here, I saw that hairdressing is a really good thing, because people really put a lot of effort into styling their hair here. I decided that I could find myself here. I can express myself through hairdressing.

I moved here in November 2021. Well, before that, I'd come and go. I decided to move here because I saw that New York is full of opportunities and that the U.S. — specifically New York — is a place that's really open for business. Everything works really well. So, I decided to open my own salon.

The project started two years ago — it wasn't difficult, but it took some time to finally come to fruition. The challenge, for me, was to keep moving forward. In everything you do, you have to progress. You’ve got to keep moving forward. Opening my salon is something I really wanted to do when I came here. It was really a challenge that I had and that I wanted to take up. Nobody helped me. Not the city (officials), nobody.

[Opening my salon in Harlem] has been good for me. I've had some good experiences with the community and other salon owners. When I came here, I rented a small space in a hair salon on 125th Street, and stayed there for three years before I could open one up for myself. Really, they were like a family. We got on very well, although living together is not easy either, but really, they were great people. Lovely people.

My customers come from all over. From different states like Connecticut [and] New Jersey — a lot of states. They ask around and hear about me by word of mouth. Often it's the customers who refer friends, sisters, family and so on. And it’s growing, my clientele is growing. I have customers from Africa, too. There are Africans who come to have their hair done, everything.

I hope that Hanifa Hair Braiding will grow, [and] that by next year, I'll have lots of customers, [so] that in two years' time, I'll open another Hanifa Hair Braiding. Yes, I wish to continue growing. I'd also like to open a hairdressing school in the future, because I'm not going to stay here forever, and I'm getting tired too. So, in the years to come, I'd like to open a hairdressing training school and then learn and teach what I've learned.