Job Lot: The hair-braider

By VIENNA RICHARDS

Dreadlocker and hair-braider Rose Brempong works as a hairdresser and owner of African Hair Braiding and Extensions Centre in Karangahape Rd. The Ghanaian-born Auckland resident was reluctant to disclose annual earnings or averages, but says it can fluctuate. Customer prices, however, range from $150 to $250 depending on style.


Some of these hairstyles look like art.


I did introduce it to New Zealand. I've been in the business for eight years. This was the first shop in Auckland. It takes four or five hours to do someone's hair, so you have to be patient.

What's the most commonly requested style?


Dreadlocking and hair-braiding. Braiding used to be more popular but now, with Nandor (Tzancos, Greens) in Parliament, dreadlocking is becoming popular.

With dreadlocks, I've heard the hair doesn't get washed.


You don't wash your hair for the first three weeks. We have a spray that will clean your scalp, for dandruff and to control the itching. You're not washing your hair for three weeks so that the hair can form nicely. We introduce our customers to our products from the States, which are the same ones that African-Americans use. It's the same with hair-straightening - we also use products from America. They make it especially for afro, fuzzy and curly hair.

What is a cornbread hairstyle?


Cornbread means it's something close to your scalp, and you can have different styles of it.

You must have been the first black African businesswoman on this street. What was that like?


It wasn't a challenge because when I came to New Zealand I went to shops for work experience. They didn't pay me anything. I told one I worked for, "I don't care if you pay me but I want my communication to be improved so I can talk to people." English is our second language back home. I spoke English when I was at school. English and mathematics are compulsory because we were colonised by British people. So English wasn't a problem for me. But if you come to a new country, people might say, "What is she saying? I can't understand what she's saying." You know what I mean?

So I went to a salon. I told the lady, "I don't need money from you but I wanted experience." I knew I'm going to have my own business. So I have to be with white lady and see how the business goes.

I decided one day to open up my own shop, even if she didn't like it. She told me not to do that because I'm not going to get customers. I said if I can't afford to pay for the rent, then I'll close the shop. So the first day I opened my shop, she had a look at the location. She said to me straight away, "The location is not good." And I said, "Either that is good or not. Now I want to do my own thing." And it worked, just like a dream. Even my landlord said to me, "Why can't you cook African food instead of doing hair, hair, hair? Because there's already one salon here, one salon there."

I said, "Oh no, I'm not doing what Europeans doin', I'm doin' my things different. Anything you want to do, just do it, don't complain."

Why did you start the business?


Because I think I can create a job for myself. I didn't want to be unemployed.

Where and when did you learn doing these hairstyles?


I went to a Catholic girls' school in Ghana so they had to teach us how to do cookin', how to do hair, how to do health. The main teacher taught us and we had to do exams. These styles are just how we used to have our hair at school. So it's becoming the common thing in Africa, especially West Africa. Everyone has hairstyles with different braids.