By Tracey Khan
In a sunlit salon nestled on Carlton Avenue in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, Carol Thomas has spent the previous 20 years doing extra than simply styling hair; she’s been nurturing spirits, rebuilding confidence, and providing girls an area to really feel seen, celebrated, and entire.
Thomas, the founder and proprietor of Simply Becausehair salon, has quietly constructed a legacy rooted in care, neighborhood, and compassion. For over 20 years, she’s been serving to girls—whether or not longtime shoppers or strangers in shelters—reclaim their crowns, each actually and figuratively.
“I realized a variety of fantastic classes from my mom,” Thomas says. “Many needed to do with how I deal with my fellow man and lady. Lots of that’s what helps form the salon and our basic philosophy and care.”
And care is on the coronary heart of all the things Thomas does.
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Magnificence as a Bridge: Empowering Girls in Shelters
One in all her most impactful initiatives is her long-running work with girls dwelling in transitional housing. Since round 2017, Thomas has partnered with native shelters in Brooklyn to supply haircare, facials, and make-up companies for these girls, lots of whom are survivors of home violence, recovering from sickness, or just making an attempt to rebuild after life’s curveballs.
Every month, Thomas and her crew welcome a small group of ladies into her salon for what she calls her Sunday Collection—a day of pampering and sisterhood. No event obligatory. Simply therapeutic, pleasure, and a renewed sense of self-worth.
“We weren’t doing this for birthdays or weddings,” she explains. “It was only a day to remind them how stunning and useful they’re. Hair, make-up, a bit of facial—it means all the things once you’ve been by way of a lot.”
A few of these periods have been emotionally heavy, significantly with older girls who had suffered strokes, misplaced jobs, or have been dwelling with trauma. Whereas Thomas says she needed to step again from a number of the extra emotionally demanding work for her well-being, she continues to help a close-by mother-and-child shelter, providing haircare and feel-good moments to girls who typically go unseen.
“You by no means know the place life would possibly take you,” she says. “So should you might help somebody—even within the smallest manner—you need to.”
The Simply As a result of Philosophy
The mission behind Simply As a result of is easy but profound: magnificence needs to be accessible and empowering, simply because you’re human. That ethos extends past the salon chair. Thomas has remodeled her house right into a neighborhood hub the place magnificence meets mentorship, creativity, and confidence-building.
She beforehand ran the Promenade Queen Undertaking, a beloved six-week program that supplied mentoring, life abilities periods, and full glam makeovers to highschool women making ready for promenade. This system, which ran for six years earlier than proms turned extra commercialized, included all the things from visitor audio system and private improvement periods to donated robes and customized portraits.
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“I informed them, ‘Hold this portrait in your dorm room. Take a look at it day by day and remind your self of the queen you might be,’” she remembers. “It’s about planting these seeds early.”
Crowns on the Runway: Her Annual Hair Present
Thomas can be the visionary behind a yearly neighborhood hair present, set to return this August. Open to women ages 3 to 18, the occasion offers younger girls an opportunity to shine—actually. Members are handled to elaborate hairstyles, make-up, customized outfits, and the total runway mannequin expertise, with household and associates cheering them on.
“A few of them have by no means been pampered like that,” she says. “It’s greater than a style present. It’s a celebration of their individuality, their magnificence, and their price.”
And the transformation doesn’t cease on the occasion. Thomas typically sees the ladies sustaining their look, carrying themselves with newfound delight, and embracing a extra optimistic self-image for years to come back.
Giving Extra Than Glam
Thomas’ method to hair isn’t just about traits—it’s about transformation. Whether or not it’s serving to girls who’re struggling or quietly dressing kids in her mom’s faculty together with her family’s garments, giving has at all times been in her DNA.
“I in all probability go overboard,” she admits with fun. “Nevertheless it’s who I’m. I used to be raised by a mom who believed in caring for individuals. I watched her do it with out fanfare, with out anticipating something in return. That’s what I’m making an attempt to hold ahead.”
Now, along with her salon and neighborhood initiatives, Thomas has launched an all-natural hair care line, ‘St Charles pure Hair Care’, named after her late father, combining her experience in styling together with her ardour for wholesome hair and wellness. It’s one more manner she’s extending her attain and impression far past the salon chair.
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Trying Forward
As Simply As a result of continues to develop in presence and goal, Thomas stays targeted on what issues most: uplifting girls, one crown at a time.
“Magnificence is highly effective,” she says. “It might change the best way somebody walks, talks, and thinks about themselves. And if I may be part of that shift—even for only one particular person—then I do know I’m doing what I’m meant to do.”
In a world that usually calls for a purpose for all the things, Carol Thomas reminds us that generally the very best issues—care, magnificence, compassion—needs to be supplied simply because
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