Whenever you meet Angela Bryant for the first time, don’t let her unassuming manner fool you. She is positioned for success and is determined to make it happen.
The Beckley native credits the influence of her grandmother and grandfather for her entrepreneurial spirit.
“When I was younger, my grandmother had 15 children. So, she was always in the kitchen doing hair and facials and things like that. As I got older, I just kept gravitating back to doing hair and facials. So I said, ‘Heck with it, I’m finally gonna go after my passion, which is, you know, making people feel good about themselves.’”
Her grandfather worked in the coal mines and was drafted before he could finish high school. He didn’t graduate from high school until 1942 from Byrd Prillerman High School and was one of the first African Americans to graduate with a master’s degree from Harvard University. He was a very well-known businessman in Charleston and helped to start a Community Action in that city.
It’s that work ethic that led Bryant to the health care service industry, working in various doctor’s offices around Beckley. In March she opened Z&Z Beauty, at 243 Prince St., and continued working her day job while starting her aesthetics business on the side.
But in June, she quit her 9-to-5 job, nine months ahead of schedule, and went all in on her dreams, saying, “I decided to take it upon myself to just step out on faith and do aesthetics full time.”
She did her research, scouting out the area and getting a feel for where the opportunities lay within the spa industry.
Bryant says a lot of African Americans think they can’t go get facials. She also contends that African-American skincare isn’t taught in aesthetic schools.
According to the mother of two, she was told that all they were going to learn was in the books; the rest she wanted to know she would need to learn on her own.
“So, it kind of made me think, OK, if we’re only being taught one way, how are other institutions effectively treating African American skin?
“And that’s where I said, ‘You know what? I have to step in and learn everything that I can in order to be a good service to them to let them know, hey, your skin needs are being taken care of. It can’t be taken care of like someone who is Caucasian.’”
Bryant wants any person to feel welcome in her spa, especially those who want services but can’t afford the higher-end places, noting that most Caucasian people can’t afford self-care either.
“I can care for Caucasian skin because that is all that is taught,” she says. “And I just want to eliminate that stigma of a lot of people thinking that they can’t get serviced by someone of the opposite race.”
Z&Z Beauty offers facials, body contouring, and lashes.
It’s all about top-notch customer service, she says, which includes her undivided attention. Recently she had another epiphany – to add massage therapy to her lineup of services.
Grateful for her aesthetics education from New River Community and Technical College in Lewisburg, this time the 44-year-old headed off to the Princeton campus to become a massage practitioner.
As if that wasn’t a lot already, there’s more you may not know about this fierce contender. A few weeks ago, she restarted her podcast, “Everyday is Autism,” after a short hiatus.
Bryant’s son Zion, 17, was diagnosed with autism at age 3. At that time, she says, autism wasn’t prevalent. She was handed a pamphlet and sent on her way.
“I didn’t know what I was getting into. I didn’t know the behaviors. You know, I didn’t know anything that was coming my way. So, dealing with that now for 13 going on 14 years, people that know him and see him they’re like, ‘How do you not want to pull your hair out? How are you not crying?’”
She goes on to explain the public misunderstanding and stigma of autism and how hard it is on the child and the family.
“So, I started the podcast to give people kind of like an inside look on what it’s like every day, raising someone that’s on the spectrum. It’s not easy.”
Even everyday things, like going to Walmart, can be traumatic and cause sensory overload, the podcaster says. From the smells and noises to the sights and sounds, it all can be overwhelming for someone with autism.
Everything that Bryant does is to set a good example for Zion and her daughter 14-year-old daughter Zariah – hence Z&Z Beauty.
Bryant proudly talks about how Zariah is following in her footsteps by learning to braid hair through the Hair Maxx Salon across town.
“And now that’s prompted her to want to be a businessperson and start her own business,” relays Bryant.
It’s not only her children whom Bryant encourages but her friends, too. When she opened Z&Z Beauty, she brought other new solopreneurs in with her to help enhance the African American business community. Enter Glammed by Lady T and Creatively Custom Designs by Raffinee.
In addition to the lack of African American-owned spas in the area, there is also a lack of African American-owned stores for haircare products such as those offered by LaTonya Hannah, owner of Glammed by Lady T.
Bryant believes it’s important to keep adding services that she believes are desperately needed in our communities.
The ultimate goal is to have a full-fledged spa, but it doesn’t stop there. She wants to employ people, provide opportunities, and create safe places for any person on the spectrum to receive services.
“We need to get more people in more businesses who see the bigger picture. Because the bigger picture is this new age of children that we have coming up, we need to give them an outlet.”
She brings the conversation back to her grandfather. “And that lets me know if my grandfather can go through as much as he went through, and still made it into Harvard, that there’s nothing stopping me from doing what I need to do now.”
Bryant is resolute. “I have too much that I know that I need to do that nothing’s gonna stop me. And honestly, thinking about my grandfather, my grandmother, and my children, that’s what keeps me going.”