Hands That Crown

[upbeat music]

What I love most about working

with black hair textures is that it can do anything.

It can take any shape, hold any style,

and it's just so fly, the variety.

It's just chic, I love it.

I'm Nikki Nelms and I am a hairstylist.

Being a hairstylist on this level, I'm in rooms

and spaces that speak to the world, so I'm able to do things

with hair to make people see us

in a way that is just so beautiful.

It's already beautiful, but they see it differently.

When I was younger, I thought that everyone could do hair.

My aunts could braid, my friends could make nice ponytails,

so I didn't think it was special.

I didn't realize that I had a knack for it

until I dropped out of college, went to beauty school,

got into the real world, and I still loved it.

[upbeat music]

I worked on a lot of cool projects

and it's really hard to say which one is my favorite

because they're like my children.

Knowing the impact that you made

with a certain project from the hairstyles,

or starting a trend from an editorial,

getting DMs and messages from parents

saying how their daughters love this image

and they wanted to hang it in their bedroom,

that kind of stuff, super significant.

Black people are trendsetters.

We're leaders, even when we don't mean to be.

You know, we're like the seasoning

of the world effortlessly.

[upbeat music]

Black hair doesn't need to explain itself.

It doesn't need to be controlled, corrected

or considered acceptable.

The Crown Coalition is doing the work

to challenge the systems

that try to shrink our expression and creativity.

Dove has always been a part of that fight from the start.

As co-founder of the Crown Coalition

and as a brand that always stood for real beauty.

I'm just doing what I love,

working with hair the way it naturally grows

and no one should have to justify that.

Dove gets that, they've been showing up for us

in this space for years.

I hope that I've contributed, normalizing, just being,

being whatever I want to be in that moment as a creative,

not having to attach myself to any box

that someone else said I should be in.

Just being a hairstylist, as creative

as I wanna be without reason, I want people to feel happy.

I want people to feel like trying something

for themselves, being fearless.

Whatever idea you have for yourself, when you see my work,

I'd love for you to be motivated to do it.

I hope the next generation,

in terms of how they see themselves, I would love them

to just walk in their greatness, love themselves,

love their texture, really tap into the greatness

that's there and not have to wait for approval.