Kenosi’s love for Afro hair births Frocrowns
Warona Kenosi, famed as Wawa, is a creative hairstylist whose love for Afro hair led her to start Frocrowns saloon, which specialises in natural or Afro hair. She explained to Arts&Culture that because she did not like relaxing her hair, she loved keeping natural hair.
Kenosi said she loathed the smell of relaxers and how they would burn her skin. She pointed out that when she completed her BGCSE, she cut her hair and started keeping natural hair.
She added that she used to just hold a simple puff but felt it was monotonous so she started trying out different ways of making it look cute.
She stated that the business was birthed from passion and talent of doing hair that she manages with her educational background.
Frocrowns is a company that is passionate about professional styling of Afro hair. She explained that it was their mandate to provide the best service to their esteemed clients by giving elegant, beautiful and neat hairstyles.
“That went on for some time with people appreciating how my hair looked. With the heightened appreciation, I decided to monetise it. So with the great shift of women transitioning to keep Afro hair, it is an opportune time since they find it difficult to manage it and Frocrowns is there to step in to take care of that need.
I have been doing Afro hair for seven years. Our clients have positively responded to our services from the infancy stage,” she said
Kenosi further said she started operating from her aunt’s study room but the business gradually grew to where it is now having a place of operation.
She added that they offer different styles and treatments
to cater for clients’ different tastes and preferences. Her saloon is located in Gaborone, Phase 2 and most of their client fall on the bridal, corporate look styles and kiddies. They also offer washes and an array of hair treatments.
She also said their observation was that children (even adults) had been traumatised by pulling of hair and excessive blow drying saying they have a different experience with them by having gentle handling and painless hair-do days.
Speaking of the challenges she faces in her line of work, she indicated
that they include high rental bills, a major factor that really sets the business back.
She added that other challenges include difficult clients, payroll management, salon management, maintaining consistent income, staff training, and hiring staff because she had to do all those and more to keep the business running, which needs a lot of mental strength.
Her great milestone is having a place of operation and having created employment, which is a major concern the government faces.
She said it was also important to note that being part of the first ever Forbes Under 30 to be hosted in Botswana was something to write home about.
She added that she has an amazing team who ensure the business runs well even in her absence, which was one of the things she looked forward to when Frocrowns started.
“Frocrowns has had its fair share of growth and we look forward to more of it. We did not know the extent of growth we would have reached seven years later, but there will be definitely more to share in the next few years.
Growing natural hair needs a lot of patience. Below are just a few tips to make the journey enjoyable; keep hair well moisturised, and take care of the scalp: just like we take care of the skin on our faces, we should do the same for our scalp, eat well, a good diet contributes to good hair, drink water, keep hydrated, regularly trim split ends, detangle gently and choose styles that do not pull hair and affect scalp and hairline,” she said.
Kenosi holds a Business Administration (Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development) from the University of Botswana, Forbes under 30 delegate 2022 and Young Minds Africa alumni. “Pushing your passion is fulfilling. Running a business is not easy.
Deciding to start a business is deciding to gamble with your sanity because there’s just a lot to deal with.
You need a lot of discipline to run business affairs, grit to keep going and a show the spirit because it needs consistency,” she said.