Why I Opened Twist: The Story Behind Our Curly Hair Salon

For years, I fought my curls. Frizzy hair in the San Francisco fog, in the middle of the flat-iron era, meant I spent a lot of time trying to make my hair look like everyone else's.

-Me in middle school, long before I knew what my curls could do.

That picture-day look took at least two to three hours. I braided my hair so it would dry under control, then twisted and curled the other side. All that work, just to make my hair do something it didn't want to do.

Training with Lorraine Massey in 2003 changed how I understood my own texture. What I didn't know yet was that two passions would come together and become Twist Salon.

Becoming the curly-hair person

Before Twist, I worked in a 13-chair salon in San Francisco's Marina District. Everyone had a specialty, and I naturally became the curly-hair person.

After all those years struggling with my own curls, I loved helping people finally understand their natural texture. Curly-haired clients started finding me, and I couldn't get enough.

The fumes I couldn't ignore

But something else was becoming just as important to me: clean beauty. I was obsessed with finding hair color and products without all the harsh chemicals.

Here I was, using the cleanest hair color I could find, while the stylist right next to me was a stylist doing a keratin treatment. And the fumes? Everyone in the salon was breathing them in. My guests. My coworkers. Me.

I kept thinking, there has to be a better way.

Opening a fresh-air salon

I wanted a salon where we could create beautiful hair without compromising the air we breathe. So in 2012, I opened Twist Salon in Alameda as a fresh-air salon. Fittingly, we celebrated our grand opening on Earth Day.

Our grand opening party on Earth Day, 2012.

My specialty was curls, and my original plan was to bring on another stylist who specialized in highlights and color. But that stylist never ended up joining me. As it turned out, curls were about to take Twist in a direction I hadn't expected.

The haircut I never could have planned

A writer from The Wall Street Journal came in for a curly haircut. She was visiting several salons for an article, and Twist was one of them.

She gave Twist a rave review. She loved her cut, but what really stood out to her was how much she learned about caring for her curls.

That article changed the direction of Twist. People started finding us because they wanted someone who understood their curls. The demand took off, and Twist naturally grew into a curly-hair salon.

I opened Twist because I believed we deserved a healthier salon environment. It grew because people needed a place where their natural curls were understood.

Why it all makes sense now

Looking back, it fits. I spent so many years fighting my own hair, trying to make it look like everyone else's. Now I get to help people stop doing that and love what is unique to them: their natural texture.

Today, Twist is a curly-hair salon in Alameda built around education, clean beauty, and helping people feel good about their curls. We don't just style your curls. We teach you how to care for them at home. And I still believe that what we put on your hair matters just as much as how we cut it.

-Me today, natural curls and all.

And I'm not doing it alone anymore. Mo, Tyler, and Lindsay share the same belief that every guest deserves to understand and love their curls. Watching them carry that vision forward is one of the best parts of my job.

I didn't know exactly what Twist would become when I opened those doors. But I knew I wanted to do things differently, and I'm so glad I did.

If you've spent years fighting your curls too, you don't have to figure them out alone. Your first Twist Cut is a great place to start.

With love, Tami 🧡