What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?
My secret skill or ability is that, at age six, I loved playing with people’s hair. I was always watching hair being braided and became interested. I started doing cornrows on my cousins’ hair. When I moved to the U.S., I taught my sister how to braid at age twelve, but years later, she claims she learned it on YouTube. So we started relying on each other to braid each other’s hair. One day, my sister started braiding my hair but got upset and refused to finish, so I decided to try it myself. I went in front of the mirror and finished braiding my hair. My sister came home and couldn’t believe I was able to finish my hair myself. She told my mom that I had gone to a neighbor’s home to get my hair braided. I said no, but my mother didn’t believe me either, so she asked me to undo it and redo it. So I did. That’s when they knew I had that ability. At age sixteen, I was making extra money braiding children’s hair. From then on, before I ever did anything on anyone’s hair, I would try it on my own hair first. I worked at a salon in Houston with the best woman, who taught me more skills, and I am forever grateful. I always do my hair myself, or I get it done in Africa when I am home.
