There’s a particular kind of courage required to build a business around what the industry has long dismissed. Latifa Adekanla didn’t wait for permission to redefine beauty standards in her community—she simply opened her salon doors at precisely the moment when women were ready to reclaim their hair, their bodies, and their choices. What began as an instinctive response to an underserved market has become something far more significant: a thriving studio that has fundamentally shifted how her clientele thinks about hair care, natural beauty, and professional opportunity.
Armed with a marketing degree from Ghana Institute of Public Administration and currently pursuing a master’s in entrepreneurship, Adekanla approached her venture with both strategic thinking and genuine compassion for her customers’ needs. She recognized something that many established salons had overlooked—that the pivot away from chemical relaxers wasn’t a trend, but a movement rooted in self-acceptance and wellness. When most of the industry was still pushing outdated practices, she positioned her studio as a sanctuary where clients could explore locs, natural textures, and protective styling without judgment or pressure. This wasn’t just good business instinct; it was visionary.
The Business
Hair and Beauty by Lola operates with a refreshingly expansive philosophy: no restrictions. The studio houses specialists across every conceivable service—from permanent and temporary locs to intricate natural hair styling, weaveons, wig and braid cap installation, bridal artistry, and makeup. This isn’t a salon that forces clients into a narrow lane. Instead, it functions as a creative ecosystem where a woman can walk in wanting a sleek protective style one month and elaborate locs the next, confident that expert hands will guide her vision to reality. The breadth of expertise under one roof is rare, and it speaks to Adekanla’s understanding that beauty is not one-size-fits-all.
But perhaps the most audacious move came next: the launch of a beauty and hair training school. Recognizing that entrepreneurial opportunity in the beauty industry often passes by talented individuals simply lacking formal education, Adekanla created a pathway for aspiring professionals—men and women alike—to enter the field with legitimate credentials. This extension of her business model reveals something crucial about her leadership: she’s not content with simply serving her current community. She’s invested in multiplying her impact by creating the next generation of beauty entrepreneurs.
The Vision
As Adekanla pursues her master’s degree in entrepreneurship, she’s thinking beyond the salon chair. Her vision encompasses economic empowerment, cultural pride, and the normalization of natural beauty across her market. The training school is only the beginning—it’s a template for scalability, a way to ensure that the ethos she’s built at Lola’s can ripple outward through multiplied entrepreneurs who share her values.
What emerges from her story is an essential lesson for entrepreneurs everywhere: the most sustainable businesses are built not on chasing trends, but on seeing what people desperately need and meeting that need with excellence. Latifa Adekanla saw women ready to shed restrictive standards. She built infrastructure around their liberation. And now, she’s building pathways for others to do the same.
