Curly Nikki’s ‘BeHerSummit’ empowers Black women to celebrate inner and outer beauty

Nikki Walton, the entrepreneurial force behind CurlyNikki, is hosting the BeHerSummit this weekend to empower multicultural, millennial women and help them celebrate their inner and outer beauty.

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The virtual BeHerSummit will take place on Saturday, March 6 from 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. It will focus on pillars of personal growth such as wellness, beauty, entrepreneurship, spirituality, and creativity.

Walton, who created the successful Curly Nikki brand that helped foster a cultural shift in the acceptance of natural hair, wants this summit to encourage women to focus on being more than just their ‘best’ selves.

“I want the women who attend this event to walk away knowing that self-care is not selfish and to stop focusing on being their best self, but to instead focus on being their whole self. Women have always been our whole selves, and we do not have to become; we just need to be,” Walton told Forbes in a recent interview.

Some of the speakers will include producer and actress Keri Shahidi, (mother of actress Yara Shahidi), Yolanda Williams, founder and CEO of Cream Blends Skincare, and Heather Lowery of Live Nation. The inaugural event offers “a morning meditation, 20+ digital breakout rooms, virtual happy hour, DJ sets, and more, all led by women of color!”

Walton further shared her excitement over the upcoming empowerment session on Instagram. She asked others to join her on the mini retreat “to practice being your WHOLE self in private, so that you can be HER, in public! #HerSeason.”

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Walton has long been committed to uplifting other Black women, especially how they navigate the complex issues regarding their hair. Walton launched Curly Nikki in 2008, challenging the convention of Black women having to have long, flowing straight hair. Her site offered a conversation about natural hair and the influence it had on brands that marketed products to Black women.

Walton wrote the best-selling book Better Than Good Hair and was nominated for an NAACP Award. In 2016, she published her second book When Good Hair Goes Bad, now available via a free download, and partnered with Dark and Lovely. She’s a beauty expert on the Dr. Oz Show and Tamron Hall dubbed her “The Queen of Curls.”

Though it would appear Walton has it all, she did not always feel completely fulfilled.

“In 2013, CurlyNikki reached the height of its success. I wrote a book that was a best-seller, and I had a beautiful family. But I realized that I placed myself in a box, and I felt trapped. I had everything that I thought I wanted, or at the very least, everything that I thought I should want. But I still found myself wanting more. I was still not completely happy,” Walton said.

Walton went on a spiritual journey that including reading books and studying the teachings of Eckhart Tolle and Michael Stinger.

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“Although there were areas of my life where I felt grief, there was still love. I began to find peace in every moment and practice the presence of love and God wherever I was. I realized that what I had been in search of already existed within me,” Walton shared.

Tickets for the BeHerSummit can be purchased here.

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