Today we’d like to introduce you to Wanece Downing.
Wanece, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My story didn’t start in a salon. My journey with hair really started around 16. I had a cousin who did hair, and watching her was one of my earliest inspirations. There was something about seeing what she could create with her hands and how a hairstyle could completely transform that caught my attention. That exposure planted a seed for me. What started as an interest eventually became my own passion, and over the years I developed my own style, technique and identity as a stylist.It officially started young and eager teenager in my neighborhood, doing family and friends’ hair as a hobby. I was the girl doing manicures, pedicures, eyebrow wax — anything to get better with my hands. I still hear my mom saying, “Wa, try this hair cap on me,” or “Wa, cut my hair into a pixie.” I was 17 years old giving pixie cuts in the living room.
I never knew that hobby would become my life’s calling.
After culinary school, I left my catering job at 21 and walked into my first salon job at Jane & John Hair Salon in Northern Liberties. From there I worked at Thee Hair Boutique and Seductive Styles, grinding through the 2000s hair show circuit, learning every trending style, mastering my craft one client at a time.
Then I became Wa Licensed Cosmetologist — CEO and Lead Stylist of Hair Habits Salon in West Philly.
What started as one chair quickly grew into a thriving 4-stylist, women’s-only salon. For 18 years we have been a safe space. As a Muslim woman, it was important to me to create a salon where women — especially Muslim women, but ALL women — could feel comfortable, private, beautiful, and seen. A place where you can take your hijab off, let your hair down, and just be a woman among women.
For years, we were POPPING. I evolved not just as a stylist but as a businesswoman. I learned how to do booth rent and commission, payroll, 401k, , paid vacations for my staff. I brought in salon software to track profits and losses when nobody else was using technology like that.
They call me the best in the west — known as Wave Curl Wa.
My signature wave curl technique had people in a chokehold for years. And what I’m most proud of — I taught every stylist who sat under my umbrella that technique. They all learned my curls, my standard, my care for women. And they all moved on to thrive on their own, building their own chairs and their own names. That’s what a real leader does. I didn’t just build a salon, I built other stylists.
Natural hair became our catch, our specialty. And from there came classes, and the Hair Habits Heat Collection products.
To this day the business thrives. Almost 100k followers on Instagram. My viral bomb bob is still trending on IG and Pinterest years later.
But my journey has always been bigger than hair. I’m the oldest of four, a wife, a mother, a Muslim woman, a daughter, a friend. To my clients, I’m their therapist. They sit in my chair and I pour into them. I make them feel beautiful and look beautiful. I’m a nurturer at my core — I add value to anyone I come across, and my faith is the foundation of that.
After 18 years as a salon owner, I’m in my veteran era. And I’m ready to pivot. I want to step from behind the chair and become a traveling educator — teaching classes in different cities, maybe even teaching how to do Black women’s hair in Europe, wherever Allah takes me.
Now I want to capture it all and teach the next generation how to do the same.
I am Hair Habits. I am Wave Curl Wa.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t been super smooth. I had about 10 years of smooth sailing in my own salon — thriving, popping, booked. Then I decided to change the complete structure of my salon from booth rental to commission-based. I wanted us to be more cohesive, more on-brand, more together, and trending upward.
The year I did it, every single one of my staff made $85K to $100K that same year. So it was never about the money. It created a rocky road because of mentality — everyone wanted to be the chief and not the Indian. Everyone wanted to run their own island inside my house.
People don’t know that part. They see the viral bob, the 100K followers, the full books. They don’t see the nights you have to make the hard business decisions that will lose your staff but save your vision. That transition taught me that leadership isn’t about being liked, it’s about protecting the brand God gave you.
I also have to acknowledge my husband and partner, who has been an important part of this journey. He has supported me tremendously behind the scenes with staff management, operations and the internal work that comes with leadership. During some of my most challenging seasons, he helped me see things from a different perspective, work through difficult decisions and continue protecting the vision I had for Hair Habits.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m the Lead Stylist of Hair Habits Salon, and I’m best known for my Signature Pixie Wavecurls — the Home of the Wavecurls. My specialty is short hair and creating movement, dimension and shape in a way that feels like art. I don’t simply curl hair. I look at the entire canvas — the cut, the placement, the direction of every wave and curl, and how the finished style complements the woman wearing it.
Most recently, I created what became known as my Viral Bomb Bob with Wavecurls. The style reached more than 2 million views across social media and helped grow my platform to nearly 100,000 followers. I later shared the technique on my Wave Curl Network YouTube channel, where the tutorial has reached more than 134,000 views.
But when I think about what I’m most proud of, it really comes down to two things.
First, I built a women’s-only sanctuary as a Muslim woman that has stood for 18 years in West Philadelphia. Hair Habits has always been more than a place to get your hair done. It’s a safe space where women can take their hijab off, let their hair down and simply be women among women. Creating and sustaining that kind of environment — while maintaining professionalism, community and an elevated salon experience — is something I’m extremely proud of. For the last 10 years, I’ve also owned the entire building that houses the salon, which represents another level of ownership and longevity for me.
Second, I’m proud of the stylists I’ve helped develop. Every stylist who came under my umbrella learned my signature Wavecurl technique. I poured my technique, my standards and my heart into them. Many eventually moved on and built successful careers of their own — establishing their own clientele, their own names and earning real money from their craft. Even when the structure of the salon changed or things became rocky, they left better than they came. I didn’t just build a salon; I built stylists. That’s legacy.
Over the course of my career, I’ve generated and touched millions of dollars in business, built a recognizable signature technique, created work viewed by millions, developed other professionals and sustained an independent salon for nearly two decades. Those accomplishments mean a lot to me because businesses like mine — independent, urban, women-centered salons — aren’t always recognized for reaching these kinds of milestones.
“Over the years, Hair Habits has also been a place of opportunity for so many people. I’ve employed everyone from my grandmother, my mother, my sisters, cousins and sister-in-law to my best friend, friends, and people I had never met before who simply applied for a job. When I look back, I realize how many people have been connected to this business and able to earn, learn or grow through something that started with me doing hair as a teenager.
I’m proud of what I’ve built, but I’m also very aware that nobody builds something for 18 years completely alone. From my mother planting that creative foundation in me, to my husband standing beside me as my partner, to the clients and stylists who have trusted me over the years — they are all part of the Hair Habits story.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up, I was always a very creative child, and so much of that came from my mother. She was the kind of woman who made me and my sisters believe we could do anything we wanted to do — but she also taught us that we had to work hard for it. She recognized that creativity came naturally to us and constantly encouraged us to use it.
Our home was really our first creative space. She taught us how to reupholster furniture, we painted and colored together, practiced our cursive handwriting, and helped with different crafts and ideas she created to make money. Our house was always beautiful because she could look at something ordinary and imagine what it could become. Without realizing it then, she was teaching us creativity, resourcefulness, entrepreneurship and the confidence to create something of our own.
I’m the oldest of four girls, and I was always calm and soft-spoken. I’ve carried that into adulthood, but it developed into a quiet assertiveness. As I became established in my career, I learned that I didn’t have to be loud to lead — my confidence came from knowing my craft and becoming an expert at what I do.
My mother has since passed away, and losing her has made me understand her influence on my life even more. She was incredibly proud of what I built and who I became, and knowing that has kept me going, even through some of my hardest seasons. I can see her fingerprints all over the woman and entrepreneur I am today. She taught me to look at what was in front of me and imagine what it could become. Eventually, hair became my canvas — and I built a life around the creativity she taught me never to waste.
Pricing:
- Pricing for salon, I’m not sure I would say charge your worth My silk press starts at &95 and our highest price service for new client is $300
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hairhabitssalon?igsi=YW9hZ2ZtNXdhaHZ5&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BZV59K26M/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@wavecurlnetwork?si=sl02JlO21OJX_iQC
