Sharon Payton, left, is founder of Trenz Beauty Academy, with salons in Chicago and Calumet City. Alyssa Simmons, right, is the academy’s administrator. Payton, who started in the beauty industry at the age of 19, never thought she would see the day where she would get to work with Beyoncé’s foundation.
Alex Wroblewski/For The Sun-Times
Students at a cosmetology school in the Chicago area have the chance to get a little help from singer Beyoncé.
Trenz Beauty Academy is one of five schools nationwide chosen by the singer’s foundation, BeyGOOD Fund, to be eligible for $250,000 in scholarships.
BeyGOOD Fund partnered with Beyoncé’s new hair care line to offer $10,000 scholarships to 25 students attending cosmetology schools across the country, including in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles and New Jersey. Trenz Beauty Academy has one location on the South Side of Chicago and one in Calumet City.
The scholarships were announced the same day that the singer debuted her much-anticipated hair care line, Cécred. Beyoncé told Essence magazine that she grew up watching her mother work as a hairstylist. It was in her mother’s salon, Beyoncé said, that she realized she wanted to be a performer.
“So much of the fabric of who I am came from her salon,” the singer told Essence.
Students who are currently enrolled or have an acceptance letter to Trenz Beauty Academy, demonstrate financial need and live in the Chicago area can apply for scholarships on the BeyGOOD website. The application window closes March 20.
Sharon Payton, founder of Trenz Beauty Academy, said that when she got an email from BeyGOOD, she wasn’t sure if it was real at first.
“It was just a moment of, ‘I don’t believe this is happening,’” Payton said. “We’ve been giving back, but then to see a celebrity give back to the beauty industry, it was a real warm feeling.”
For students applying for a cosmetology degree, tuition to complete the full course at Trenz costs $21,500. If a student receives this $10,000 scholarship and also applies for grants, they might not have to take out loans, Payton said.
Lisa Simmons, an administrator at Trenz, said she thinks the scholarship will be empowering for students.
“I feel like it’s going to give the girls a better chance and also more exposure for these types of opportunities,” Simmons said. “I feel like this opportunity will give our ladies more courage, more motivation, more outreach and more resources.”
Trenz Beauty Academy was founded in 2010 by Payton and is the only African American beauty school in the city that offers financial aid, she said. Payton, who started in the beauty industry at the age of 19, never thought she would see the day where she would get to work with Beyoncé’s foundation.
“I started from the bottom as a nail tech,” she said.
After working on friends’ nails and gathering a clientele for six months, she opened her own salon called Exotic Trends. She learned how to do hair and did hair shows at Navy Pier, Payton said. Once she got her teacher’s license in 2007, she opened Trenz Beauty Academy.
“I’ve been passionate about teaching from the start,” Payton said. “I don’t fear sharing my knowledge with other people.”
Trenz has seen more than 400 students graduate; and many of them have gone on to open their own businesses and work with their own clients, she said. The program is very hands-on, and Trenz works to instill confidence and teach students “how to become their own boss,” Payton said.
She says that having a connection with an internationally known singer, who is also a businesswoman, is a spectacular feeling.
“Beyoncé is real and inspiring. She chose Trenz Beauty Academy. I don’t even know what to say other than I feel blessed,” Payton said. “It’s a connection.”
BeyGOOD is also offering 25 $10,000 grants to salon and business owners in the same five cities, including Chicago. To qualify the business owner must operate within Chicago, demonstrate financial need, have been a licensed barber, hairstylist or cosmetologist for two years, have a lease agreement for a space and have been in business for at least one year. Applications opened Tuesday and close March 20.