In this final Women in Business Takeover episode, host Samantha Cusick meets Charlotte Mensah to explore creativity, leadership, and purpose. From Ghana furniture-making to salon craft, Charlotte candidly unpacks navigating race, hair politics, and today’s “everyone’s a founder” culture, plus how listening, community, and integrity can spark real industry change. She shares the highs and lessons of building a brand, the discipline behind true craftsmanship, and how cooking, home life in Ghana, and moments of deep focus quiet a “busy brain.”

Expect practical wisdom for all of you salon owners, textured-hair pros, and those seeking longevity, integrity, and community-centered growth, with actionable takeaways.

Press play for grounded, real-world guidance you can act on today—and don’t miss the final minutes, where Charlotte shares the mindset that sustained 25+ years in business, her go-to “busy brain” reset, and a challenge for salon owners to try this week. Stick around for resources, next steps, and inspiration.

 

Chapter Timestamps

 

Resources

Follow Charlotte on Instagram @charlottemensah

Visit Charlotte’s Websitecharlottemensah.com

Checkout the Manketti Oil Haircare Rangecharlottemensah.com/collections/manketti-oil

Get the Good Hair book by Charlotte Mensah HERE

Visit Samantha Cusick salon website  HERE

Sta Studios visit sta-studios.com

Silly Little Girls Club podcast on Spotify click HERE

Samantha Cusick on Instagram @smantha.cusick

Sta Studios on Instagram @sta__studios

Follow Dom Lehane on Instagram @domlehane

Follow How To Cut It on Instagram @howtocutit

Today’s Guest

Charlotte Mensah is an award-winning hairstylist, owner of Hairlounge on London’s Portobello Road, and founder of the Charlotte Mensah Manketti Oil haircare range. Trained at the London College of Fashion in the late 1980s under the late Winston Isaacs, she’s a leading figure in the natural haircare movement. She is a three-time Afro Hairdresser of the Year with a place in the British Hairdressing Awards Hall of Fame and 20+ accolades, is recognized by Elle, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Tatler, and authored the best-selling book Good Hair in partnership with Penguin.

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