How to Love Your Afro — and Honor Your Hair History

Discover Paige Lewin’s journey of self-love, resilience, and community empowerment through natural hair, entrepreneurship, and celebrating afro hair history.

From painful salon visits to publishing her debut book, Paige Lewin has made healing her hair part of her life’s work. As the founder of Team Texture and creator of Texture Talks, Paige transforms everyday struggles into solutions rooted in self-love, education, and community care. We spoke with Paige about her entrepreneurial path, her passion projects, and the importance of showing up – ‘fro first.

Where do you call home?

I was born in Bristol but moved to London in 2022

How did you come to be the successful entrepreneur you are today?

My journey to becoming the entrepreneur I am today has been through struggle, resilience, and vision. It started with my own pain, hating my natural hair, feeling excluded, and searching for solutions that didn’t exist. Instead of giving up, I decided to create what I needed. With no investors, no roadmap, just belief and consistency, I taught myself how to pitch, how to market, how to turn rejection into momentum. My journey has been messy, but for every Heat Hat sold, every book pre-ordered, and every podcast listened to proves that impact matters. Success for me isn’t just personal, it’s about uplifting my community too.

What inspired you the most when starting out in your career?

My inspiration when starting out was the lack of representation and the frustration that came with it. I spent so much of my life feeling excluded from beauty spaces and not seeing myself relected anywhere. That pain planted the seed. I wanted to create what I couldn’t find: products, platforms, and conversations that centred people like me, that said, ‘You are worthy, you are beautiful, and you deserve care.’

I looked at my own challenges from damaging salon experiences to the silence around textured hair in professional spaces and decided to turn them into solutions. That’s how Team Texture was born, that’s how How to Love Your Afro was written, that’s why I launched Texture Talks.

My biggest inspiration wasn’t one person or moment, it was my community. Every story I heard, every DM I received, every conversation with a black woman

who felt unseen fuelled me. Knowing that I could build something that made even one person feel more confident and more celebrated kept me moving forward.

Describe the moment you realised you could turn your passion into a career?

I realised I could turn my passion into a career when I saw how deeply my story resonated with others. I wasn’t just talking about hair, I was talking about identity, self-worth, and healing, and people kept telling me, “This is exactly what I needed to hear.”

Then came the proof, the first time I sold out Heat Hats in days, or when women messaged me saying my podcast gave them the confidence to embrace their natural hair. That was the shift. I understood this wasn’t just a hobby or a side project; it was a movement.

It hit me that the very thing I once struggled with most could become my greatest gift, not just for myself, but for my community. That’s when I knew, if I kept showing up with authenticity, consistency…

What has been the biggest challenge in your career?

My biggest career challenge has been learning to navigate spaces that were never built with me in mind. From the beauty industry overlooking afro hair to the business world where investors and decision-makers often fail to see the value of what I am creating, I have had to constantly prove myself and my community’s worth. On top of that, I juggle multiple roles at once as a founder, author, presenter, and creative while still trying to protect my own mental health and sense of balance. Those challenges have shaped me into someone resourceful and resilient, turning obstacles into the drive to build my own table instead of waiting for an invitation.

What makes your business/current project unique?

My work was born out of lived experience, not just market research. I know the pain of hating my natural hair, the frustration of being excluded, and the relief of finding tools that finally work. Everything I create from the Heat Hat to my book How to Love Your Afro to the Texture Talks podcast, is rooted in authenticity and built to serve a real community need. It is not just about products or content; it is about impact. My work blends education, empowerment, and storytelling in a way that makes people feel seen.

Are you working on any passion projects right now?

Yes, I am. Right now, I am pouring my heart into the launch of my debut book How to Love Your Afro. It is more than a book to me, it is a movement that teaches self-love, healing, and practical care for textured hair. Alongside that, I am building out the Texture Talks podcast and exploring new formats like live events and even animation to expand how these stories are told. I am also developing new products with Team Texture that make natural hair care easier and more joyful. Each of these projects is driven by passion and purpose.

How does your hair play a part in how you express yourself?

My hair is one of my loudest storytellers. It carries my history, my culture, and my mood all at once. Some days it is big and bold, claiming space before I even open my mouth. Other days, it is tucked away, giving me a sense of softness and privacy. For so long, I saw my hair as a burden, but now it is one of my greatest tools of self-expression.

It is how I signal pride, creativity, and freedom. It is also how I challenge beauty standards that were never made for me. Every style, every curl, every twist says something about who I am, where I come from, and how I choose to show up in the world.