Todd Whitaker sells T-shirts. He was just one of the vendors at the recent Afrolicious Hair Expo last weekend in Dallas.
He joined in the fun when the event stopped in Houston.
"After a good event, we just started keeping up with them," he said of his business, the Houston-based Tees On Me.
The Afrolicious Hair Expo took over a ballroom at the Westin Park Central Hotel for six hours on a Sunday afternoon. The theme was "Wakanda Forever." People, mostly women, came by the hundreds to watch performances, a pageant and a fashion show; see demonstrations; ooh and ahh during a hair battle; and find products that fit their natural hair.
Ogedi Dunn of Irving had a table where she was selling Lexifor All Natural Hair & Body Butter. The product is named for her parents, Alex and Akufor. She founded her business just seven months ago when she was transitioning to natural hair and became "really stressed" about products.
She says she found something "magical," and just wanted to share it. And she thought the Afrolicious Expo fit right into her plans.
"It's been great," Dunn said. "It's very engaging, very well put-on and organized."
That's what founder Rhonda Ray aims for. She put on the event in her hometown of Los Angeles for six years and then decided to travel. The expo went to four cities in 2017 and five this year, with Atlanta next after Dallas.
Ray, a former actress turned photographer and now head of the Afrolicious enterprise, doesn't think this will be the last time the event visits Dallas.
"You guys came out," she said. "It was good. This was a great show."
