Photo courtesy: Sparks
Aniyah Sparks, an upcoming loctician in Tallahassee, says that her business was
inspired by her own loc journey.
Sparks decided to loc her hair in June of 2021. The decision came during a difficult time
in her life, but not only because COVID-19 was still new — which stripped her of a prom
for the second year in a row and graduation. Sparks suffered a horrible car accident in
October of 2020. She suffered a broken ankle and major PTSD. By the time the
summer came around and as she prepared for the next big step in her life, college at
FAMU, she decided to loc her hair. Initially, it was an adjustment for Sparks because of
the starter loc lengths. She was used to her hair touching her back.
“It was a tough start,” Sparks said. “I wanted out of the process when people started
calling me a boy.”
She was so insecure in her starter locs that she began to never leave her home without
a bucket hat. She says that she spent so much money on hats her first semester at
FAMU that she began to believe that how she dressed was defined by her hair.
Dakari Williams, a close friend of Sparks’ and a second-year psychology student, looks
at that time in life as an era that has ended.
“Her bucket hat phase was real,” Williams said. “I look at it as an era that I’m glad came
to an end.”
Sparks says the true reason she ended her bucket hat era was because the hats would
not fit anymore.
“Yea honestly, I had to give it up,” Sparks said. “Most of the hats literally wouldn’t go
over my head anymore, because my locs started to swell up.”
It was a sad awakening for Sparks as she now had to embrace her natural beauty.
However, this ended up becoming the best decision she has made for her hair.
Becoming more confident in how she looked led to her inspirational journey to self-love.
Eventually, her hair started to flourish, and she decided to store the hats away for a
rainy day.
This journey of self-love was a wake-up call for Sparks. It allowed her to get back in
tune with how multi-talented she is, and the mindset that she can do anything that she
puts her mind to.
Sparks decided that she would no longer spend money that she would not see anymore
and spent two months learning the craft of retwisting locs.
This is what led to Locked In With Sparky, a business where Sparks will not only be
doing hair, but she will also be using her psychology skills to help others through the
ups and downs of this process.
Victor Culpepper, one of her first clients, contemplated on locs for a while but Sparks
was able to help with his decision.
“I really held out as long as I could,” Culpepper said. “But ultimately, I am happy with my
decision.”
For more information or to book a hair consultation, check out @lockedin_wit_sparky on
Instagram.