For many, the last few weeks have been a time of great self-reflection. This is true for Shane and me as well. We are coming to you today speaking from our hearts.
We were remembering how we felt when we first came to our positions at Redken back in 2013. We knew right away that we had arrived somewhere special. Redken is a place of love. The hairdressing community is caring, passionate, and supportive. In so many ways, the very best qualities that you can imagine in people you see reflected in hairdressers every day.
We thought a lot about how lucky we are, to have enjoyed these years alongside our hairdressers where time and time again we witnessed the community coming together to support each other. This is something we saw so often. Those who were part of our hairdresser community felt welcome, supported, seen, and heard. WELCOME. SUPPORTED. SEEN. HEARD.
The world is not a welcoming and supportive place for all. Not everyone is seen and heard. And even in our own industry and brand, these principles that we cherish so deeply are not applied equally causing pain for our Black and Hispanic team members We need to do more, so much more, for everyone to feel welcome, supported, seen, and heard.
We are sharing here with you our vision, and the first steps that we are taking to be a more inclusive brand and to support the Black community. We are committed to taking action and will work together with the professional community to drive long-term, meaningful change in our industry, a change that is long overdue.
While Redken’s values have always been centered on community and education, now is the time to examine how we live those values each day in every action that we take. Our community will see change everywhere that we show up - online, in classrooms, in salons, at events and shows.