I recently came across a print and online magazine dedicated to the natural hair community and was intrigued by their diversity of topics including natural hair care, health & fitness, spirituality & wellness, finances and natural living. I got in touch with the founder of Naptural Roots Magazine and she was gracious enough to share in more detail about the magazine!
When was Naptural Roots Magazine started, by whom and why? What is the mission of the magazine?
I started Naptural Roots Magazine in the summer of 2005, although the idea had been in my mind for a year and a half prior. Having been natural for over 7 years (in 2005), I realized early that the resources for professionals in the natural community were limited and in some instances, non-existent. I realized that the natural community wanted and deserved a natural hair care magazine where their concerns, issues, and stories were brought to the forefront, rather than just given a few pages in the traditional processed hair and braid magazines. Her realizations and her desire to give voice to the natural community were the driving forces behind the creation of Naptural Roots Magazine. With every issue we are learning and growing. Our goals for 2009 include increasing our footprint across the united states and sending our message of self help, and self-love to the masses. We hope that you will help us to realize our mission.
Our mission is to help celebrate and develop the entire natural person. We want women and men of African, African-American descent to realize and truly believe that they were born beautiful and perfect and that we don't have to change our natural state to fit someone else's standards of beauty. We also want to help our brothers and sisters to make the small changes in their lives that turn into life-changing and even life-saving events! We know that there are so many health issues that affect the African-American community and we are committed to bringing these issues out, talking about them, and helping our community to grow and thrive!
What kind of topics can one expect to find in a Naptural Roots magazine?
What started out as just a hair magazine, quickly evolved into a Natural Hair Care and Lifestyle Magazine. We include articles on natural hair care, skin and body care, health & fitness, spirituality & wellness, finances, and general natural lifestyle issues. We also include reviews of natural hair and body products and books designed to help enlighten and uplift the spirit! We realize that healthy is a complete mind, body, and soul experience!
So what's your natural hair story? Have you always been natural, and if not, what initiated the journey to natural?
I haven't always been natural. To be quite honest, I was one of the poster children for processed hair. If my hair was not BONE STRAIGHT, I was not happy. I thought that having long, straight hair was the definition of my beauty. Boy was I WRONG! After having my hair colored BLOND (wrong move) and it becoming weak, dry and brittle where it literally looked and felt like straw, I realized that I couldn't continue like this and that there had to be a better, healthier way to live. In 1997, I cut the straw out of my hair and put in a texturizer. Again, I wasn't dealing with self love and thought that nappy hair was not beautiful. About 2 months later, I woke up and had an epiphany. I literally just woke up and didn't want to put the chemicals in my hair anymore. I guess I was just finally tired of living the lie that my natural self wasn't beautiful and wasn't acceptable. So after just one texturizer, I decided to go natural. I started to grow my hair out and it took an ENTIRE year for the texturizer to grow out! And to top it off, the texture of my hair was changed irreparably! So in 1998, I cut all my hair off and started my locs. That was the best decision I ever made. And since 1997 I have never looked back!!!
Where can readers access the Naptural Roots Magazine?
Check out our website at www.NapturalRoots.com. You can sign up for a complimentary subscription to our digital edition by going tohttp://subscribe.napturalroots.com and completing the subscription form! You can also sign up on our Facebook fanpage (http://www.facebook.com/NapturalRootsMagazine) and join in on the discussions with our fans. We do questions to our fans and the responses are used to help drive content for the magazine. We want to make sure that we are discussing and writing about the topics that matter most to our readers!
I recently noticed that Naptural Roots Magazine is now on blogtalk radio. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
We just launched the BlogTalk radio show and are preparing for our first show on October 26th at 8pm (Pacific). We started the show to provide yet another avenue for naptural enthusiasts to engage with Naptural Roots. Our goal is to provide provocative, insightful, and thoughtful content that engages our listeners and readers. You can find out about our scheduled broadcasts at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/NapturalRoots
Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
I want to say that being naptural is about more than just a hairstyle. It is about a way of life. We can grow long, thick, beautiful natural hair! We just have to take care of ourselves from the inside out. I'm not saying that we all have to be a size 2 (I most certainly am not) because small does not always equal healthy. What I am saying is that we must be healthier and we must talk about our issues and can all make small changes in our lives that will turn into BIG events. We can be successful if we do it together!
Be sure to get your digital subscription because our new issue is coming out next week! It is in the works now and we are excited about it. We are showing that naptural is sexy, bold, and beautiful!
In the spirit of Napturality, be blessed and be a blessing!
~LeAnne Dolce~
I recently came across a print and online magazine dedicated to the natural hair community and was intrigued by their diversity of topics including natural hair care, health & fitness, spirituality & wellness, finances and natural living. I got in touch with the founder of Naptural Roots Magazine and she was gracious enough to share in more detail about the magazine!
When was Naptural Roots Magazine started, by whom and why? What is the mission of the magazine?
I started Naptural Roots Magazine in the summer of 2005, although the idea had been in my mind for a year and a half prior. Having been natural for over 7 years (in 2005), I realized early that the resources for professionals in the natural community were limited and in some instances, non-existent. I realized that the natural community wanted and deserved a natural hair care magazine where their concerns, issues, and stories were brought to the forefront, rather than just given a few pages in the traditional processed hair and braid magazines. Her realizations and her desire to give voice to the natural community were the driving forces behind the creation of Naptural Roots Magazine. With every issue we are learning and growing. Our goals for 2009 include increasing our footprint across the united states and sending our message of self help, and self-love to the masses. We hope that you will help us to realize our mission.
Our mission is to help celebrate and develop the entire natural person. We want women and men of African, African-American descent to realize and truly believe that they were born beautiful and perfect and that we don't have to change our natural state to fit someone else's standards of beauty. We also want to help our brothers and sisters to make the small changes in their lives that turn into life-changing and even life-saving events! We know that there are so many health issues that affect the African-American community and we are committed to bringing these issues out, talking about them, and helping our community to grow and thrive!
What kind of topics can one expect to find in a Naptural Roots magazine?
What started out as just a hair magazine, quickly evolved into a Natural Hair Care and Lifestyle Magazine. We include articles on natural hair care, skin and body care, health & fitness, spirituality & wellness, finances, and general natural lifestyle issues. We also include reviews of natural hair and body products and books designed to help enlighten and uplift the spirit! We realize that healthy is a complete mind, body, and soul experience!
So what's your natural hair story? Have you always been natural, and if not, what initiated the journey to natural?
I haven't always been natural. To be quite honest, I was one of the poster children for processed hair. If my hair was not BONE STRAIGHT, I was not happy. I thought that having long, straight hair was the definition of my beauty. Boy was I WRONG! After having my hair colored BLOND (wrong move) and it becoming weak, dry and brittle where it literally looked and felt like straw, I realized that I couldn't continue like this and that there had to be a better, healthier way to live. In 1997, I cut the straw out of my hair and put in a texturizer. Again, I wasn't dealing with self love and thought that nappy hair was not beautiful. About 2 months later, I woke up and had an epiphany. I literally just woke up and didn't want to put the chemicals in my hair anymore. I guess I was just finally tired of living the lie that my natural self wasn't beautiful and wasn't acceptable. So after just one texturizer, I decided to go natural. I started to grow my hair out and it took an ENTIRE year for the texturizer to grow out! And to top it off, the texture of my hair was changed irreparably! So in 1998, I cut all my hair off and started my locs. That was the best decision I ever made. And since 1997 I have never looked back!!!
Where can readers access the Naptural Roots Magazine?
Check out our website at www.NapturalRoots.com. You can sign up for a complimentary subscription to our digital edition by going tohttp://subscribe.napturalroots.com and completing the subscription form! You can also sign up on our Facebook fanpage (http://www.facebook.com/NapturalRootsMagazine) and join in on the discussions with our fans. We do questions to our fans and the responses are used to help drive content for the magazine. We want to make sure that we are discussing and writing about the topics that matter most to our readers!
I recently noticed that Naptural Roots Magazine is now on blogtalk radio. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
We just launched the BlogTalk radio show and are preparing for our first show on October 26th at 8pm (Pacific). We started the show to provide yet another avenue for naptural enthusiasts to engage with Naptural Roots. Our goal is to provide provocative, insightful, and thoughtful content that engages our listeners and readers. You can find out about our scheduled broadcasts at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/NapturalRoots
Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
I want to say that being naptural is about more than just a hairstyle. It is about a way of life. We can grow long, thick, beautiful natural hair! We just have to take care of ourselves from the inside out. I'm not saying that we all have to be a size 2 (I most certainly am not) because small does not always equal healthy. What I am saying is that we must be healthier and we must talk about our issues and can all make small changes in our lives that will turn into BIG events. We can be successful if we do it together!
Be sure to get your digital subscription because our new issue is coming out next week! It is in the works now and we are excited about it. We are showing that naptural is sexy, bold, and beautiful!
In the spirit of Napturality, be blessed and be a blessing!
~LeAnne Dolce~
