'Be the change where you are': Why Nekeita Johnson opened her business in west Montgomery

When Montgomery native Nekeita Johnson started her hair business in 2014, she set a goal to eventually open a storefront on West Fairview Avenue.

Johnson knew her ambition might seem odd, to move a new business into an area that the city of Montgomery had been “working to stabilize” for years, but she didn’t care how her plans stacked up against those of other Montgomery business owners. She cared about the community that raised her.

That’s what drove her to finally open Neke Marche Beauty on West Fairview earlier this year — in the same location where her mother worked as a hairstylist years ago.

“I wanted to put some money into our community, into where I grew up,” Johnson said. “I’m actually seeing the difference that I do encourage a lot of people just by what I'm doing in my town, because I’m from here rather than going somewhere else.”

Ignoring the naysayers

Before Johnson’s plan came to fruition, she had several friends and family members discourage her from setting up shop on the West Fairview location. Johnson opened her first brick-and-mortar shop, a hair salon, in 2018 on Perry Hill Road, and some people wondered why she wouldn’t just grow her business from there. They warned her about the possibility of bad situations she could find herself in on Fairview.

Still, her ties to west Montgomery run deeper than their fears did.

“So far, so good,” Johnson said. “You can be the change where you are. You don’t have to move.”

She grew up in the 36108 ZIP code, and her grandmother still lives there, just a few blocks away from Neke Marche Beauty.

Johnson, who graduated from from Alabama State University, still described herself as a true Carver High School alumna. She and her sisters were on the cheerleading squad at Carver, and she has fond memories of marching in school parades around the area with neighbors lining the sidewalk to cheer them on.

That’s the sense of community she wants to feel again in west Montgomery.

Developing west Montgomery

“Everybody talks about how the westside of Montgomery is really going down, but if we come into the community and add our businesses, it'll make it look much better. I mean, it can't get any better if no one puts their foot forward to try to help,” Johnson said. “Either you're going to help or you're going to be the complainer.”

By the time Johnson opened her beauty store on April 29, she had garnered enough support for a blowout debut. Even Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed stopped by, after his office received persistent requests from Johnson leading up to opening day.

The city has been pursuing development improvements to West Fairview and the surrounding area for at least a decade, from former Mayor Todd Strange’s administration into Reed’s.

Some concrete changes have included the opening of Fairview Environmental Park in 2015, the completion of affordable housing complex Lanier Place in 2016, local Rotary Clubs and nonprofits like the King’s Canvas investing in beautification and gathering places and updates made to the Selma-to-Montgomery trail.

“We see a lot of opportunity, but this being the foundation of our redevelopment and our efforts in this area, we're ready to do our part,” Reed said at a news conference in west Montgomery earlier this year. “We're making great progress.”

Now, the city is focused on honoring the neighborhood’s civil rights history, adding affordable housing options and bringing in new retail.

How she did it

City development officials have told the Montgomery Advertiser that retail investment typically follows housing investment, but Johnson wanted to be on the forefront of new business in the area.

As her longtime best friend Yumeka Potts says, Johnson possesses a determined spirit, and when people tell her she can’t do something, that just strengthens her resolve to prove them wrong.

“She is very, very, very hard-working,” Potts said. “When she has a plan or a vision in mind, she’s going to make sure that it comes out.”

With Johnson’s perseverance and Potts’ optimism, the longtime friends feel like the sky's the limit.

Potts has supported Johnson every step of the way, from selling accessories in pop-up shops, to recruiting clients for the Perry Hill salon. She also has her own business, a training program for certified nursing assistants, Hearts for Caring Academy.

Johnson and Potts agreed that having a friend to lean on has made the difficult process a lot more bearable. Even though they are in different industries, they shared the same struggles involved in renting a location, getting a business license and working to fund all of the expenses.

Their advice for other new business owners: Don’t be afraid to ask someone else in your industry for advice, and don’t be afraid to start where you are.

“A lot of us could get together and change the area. There’s still a lot of empty buildings, actually two right here next to me,” Johnson said. “I really just want the area to be back how it used to be.”

Even if it takes a few years for the growth and development plans to come to fruition around Johnson’s business on West Fairview, she’s happy to be there.

Hadley Hitson covers the rural South for the Montgomery Advertiser and Report for America. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work, subscribe to the Advertiser or donate to Report for America.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Neke Marche Beauty gives back to the community by opening new business