Meet Yene Damtew, the Stylist Who's Been Slaying Michelle Obama's Hair
The number one question people ask hairstylist and salon owner Yene Damtew (apart from what it’s like working with the Obamas, but more on that later) is how she got interested in hair. And the answer is pretty simple: her mother.
“On Sundays, my mother and I would go to church, but when she was getting ready, she would put these rollers in her hair. At the time, I didn’t realize they were hot rollers. She would put them in and hop in the shower. When she emerged, her hair would be all full, bouncy, and fluffy. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure it out. I was like, ‘What is going on with these plastic things in your hair?’ That’s when I thought, OK, maybe this is something I am interested in.”
Damtew started following her passion for hair when she entered the seventh grade. “One of my very first mentors, Eve, who was about seven years older than me, used to braid my hair,” she explains. “She always was really good, so I used to watch her and practice on my brother.” Under Eve's tutelage, Damtew got so good that people in her neighborhood began to take notice. Word spread of her skills, and by the time she was in high school, Damtew found herself in demand around Orange Country, California. “I started doing everyone in my neighborhood’s hair — I did everyone’s hair from football players to the kids, and then my high school classmates.”
At 16, while she was still in high school, she decided to double up and go to cosmetology school as well. She juggled attending classes from 7:00 to 11:45 a.m. daily and cosmetology school four times a week from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. It's a schedule some adults can’t even handle. “The agreement [with my parents] was as long as I kept my grades up and still planned on attending college, they would pay for me to go to cosmetology school.”
The Meeting That Changed Everything
Those familiar with part of Damtew’s story know that she worked side by side with the self-proclaimed former HOTUS (Hairstylist of the United States), Johnny Wright. But not many know how they met or how she got her most prestigious client yet: Mrs. Michelle Obama.
Their first introduction was “actually comical,” she shares. “I met him through my brother who worked in Hollywood [at the time]. Johnny happened to be hitting on him, and I was looking for a mentor. I was finishing up cosmetology school, and one of the projects I had to complete was interviewing a stylist [whose career] I'd either want to mimic or shadow.”
Her brother introduced her to Wright, who suggested Damtew stop by his salon. “We met, and it was one of those things where Johnny was just kind of like, ‘Are you good?’ I was like, ‘Um, yeah?’ No one had asked me that before. He said, ‘Well, if you’re good, we can tag-team and work together,” she recalls.
Little did Damtew know that her introduction to Wright would lead her to one of the most recognized women in the world, Mrs. Obama. When Wright got the call to relocate to D.C. in order to work with the then FLOTUS, he asked Damtew to come with him.
At first, she worked with first daughters Malia and Sasha before starting to color Mrs. Obama’s hair. “It’s been the most humbling experience,” she shares. “That’s probably the only way I can put it. I would’ve never imagined that doing hair would’ve allowed me the opportunity to travel and to be a part of moments in history that will never come again.”
But getting a dream job like this doesn’t come without sacrifice — Damtew had to leave California for Washington, D.C., which was a major adjustment for the young stylist. “I was only 21 when I moved to D.C., and I had never lived on my own, much less left my parents' house before,” she recalls. “I often questioned if this was the best decision for me not just professionally, but personally as well because I was so far away from my family and support system.”
In addition to assisting Wright with the Obamas, Damtew was slowly racking up private clients at her residence and even at the back of a local beauty supply store — a far cry from the West Coast salons she was used to. “[At the time,] styling hair on the side wasn’t that prestigious, but it worked for me,” she explains. “It allowed me the flexibility to tend to other clients and Mrs. Obama. Working on multiple clients allowed me to refine my craft.”
Styling Michelle Obama
Damtew says she is “forever grateful and humble for Mrs. Obama and her whole entire family, who have embraced me with open arms.” Of course, we had to ask what Mrs. O is actually like behind the scenes. “Her spirit is unlike anybody else’s. She’s loving and caring," Damtew tells Allure. "People are always like, ‘What's it like to work with them?’ [They really are] what you imagine them to be like on TV, both warm and charismatic. [Mrs. Obama is] a person who loves children and is always willing to give you a hug. She always takes a moment to stop, regardless of what’s going on in her day, to ask you how you’re doing. This is who she is. I have been privileged and fortunate enough to be a part of the Obamas' lives. Both in office and up until now, I’ve had the opportunity to develop a hybrid relationship with them that isn’t just professional but also personal,” she adds.
I would’ve never imagined that doing hair would’ve allowed me the opportunity to travel and to be a part of moments in history that will never come again.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, the former FLOTUS is currently on a national book tour for her new memoir, Becoming Michelle, which has sold over 2 million copies since its release. And Mrs. O. looks good — really good. In addition to the tour, Obama nabbed the cover of Essence magazine's December/January issue, rocking her natural hair in all its textured glory.
“[The Essence cover] is obviously a very big moment for me. One, because it’s not a look you publicly see her with, though she does go back and forth between natural and straight styles, but it’s rare you see someone so high-ranking that comfortable with themselves. Second, it was almost like her 'coming out' in tandem with her memoir release. In the book, she talks about being unapologetic in who she is. I think part of that, as a woman of color, is to wear your hair in natural styles,” says Damtew.
Another memorable moment for the hairstylist was at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, when Mrs. Obama gave her iconic speech including the catchphrase "When they go low, we go high." “I loved how beautiful her [hair] color looked in that speech. I think that it matches her skin tone perfectly," Damtew explains. "It was a complementary accent to both the cut and the style.” She also cites Obama's December 2018 Elle cover and the 2017 ESPY Awards as standout looks.
Naturally, Mrs. Obama is collaborative and relatively flexible when it comes to her hair, but she also needs to take her schedule into consideration when she's thinking of a look. “For example, if she’s going to be with children, we don’t make her hair super glam. Beyond what she is comfortable with, the biggest question is what is she doing that day," says Damtew. "I do pitch ideas sometimes. It’s a collaborative effort for us to come to a common ground where we’re both happy and satisfied with the end result. Overall, it has to make sense with her calendar.”
The Next Chapter
Last year, Damtew conquered another goal — opening her own salon, Aesthetics. “I have a two-chair boutique salon in South Arlington, about 10 minutes right outside of D.C.” she says. “It’s very cozy and comfortable. Bright colors, pastels, a lot of openness: It’s not your typical salon or what you would experience a salon to be.”
Another selling point? Limited waiting time. “I think that there is a big stigma in black hair culture that when you go to the salon, you should expect to wait hours and hours. My salon team makes sure that we are never double-booked and that we get clients in the chair within 10 minutes of their appointment time.” Other touches, like complimentary snacks, power strips for charging your phone, and Wi-Fi, make the Aesthetics experience that much more enjoyable.
Anyone who comes in here is a part of a community space — and it’s a space where we embrace sisterhood.
Damtew acknowledges that the space her salon lives in is intimate, roughly 400 square feet, but she wanted it that way. “Anyone who comes in here is a part of a community space — and it’s a space where we embrace sisterhood. All of my clients end up becoming friends and talking to each other, and if you take an appointment on Saturday, you generally see the same people.”
She also prides herself on offering a chemical-, relaxer- and keratin-free environment, allowing her and her staff to educate clients on their natural texture and maintenance tips outside of the salon. “My philosophy is that if you come to me as a client, it’s only weekly — likely for a wash and blow-dry, flatiron, or roller set. I’m only your hairstylist for one day a week, but the other six days it’s really up to you. I have to give you the tools to care for your hair and be transparent about what’s achievable and what’s not. I think that’s what sets me apart from other stylists.”
Damtew also likes to keep it real. “Sometimes, clients will bring in pictures from magazines and say, ‘oh, I want my hair to look like this.’ I have to explain to them that this is a still shot from a moment in time," she says. "The way that it’s moving, the way that it looks windblown or tousled could be because there's a fan on set or they were moving a certain way. Unfortunately, that’s not the way your hair will look if you are walking down the street. I’m really about having realistic expectations when you come into the salon and when you leave.”
But if Damtew's work with her non-FLOTUS clients is anything like her work with Mrs. Obama, we know they're in good hands.
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