By Dick M. Carpenter II PhD and John K. Ross
October 2009

 

Each day, Melony Armstrong demonstrates the power of one entrepreneur.

 

A petite, 40-year-old African-American mother of four who owns Naturally Speaking, a hairbraiding salon in Tupelo, Miss., Melony has grown into an inspiring economic force bringing needed hope and opportunity to her community and her state.

 

Before renovating her hairbraiding salon--which now employs four full-time stylists skilled in the art of braiding and weaving African-American hair--Melony first had to renovate archaic and restrictive government regulations, as well as her community's mindset about natural hair styles.  She accomplished all this through persistence, hard work, a lawsuit and lobbying, and by mentoring a cadre of young, black women who saw her as a role model and guide to a better life...

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