WashU senior Zariah Taylor has sung the national anthem at three professional sports games, designed a Black History Month jersey for the St. Louis Blues, sent her fashion designs down runways in Italy, and, this fall, has added the titles of campus entrepreneur and vending-machine operator to her resume.
TheHairVault, Taylor’s entrepreneurial venture, is a vending machine for textured-hair products. The machine will boast over 50 products tailored for textured hair, including combs, gels, shampoos and conditioners, and even a miniature flat iron. Located in the Village House dining area and supported by the Student Enterprise Program (StEP), the business aims to provide students with accessible hair care.
The idea for TheHairVault began with an issue Taylor ran into during her first year at WashU: there were limited hair-care products available on campus, and even fewer products fit for textured hair. And without a car, getting to a beauty supply store off campus was difficult and time-consuming.
“Nothing was really kind of catered towards people with curly hair. The products there would not work for me — they would dry up in my hair, or just sit on top of my head,” Taylor said. “Certain products are for certain hair types, and if you’re just going to put things on a shelf, you don’t know who you’re serving or underserving.”
For Taylor and many with textured and curly hair, especially Black students, hair is a reflection of culture and identity.
“I don’t know if anybody else has felt it, but I’ve cried over my hairstyle before,” Taylor said. “I never thought I’d be someone that got that emotional about my hair. But I do care — it is my identity.”
Taylor began surveying her friends about their experiences with hair products on campus. She then held tabling events, where she sold small quantities of textured-hair products. Operating off only word of mouth, sales quickly racked up, and she soon realized she had found a niche.
Still, Taylor was initially hesitant. As a fashion design student at the WashU Sam Fox School, her studio work already kept her more than busy, and entrepreneurship would be a big leap. She didn’t have to take it alone, though — Taylor turned to the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship and mentors in the community to help guide her through the process. In some ways, TheHairVault was a realization of a long-held dream.
“I came to WashU for a tour when I was a senior in high school, and I saw the StEP businesses on the South 40, and the first thing I thought was I wanted to be a part of that,” Taylor said.
The Student Enterprise Program, also known as StEP, allows WashU students to gain real entrepreneurial experience while still in college. Many of their businesses operate storefronts on the South 40, and student entrepreneurs work with experienced mentors within the Skandalaris Center.
“The StEP program is the best program to learn in, because they have people who can help you, and I feel like if I were to make a mistake, it wouldn’t be so harsh,” she said.
With the help of the Skandalaris Center and the Entrepreneurship Law Clinic at WashU Law, Taylor developed a business plan and officially registered TheHairVault as a limited-liability company. Although juggling a business alongside schoolwork has been challenging, this foray into entrepreneurship came at the perfect time for Taylor.
“I’d rather take the risk now, rather than when I’m older, because I don’t really have anything to lose,” she said. “I feel like even if I lose my business on paper, I gain so much more in experience.”
Taylor always has been ambitiously entrepreneurial. As a student at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Louis, she sold custom bags and satchels out of her locker, along with gum, chargers and charms. Recognized by her teachers and peers as a talented and ambitious artist and performer, Taylor was selected to sing the national anthem at a St. Louis Blues game in 2023. After seeing her artwork, the Blues invited her to design a jersey for Black History Month. She would go on to sing the anthem twice more at professional sporting events — once again for the Blues, and once for St. Louis City soccer club.
Tragedy struck her high school in the fall of Taylor’s senior year, when a former student opened fire on the school, killing two and injuring seven. In the aftermath of the shooting, Taylor turned to art to process her feelings.
“Art is a coping mechanism for me,” Taylor said. “Making and creating was always my outlet. So there will be times where I’m very overwhelmed, and I just gotta write, I just gotta rap, I just gotta sing, I just gotta create.”
Taylor’s creations reflect her emotions and interior world, but they also create connection.
“I feel like with everything I do, the correlation you’ll find is identity. My hair is a part of my identity. My art is a part of my identity. My jersey with the Blues celebrating Black history is my identity,” she said. “So I produce things from within, and then I give them out because other people find their identity in what I do.”
Taylor has made her impact on the WashU community. Last fall, her work in fashion was recognized by the Saint Louis Fashion Fund, which awarded her the Susan Sherman Fashion Scholarship.
“There were so many opportunities WashU had, and I felt like the people here would love for me to take advantage of these things. I’ve never met a teacher who did not want to help me,” Taylor said.
As her senior year gets underway, Taylor hopes for a successful launch of TheHairVault and looks forward to the future.
“I know I’m not going to get everything right, but at the end of my life, when I look back, I don’t want to say ‘What if?’”
TheHairVault opened Sept. 5 in the Village House.
