Copyright Forbes
Keke Palmer’s influence knows no bounds. Whether it’s her illustrious background in entertainment and media or her sprawling entrepreneurial endeavors that elevate her brand, she continues to lay the bricks for a solid foundation paved by hard-earned accolades and global acclaim. Palmer’s ability to connect with her supporters through the rare combination of authenticity and business savvy puts her in a league of her own, as evidenced by her appointment as Chief Brand Officer of haircare brand Crème of Nature. The mogul spoke more about her role at this year’s ESSENCE Festival of Culture, where she revealed she’s excited to lean into something she’s excelled and championed throughout her career — storytelling. “I’ve known the brand since I was a kid; it's a legacy brand. They didn't want me to just be a front-facing ambassador but someone who could collaborate on reintroducing the brand to a newer generation and also maintain what it's always been and its standing legacy. For me, it means that I can do what I do best. I can do storytelling. I love to tell stories, not just through scripted and unscripted content, but through marketing. That's what I've done in my career: introducing myself authentically— who I am and what I'm about — to my audience. And that's the same thing that I'm excited to do at Crème of Nature.” Earlier this year, Palmer appeared in the brand’s Unstoppable Hair Campaign to highlight how the qualities of resilience and confidence are woven into the legacy brand’s DNA. According to Palmer, these facets align with who she is, on both a personal and professional level. “When I think of ‘unstoppable,’ I think of confidence, pushing through hard times, your support systems around you, and flexibility. Those are the same things that I think about with hair: having the confidence to pull it off and being willing to be flexible. Throughout my career, I've had to maintain the ability to do all of those things over time, both personally when things didn't go my way and in the industry when I didn't understand where things were going. It's just about knowing that you can't stop. That's what it means to be unstoppable: you don't stop. You keep pushing through.” MORE FOR YOU While the entertainer has continued to evolve and transcend on her professional journey, the same can be said about her relationship with her own hair. At this juncture in her life, Palmer divulges that her confidence has blossomed in relation to her journey with her own tresses. “My hair journey has evolved, including my relationship with my hair. When you think about Black American people, a lot of times, we were not able to wear our natural hair in the workplace. The concept of wearing wigs and weaves didn't always come from a place of, ‘Hey, this is flexibility." It sometimes came from a place of, ‘I need to do this to keep this job.’ Over the course of my life, I started changing that conversation with myself when I first chopped my hair off at 21. And then, years later, when I cut it all off, I started really playing with it as it came back. It was really about re-engaging with that authentic space in me to make sure I wasn't doing the wigs and weaves and all the other things because I was afraid or felt like I couldn't be the same me without them. I didn't like that feeling. Now it's very different. Whatever I do, I'm doing it from a place of autonomy and without fear.” There are many ways to describe the starlet’s impact on popular culture as we know it; one that we’d be remiss to exclude is that of inspiration. Palmer’s career continues to serve as a blueprint for creatives looking to integrate their talents and interests into a cohesive brand. When it comes to who inspires the media maven, herself, especially as it relates to embodying confidence in the realm of hair, she looks to the very women in her own family. “My mom was a huge inspiration for hair. My grandmother was also a hairstylist, so they were very much into cuts and colors and just doing whatever, whenever,” Palmer said. “I remember growing up, my mom always had blonde hair. I thought she was blonde. She’d rock short hair, bobs, all kinds of styles. For me, I think the flexibility and the conversation around hair always felt artistic. It always felt creative. It didn't feel like I had to hold this to my identity.” Over the last year, we’ve seen Palmer experiment with her own hairstyles, most notably a new color opposite what we’re used to seeing her sport: ginger. A simple jaunt through the comment sections of her social media profiles will quickly illustrate the excitement of her many fans for this change. Still, for Palmer, it actually represents more. For her, it feels like a new chapter. “This whole era for me right now is all about the ginger. All these different variations of red and ginger. I’ve done it before, but I think it's different now. When you find that proper recipe, you stick with it. I feel like it's becoming a signature for me, and it's expressing this era of my life. I think the color red is inspiring. It's like a rebirth, burning through the ashes of growth, coming into something that just lights everything up. I feel like we should have fun expressing ourselves that way, whether it's your outfit or your hair. We go through different phases in an era. We have to embrace them and show them visually, and that's what it is for me.”
