The Scoop with Tanya Flanagan

Speaker 1 0:00
This is a Kun V studios original program.

Speaker 2 0:03
The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Speaker 3 0:19
Good morning, and thank you for joining me for the scoop with Tanya Flanagan, I'm so happy you decided to wake up and start your day with me here on the scoop, where we talk about life, joy, funny moments, trending topics and so much more. We promise to keep you in the know and find out what you know. So let's get started.

Speaker 3 0:42
You Good morning Las Vegas, and welcome to another edition of the show. I am delighted to have you with me this morning. Thank you for waking up and grabbing your cup of coffee or a cup of tea or whatever it is you like, and Frappuccino cappuccino, all these fancy things we're able to make at home. It is the middle of November. We are moving right along and almost running out of time this year, but it is the season of gratitude and thanks as we are in the month of November. And as always, I'm delighted to welcome another fabulous person to the show for our man on the street segment this month. Of course, it's women on the streets this Sunday morning. But always delighted to introduce people to you who are in the Las Vegas community that you might not be aware of, doing really cool things, blazing trails and just moving at their own pace. And so this morning, I'm excited to talk to Bobby Mullins, Bobby, welcome to the show.

Unknown Speaker 1:44
Well, thank you for having me. Tanya. I really appreciate this.

Speaker 3 1:46
Thank you for taking the time to sit down and have a conversation with me. Bobby is super cool and unique because she is the owner of a natural hair salon in the simple space, but we're going to talk about exponentially, everything she's done. But you're the owner of raw remedies, which is downtown in the arts district.

Unknown Speaker 2:08
Yes, I am proud to be actually. So

Speaker 3 2:11
let's get people a point of geographical reference. And Rob remedies is exactly where.

Speaker 4 2:18
So we're located. Our major cross streets would be main in Charleston. We're actually on Colorado Avenue and casino Center. We're located right in the heart of the 18, which is 18 blocks of the designated arts district in the downtown Las Vegas Valley.

Speaker 3 2:35
So I think it's really neat, because as the arts district was coming along, I don't think anybody really thought, as it was coming to life and we were seeing, you know, the first Friday events happen, that it would blossom into what it has become. At one point, I actually looked at a house in that area and wanted to live down that way. But there is so much life and energy now in downtown Las Vegas, you see people every weekend come down and walk around. There's eateries and restaurants. The antique stores are there. The vintage clothing stores have survived. The coffee shops has have popped up, but when you first came all that stuff wasn't there.

Speaker 4 3:17
Yeah, this is correct. I've been there for almost 15 years, and what actually brought me to the arts district is exactly what you mentioned, which was first Friday. First Friday was really the only event that you can go to as an artist, as a vendor, and just to explore different, you know, ways of doing things, people selling handmade things, which I enjoy and I love. So that's kind of what brought me to this eclectic district that was on the rise to, you know, be able to expand. I knew when I got there 15 years ago, though it appeared to be destitute to a lot of people traveling there, I knew that it could be a destination, because usually when you are developing city, the heart of your city starts downtown. So now you see the city starting to develop and thrive. And I'm just so fortunate to be a part of the trailblazing part and sense of what's happening downtown. I had a vision that brought me down there, and again, I just worked to to understand when Las Vegas developed a master plan, this was over 20 years ago, and I read that plan about 15 years ago. I was excited to see some of the new things that was going to happen. And I was like, Yes, I'm going to stamp raw remedies to be a part of this growth. I

Speaker 3 4:36
have to say, I have to compliment you for your visionary forethought, because to take the initiative, or whatever it was, and I want to, I want to hear about that that let you to read the plan for a city development, and then to find not just to say, Okay, I see this plan, and I'm going to open, I don't know, a restaurant, or I'm going to have a coffee bar, or. Or I'm going to do, you know, you said I'm going to put a salon. So when people think going to get your hair done or nails or whatever, right? It's lot of parking. Downtown doesn't always have a lot of didn't have a lot of parking. It's the advertising, it's the traffic to get down there. And before, it wasn't necessarily friendly, but you said, Hey, I'm gonna get in here and weather, whatever the storm. What? What were the storms like? How? How did you find yourself in this space? You weren't always let's make sure we know, are you a hairdresser or are you a creator of natural products? What is raw remedy?

Speaker 4 5:43
Yeah, so if you think about the term raw remedy, to become raw is to break away from all of the things that we know as to being processed. And then once you break everything down, you want to find remedies to be able to help, assist and begin the healing process. So the question that you ask is, what is law remedies? Well, that kind of goes back to me being in college, and just to let people know that a lot of people don't know about me is that I have a biology degree and a minor in Chemistry, so I've always worked in the field of science. I've been a chemist for almost 20 years, and my goal was to be able to formulate products that was sustainable and that was not so saturated and over processed. I can say as as my as I grew as a scientist, I've discovered how the body works, as though plants do. And so I've always admired different types of plants and the type of restoration it takes us to maintain the growth of plants, which was a similar formula to how we work as human beings, in regards to making sure that we have good nutrients in our bodies and on our bodies. So that's where the remedy came in for me, with the branding of my company, was to be able to start somewhere that I knew that, especially women, needed healing and in our communities. Growing up in Los Angeles, we've always had challenges with our hair, and so that was a that was a passion for me, was to help women and men to grow into becoming secure about wearing their natural hair, the hair that's produced out of the scalp. So I did begin to formulate products before I came to Nevada, but specifically when I did come to Las Vegas, the weather here is very harsh, and so that's really where the product became popular because I started to formulate them specifically for dry climates. So that kind of led me into developing what we have here today, called Wall rending. So yes, I am a biologist. I am also practice chemistry with formulating products, but I also hold a cosmological license as well. So I earned that license actually, after developing the process of developing products, I was kind of forced into that position because natural hair care just wasn't a thing for people. And a lot of people didn't know what that actually meant, in regards to what it means to, you know, have have natural hair, and that means, you know, allowing certain processes to happen where you're not using chemicals in your hair, you're battling the trauma that we've had done to our hair with either braiding techniques or techniques that were, you know, too tight, or, again, Genetic, you know, some certain things that are genetic that we don't know how to, you know, seek the advice on how to get that help. So that was my interest in regards to developing raw remedies. Now, I've always been an eclectic personality into the art loving music and loving the vibration and the energy that you get when people are, you know, are communicating, maybe not just with words, but through, through music, through visual arts and things like that. So my goal was to figure out how I can compile all these wonderful things into one thing. And that's where the art Arts District kind of just has my heart.

Speaker 3 9:20
So you are just like, right at home. I love all of that, and I'm learning so much as well, because what you said about women natural hair and coming into understanding the God given hair that you get and how to deal with it. The weather is harsh, so I'm one of those people. I have natural hair, and I've had natural hair for I haven't had chemicals in my hair since maybe 1999 so I've had natural hair for a really long time, but it's been quite a journey. It's a journey figuring out what to use, what works and what doesn't work. But you said something that struck me about the damage from. Braiding or having braided hair, and a lot of times we hear that when you braid your hair, it's a protective style. It's supposed to give your hair a rest. But people don't always come out of braids in a better place. And I've heard a lot of horror stories from women who get their hair braided, and when they're done having their hair braided, they're not in a better place. So I'm also curious to know how you work with people. In terms of education, there's so much that I just want to ask you and unpack in this space of what you do, because it's so transformative to people's lives, and yet, the thoughtfulness and the process of where you're located what you do and how you blended your passions with your purpose, I think it's powerful. So how do you do you educate? Is it also an educational process for people who come in and just are hair illiterate, for lack of a better way to describe it, and don't understand anything about what's going on on top of their head? Is there a product line?

Speaker 4 10:58
Yes. So I have developed a product line which consists of, as far as the hair care side of it, it's tin products. A lot of the products will say, 80% of my products are plant based, which means that I have raw and organic material in them. So, for instance, I do like the raw rosemary and then the raw cinnamon sticks in the product, just so, for instance, with cinnamon, it works with your cardiovascular system. So in regards to getting head colds and making sure that you have the nutrients that is going onto your scalp that's going to seep into the pores and not clog them up. So when you spoke and you asked the question, as far as education is concerned, that is the number one reason why i i took the my destiny in regards to because I've always wanted to be a doctor. I've always wanted to be in the position where I am educating people. At one point I wanted to be a forensic pathologist. And then I said, Why would I Why would I study the cause of death when I can study the cause of life, because your your hair when we I just like that. Our whole presence in regard especially women, when it comes to self identification, is always, it always has been a physical one is that people see us first, and they see our hair. And so our hair has always, it's always been a challenging thing to us to have a comfort zone where we can get the best hair care or the best results out of just wearing our natural hair. So for me, education is always important. And any client that comes to our remedies or refer to us, that's the first step that I try to educate people out and keep people about is and this is from an individual standpoint, because what we have to realize is that based on genetics, everyone's hair is going to be different. So we talk about the your past experience with, like some of the styles that you've been wearing, and then we also talk about the results that we want. And so what I typically do is I just I through my consultation, I'll devise a plan. And here's the thing about natural hair care is just like, again, taking care of a plant or taking care of a child or even taking care of yourself, you have to have consistency. I think a lot of times women, they do those, those styles, like the braiding styles, and they call it protective styles, because you're not necessarily touching your hair. So you know, people like to have easiness when it comes down to doing things with their hair, and so it's easier to maintain braids. What they're not understanding is like it's almost putting on a crutch over your leg when it's not broken. So if you know what a crutch does, it makes the bones and the limbs weaker, right? So, especially if it's not broken. So what happened with what tends to happen is, is that people wear braids. They wear them too long, or they'll get the the thing about braiding here is that you have to be very careful, because those are plastics. People don't understand that the materials of braiding hair, even when it says human hair, or typically human like hair, there's still fiber and fabric that are very strenuous to our hair, and it doesn't promote hair growth, because, again, it's almost like a crutch, like you're not allowing your natural hair to breathe or to, you know, consistently absorb nutrients. So it's actually dry in the head. It actually does the opposite. And so I just try to use that education piece so that people can understand that you may not have. You know, of course, we were always told from our from our ancestors, and passed down from our mothers and grandmothers that, you know, this was the thing to do, be able to protect but you know, you can only do what you were taught. Now I'm a result driven person, so I always go back to the results and say, Okay, well, if you try this, if you try it this way, let's see if we'll be able to get results. And that consists of just again repairing. And a part of repairing is to having a. A system of consistency, you know? So that's why, that's why I go with education on just natural hair care.

Speaker 3 15:06
Do you ever do? And I think that's so valuable, because there's so many products in the space of education. I think it's really cool that you create your own line of products to allow people to have access to them, and then educating them on what the products do, so they understand not just what it's doing for your hair, but what it's doing for your body. Because what you're putting on your scalp, it's in your skin, so it's seeping in, right? It's helpful to you that way, but educating people on how the products work, what ingredients and things, chemicals, whatever plant based products, how they interact with one another, and then that's with your system, the individuality that we each possess around our different hair textures, because it's kind of like that space where you always want what you don't have. So people who have straight hair want curly hair, people who have textured hair worn hair that's easier to maintain. But I mean, one of the things that I think my style has said to me years ago was and it really resonated with me, and it made me not that I didn't have nice hair or don't have nice hair, but in its own way, I think we each have hair that can be challenging. But she said, You have to love it if you want it to do well, but you can't not love it and wanting to perform well. And I was like, Well, okay, that made sense to me, in that I had to adjust my attitude, and because I have, well, most comparisons thick hair right the and when it's healthy and doing what it's supposed to do, a lot of it so, but at the same time it's fine. So as it was explained to me, there's like all these, there's several hairs coming out of the same pores, but my hair doesn't take a lot of heat, so there's just like, there's so much to the hair journey and then, because at one point, I had breast cancer, so I lost all of my hair. So I've gone through that period of life where I had the perms because mom thought she wanted something to help her tame and control it, so she put the chemicals on and permed it, which completely changed the texture. Then I went through chemo and lost all of it. So when it came back, it came back in the original texture that I had as a little girl. So I went all the way back and

Speaker 4 17:15
started over, which is, which is a good thing that I mean starting over, and people don't realize that is, it's almost again, like repotting, and always use analogies when it because people can understand. Sometimes when you're when you're using analogies, and it's almost comparable to, you know, the process, it kind of helps people to understand. And the light bulb goes off and they like, oh, okay, that makes sense. So, you know, starting a new a new head of hair is always good, um, because you're all of the medication that you had, all of the trauma that was done during the process to your hair. Now you get the opportunity, especially if the hair is growing back, you get the opportunity to to understand what your hair can do it doesn't have the trauma that it had before again. And so with that, that's why, again, with the products, it helps me to make it a little bit easier to educate people, men and women, in regards to the types of ingredients that I put in the product, I can give you an example, just based off of whether a lot of people will in it. These essential oils become popular over the years. So people love to go with that, you know. So for a long time I was hearing, do you have tea tree? Do you have tea tree Air Products? And I go, Well, if I lived on the East Coast, then tea tree would be fine, just based on the humidity. But because we live in such a dry climate, I would use of a less harsh astringent, which would be more so like green tea or mentholated process of products. So I like, for instance, in my shampoo, I use menthol crystals instead of a tea tree, which is tea tree is a really good astringent, but it's also drying to the hair, especially if you live in dry climates. Whereas mentholated products are a little bit less harsh on the hair, and they also work really good with carrier oils as well, in regards to the milking point is concerned with the crystal. So I just educate people again on what type of ingredients that worked well, especially for a very good hair. So we say your hair is thick because we use, we use terminology to be able to understand one another. But now in the cosmetological world, that's where another piece of education comes in, because you want to when you have very big hair, then it allows you to understand that your hair is porous or not, and that's the ability to absorb moisture. So that's what people need to understand. In Las Vegas, we need products that are moisture based, that be able, that are able to replenish the hair follicles and to be able to withstand these, you know, very dry climate, over 100 degree weather, right? So, yeah, yeah, I think we education is far foremost. Why raw remedies is so popular, because it's word of mouth when people start seeing results.

Speaker 3 19:59
Results Driven hair is like the thing that absolutely, I know you can walk down the street and if you see someone and you love their hair, I got a call just the other day for someone who wanted a referral, actually for braiding, but it's just what people see, how your hair is presented and how it's maintained, and what it's doing, and that's basically what drives people and clients to the salon space that they choose. But I just love that you teach people, because a lot of times, stylists will hold the information and knowledge that they have so close to the vest that you're not equipping your clients to survive if they're not in your chair, and they just can't, we're not all Oprah. So somebody can't do our hair from ground, from from zero to finish every day, and you need to understand what you're working with. And it's so valuable to have someone that teaches their clients, here's what your hair does, here's how this product works, here's what you should expect. And if we take this journey and we take our time, we can get to the finish line and you can have a healthy head of hair that you're proud of and that you love, and so I think that that is so valuable that you share that with your clients. Do you teach classes? I know we're good and folks, there's so much to unpack here. Bobby is a wealth of information, and had the nerve to tell me that she was shy. Even if she is shy, you are so knowledgeable, it is just fascinating to listen to you and to learn from you. And if you don't get it all this week, don't panic. She's going to come back next week and keep talking with me about ways that we can make ourselves healthier and do smart things. And we haven't even had a chance to dive into the conversation about how nutrition plays into this, how stress may play into this space, and more, just more to learn on how she got to where she is as the owner of raw remedies and the space that she occupies in the arts district downtown. So for those who are listening, she's going to be back with me next week, talking a little bit more. But while I have you here this morning, I want to continue to talk about your story. Is it all hair products, or is it also other aspects of quality of life that you are creating in this business space?

Speaker 4 22:17
Yes, so I think that, well, let me, let's talk about the product. So I do have a hair care line, as we spoke briefly about, and then that also, as I was developing hair care products, I also touched into the skin care line as well. So of course, being a hairstylist, people, you become people therapists. You know, you develop great relationships. You actually outlive people's, you know, relationships as well personal relationships. And you just, you become a wealth of a resource to the community. So people have because when people find out what my background is, everybody wants something developed for them. And, you know, so it's interesting is, I was forced to develop other products. So I do have also a skincare line that is 80% being developed right now. We remake shea butter. So we use shea butter in regards to creating moisture here in Las Vegas. I also develop a vegetable glycerin based soap, which is which goes with our shea butter, and then we also sell products that and and, or recommend products that are useful to us in this dry climate. A lot of people who are moving here, and we we understand now that Las Vegas at one point was a very transient city where you have people coming in from outer states, and they were not used to the weather. So of course, I'm the first point of contact, of allowing them to understand what's actually happening, happening to us here. It's a shocking it's a shocking syndrome that people come here. They don't realize, you know, the pollen, that a lot of the pollen, a lot of the the things that they didn't suffer with, whether it be, you know, asthma, or whether it be you know, just certain breathing issues that people suffer, not even outside of the hair, but also the skin, and then also, you know, your your different systems, you know, just just, it was just a culture shock for certain people, especially coming from climate of humidity. So yes, I do have a skin care line, a hair care line, and then what we specialize in? A lot of people don't know I specialize in locks and locks and twists. So locks and twists are usually my recommended transitional hairstyle from people that are coming out of chemicals or people that are have been taking medication. And then you also mentioned stress. Stress is that one of the number one and or two cause of hair loss, so it's either medication or stress, and this is just outside of the certain types of trauma or alopecia that people have experienced. But what typically is going to be medication. Nourse, so I get to learn those things as I'm developing relationships with my clients. And then, when you spoke about taking classes or education, what I what I've managed to do is I've treated law remedies as though it was a village that we didn't have for the city that we could, that we can come to and to be able to share this knowledge with because when you share the knowledge, that's when you leave legacy behind, you can't hold on to information that actually works. So if it works for you, if you know it's going to and it may not work for everyone, but it works for those people who are who really want to change, and those people who really seek to, you know, to have a better outcome from what they what they've been, what they used to, used to doing, and that's what their hair, the types of products. And you also mentioned lifestyle, the way that we eat, the way that we that we think about, you know, why we're even here, what our purpose is. So again, I've used my purpose to be able to create these products for people, as well as a one services, you know, again, with love and treating people you know how you want to be treated. That's where, you know, the marketing is done for itself. So a lot of people come who want to seek knowledge and want to kind of hear about things that are going to remedy them. And so I would like, like, what I say is, you know, let's, let's break our body down to just being our raw cells. So if you if we can withstand, you know, not putting the, the additional chemicals on our hair, as far as, like the the styling product, whether it be the braiding hair, or the or anything that's artificial, onto a hair, and we can just start to see what our hair can do by following this regimen. It is a process, but typically, people are going to transition into locking their hair, which has become more popular today than it was 10 or 15 years ago. But it also has been a more so than a hairstyle to become a lifestyle for people, just because it brings upon a different type of aura. And what I mean by aura, the way that you dress now, the way that you eat now, the way that you live yourself, it's a whole kind of lifestyle that people have transitioned into with raw remedies and just being a part of being able to see the types of people that come in, the types of clients that we have, as well as the stylist. I was a basketball coach, and we'll talk about that if we have time, if not next time. But the real story behind our remedies is how consistent and loyal our team has been, the team that I have. I was their basketball coach at Mojave High School, and this was 15 years ago, so I met these ladies when they were teenagers in the 10th grade, and just bringing what the concept of Team meant, people can see that when they come to our salon, they see us work together. It inspired them to want to be a part of the process, and then from there, people will just listen to whatever you tell them. They're going to go because they know that whatever you're telling them is going to be fruitful to them. So that's where the process starts. It's just being open and being willing.

Speaker 3 28:11
I love it. So we're going to we're getting down to the end of this week. Sean, I know you're coming back to talk with me next week. It's like I said, there's so much to unpack. But for those who are listening, in case they don't catch us again next week. Share your social media handles, and that'll take us out of this show. And then we'll, we'll come back next week, and you'll hear more from Bobby Mullins, what? Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, where can people find you?

Speaker 4 28:35
Yeah. So if people are looking for change, and they're looking for, you know, a new way of transitioning, we can be found at a court. So our Facebook is at, is raw remedies. On Facebook, on our Instagram is at, raw remedies. Our website is raw remedies. LD, Las Vegas, and you can also Google raw remedies. Everything will pop up there. And if you want to stop by again, we're located on Colorado casino center in the downtown Las Vegas arts district.

Speaker 3 29:03
It has been a pleasure to have you on the show this morning, folks, Bobby will be back with me again next week, so tune in. It will be the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We'll be talking about gratitude and gratefulness and just positive ways to impact your life and stay healthy during the holidays as well. Thank you for tuning into this edition of the scoop with me, Tonya Flanagan, right here on 91.5k U, N, V, jazz and more. We'll see you next week. I want to thank you for tuning in to the scoop with me. Tonya Flanagan, and I want to invite you to get social with me. I'm on Facebook and Twitter. My name is my handle, T, a n, y, A F, l, a n, a G, A N. You can also find me on Instagram at Tanya almond eyes Flanagan, and if you have a thought, an opinion or a suggestion, don't hesitate to shoot me an email to tanya.flanagan@unlv.edu Thanks again for joining in. Stay safe and have a great week. You.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai