We recently had the chance to connect with Cherlyn Hayes and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Cherlyn, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What’s more important to you—intelligence, energy, or integrity?
Integrity—without question.
Intelligence and energy are important, but integrity is the foundation that everything else stands on. You can be highly intelligent or incredibly driven, but without integrity, neither truly matters in the long run. Integrity is what guides your decisions when no one is watching. It’s what keeps you aligned with your values, your purpose, and the people you serve.
As a founder, integrity shows up in how I build my brand, how I treat my customers, and how honest I am about my journey. Beauty Beyond the Crown® was created from a very personal place, and I feel a deep responsibility to lead with transparency and sincerity—especially when supporting women who are navigating hair loss, health challenges, and confidence issues.
Energy can fluctuate, and intelligence can always be expanded, but integrity is non-negotiable. It’s what earns trust, builds lasting relationships, and creates something meaningful that stands the test of time.
If integrity is strong, everything else can be developed.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Cherlyn Hayes, and I’m the Founder & CEO of Beauty Beyond the Crown®, a natural, plant-based, and clean hair care & beauty brand rooted in wellness, education, and community. The brand was born from my personal journey with alopecia and autoimmune-related hair loss—an experience that reshaped how I view beauty, confidence, and self-care.
For more than a decade, I navigated hair loss quietly while searching for answers. I documented my journey, consulted countless specialists, explored medical treatments, and invested thousands of dollars trying to understand what was happening to my hair and scalp. Through that process, I realized how little accessible information and support existed for women—especially Black women—experiencing hair loss due to stress, hormones, postpartum changes, health conditions, heredity, or medical treatments like chemotherapy.
Beauty Beyond the Crown® was created to fill that gap.
What makes my brand unique is that it sits at the intersection of clean beauty and wellness advocacy. While we offer thoughtfully formulated hair care products, including our flagship Hair & Scalp Revitalizing Serum (Powerful Strength), the brand is just as much about education, lifestyle awareness, and emotional support as it is about hair growth. The serum is crafted with 16 essential and botanical oils designed to nourish the scalp, strengthen hair follicles, minimize shedding, and support overall scalp health. Clean ingredients and transparency are non-negotiable for me—our products are made in the USA, cruelty-free, and formulated without parabens, sulfates, silicones, mineral oil, phthalates, and other harmful additives.
But beyond the product, Beauty Beyond the Crown® is a movement.
I understand firsthand how hair loss can affect a woman’s confidence, mental health, and sense of identity. That’s why the brand encourages women to redefine beauty on their own terms—whether they choose to wear their hair natural, straightened, in protective styles, under head wraps, bald, or in wigs. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to beauty, and no woman should feel judged for how she chooses to show up.
Today, I’m focused on continuing to grow Beauty Beyond the Crown® as a trusted resource for women navigating hair loss and hair wellness. That includes expanding our product offerings, creating more educational content, and strengthening our community so women feel seen, informed, and supported throughout their journey.
At its core, my story—and my brand—is about turning adversity into purpose. Hair loss may be part of my journey, but it does not define me. And through Beauty Beyond the Crown®, I aim to help other women recognize that their beauty, strength, and confidence extend far beyond the crown.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
The part of me that felt the need to push through everything alone has served its purpose and must now be released.
For a long time, I believed strength meant handling challenges quietly, figuring things out on my own, and carrying the weight without asking for help. That mindset helped me survive difficult seasons in my early life and throughout my health journey, but it’s not the version of strength I want to lead with anymore.
I’ve learned that growth doesn’t require isolation. There’s power in community, collaboration, and allowing yourself to be supported. Releasing that old belief has opened space for balance, clarity, and alignment—both personally and professionally.
Letting go doesn’t mean weakness. For me, it means evolution. It means choosing wholeness over hustle and trusting that I don’t have to do everything by myself to move forward.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me how to surrender and trust the process in ways success never could. It forced me to slow down, listen, and accept that I wasn’t in control of everything—even when I wanted to be. In those moments, I learned that strength isn’t about constantly pushing forward but about having faith when the path ahead isn’t clear.
Through suffering, I developed patience, humility, and a deeper sense of self-awareness. I learned how to sit with discomfort, how to extend grace to myself, and how to find peace even when answers didn’t come right away. It showed me that healing—whether physical, emotional, or spiritual—isn’t linear, and that growth often happens quietly, behind the scenes.
Most importantly, suffering deepened my spirituality and strengthened my inner resilience. It reminded me that even during the hardest seasons, there is purpose being shaped beneath the surface. Those lessons continue to guide how I live, lead, and serve others today, reminding me that some of life’s most meaningful growth comes not from achievement, but from perseverance and faith.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
One of the biggest lies the beauty and hair care industry tells itself is that beauty is one-dimensional and that everyone’s journey should look the same. There’s an unspoken expectation that hair must fit a certain standard to be considered healthy, beautiful, or acceptable—and that simply isn’t true.
Another misconception is that quick fixes are the answer. The industry often promotes instant results without acknowledging the role of consistency, lifestyle, stress, and overall wellness. Hair health is not just about products—it’s about scalp care, mental well-being, nutrition, and patience. When those factors are ignored, people are left feeling frustrated or defeated when products don’t deliver overnight miracles.
There’s also a lack of transparency around hair loss. Many brands avoid the conversation altogether or oversimplify it, especially when it comes to conditions like alopecia or hair thinning caused by health-related factors. By not addressing the emotional and physical realities of hair loss, the industry misses an opportunity to truly support the people it serves.
I believe the future of beauty lies in honesty, education, and inclusivity—where we meet people where they are and empower them with knowledge, not fear-based marketing or unrealistic promises.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What light inside you have you been dimming?
The light I’ve been dimming is my willingness to fully be seen—to take up space without questioning whether I’m too much or too bold. For a long time, I softened parts of myself and held back out of fear of being misunderstood or judged, especially when my journey didn’t fit neatly into expectations.
Over time, I’ve realized that my voice, my story, and my purpose are not meant to be muted. The experiences I’ve lived through—the challenges, the healing, and the growth—carry meaning. Sharing them openly creates connection, and connection creates impact.
Stepping into that light now means embracing my authenticity with confidence and grace. It means trusting that being fully myself not only honors my journey but also gives others permission to do the same. Dimming my light once felt like protection; allowing it to shine is how I live in alignment and leave a meaningful legacy.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://beautybeyondthecrown.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautybeyondthecrown/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beautybeyondthecrown
Image Credits
Headshot – credit goes to Phelan Marc
Product Images – credit goes to Ella Sophie
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
