Passion to Legacy:
The Crie Story
Aminah L. Lawson is a dynamic entrepreneur and leader in the beauty industry, combining academic training, creative talent, and corporate acumen to build brands that serve textured-hair communities and inspire fellow professionals. A Boston native who relocated to North Carolina for school, she earned a Bachelor’s in History from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in 2000. Her passion for hair began at age thirteen; after completing her undergraduate degree she obtained an associate’s degree in Cosmetic Arts from Guilford Technical Community College and became a licensed cosmetologist in 2002.
Determined to serve beyond the salon chair, Aminah founded Salon Crie: A Textured Hair Studio in Greensboro, North Carolina. The studio has become a go-to destination for clients transitioning to or embracing natural hair, offering relaxer-free services and cutting techniques that shorten appointment times while elevating the client experience. As owner and lead stylist, she cultivates a team-oriented culture and a workweek that respects both customer schedules and employee well-being. She leveraged her salon expertise to develop Crie Natural, a line of hair and body products formulated for textured hair. As developer and certified cosmetic chemist, she emphasizes the brand’s "100% No Junk" and "Quality in Products, Integrity in Ingredients" ethos, offering products made with natural ingredients. Clients appreciate that when she says you won’t spend all day at the salon she actually means it—no one has to pack a lunch for a blow-dry.
Aminah’s drive to educate led her to study the Head Shape Matters cutting system; she trained with the company and became a certified cutter. Today she is a beauty educator for Head Shape Matters, teaching stylists how to create balanced cuts and proper blowouts. Her service extends beyond technical training; she mentors business owners and stylists on strategic planning and operational efficiency, distilling lessons from her own career into coaching programs.
As a business coach and author, Aminah wrote "The Time Factor: How to Create Systems of Time to Increase Revenue and Advance Your Business," a guide that helps entrepreneurs use time as a strategic asset rather than a liability. The book is grounded in years of practice and offers tools to transform a business into a revenue-generating system. She conducts seminars and coaching sessions, guiding owners through restructuring their operations so they can achieve growth. Beyond her formal roles, Aminah considers her life’s work to be service; she defines her work as serving others through being a salon owner, product developer, beauty educator, business coach, wife and mother. She balances entrepreneurship with family life as a wife and mother of two sons, drawing inspiration from her family motto, "Do what you’re supposed to do, so you can do what you want to do." Her mission to help business owners find success through balance resonates in her salons, products and educational programs. Aminah’s journey from a teenager fascinated with hair to a respected salon owner, product developer and business mentor exemplifies how vision, discipline and faith can shape an industry.
