Community Highlights: Meet Aisha and Tyrelle Walker

Our story: Q&A session with Aisha and Tyrelle Walker, the founders of The Walker Foundation

Q: Hi Aisha and Tyrelle, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories. How it all started and what is behind The Walker Foundation!

A: Well, here is our story!
We are Tyrelle and Aisha Walker and we are a married couple. We are in business for close to a decade.

Tyrelle: Our first business started back in 2014 with Aisha’s mother experiencing total hair loss due to Alopecia.

Aisha: My mom lost all of her hair and this took a huge toll on herself and close family members and friends. I remember my mom leaving the state because so ,many people didn’t understand what Alopecia was at the time. I watched her whole life change right before me and I was so hurt and devastated. We continued to search for help and options and many people at the time didn’t have any affordable services. That’s when my husband and I decided to start our first business Xtensions 4 Us, creating wigs for women and children with hair loss conditions due to Alopecia, Lupus, and Cancer.

In those terms, our business continued to grow and we started selling our hair extensions to the public and helping others start hair businesses. As we continued in the beauty industry we noticed the lack of tools we needed and our other clients in the same industry needed them as well.

After seeing how many years it took us to find the right sources in the beauty industry, we decided that it was time to create the first Beauty Bidding and Selling App X4US. The app is now in transition to becoming a global app. It’s currently under construction. X4US was mainly created because of the frustration with not having a centralized place for beauty businesses and beauty lovers. That is why we created our very first App for sellers and buyers, who could come together in one place to get anything and everything they needed in the beauty industry.

We continued to thrive in the beauty industry. Many of our clients wanted more than just wigs. They wanted products that will help grow their hair back. That’s when we decided to launch our next business – Rhythm Cosmetics.

Rhythm Cosmetics is a line that specializes in and offers natural hair and skincare products. We have hair regrowth products as well as your everyday shampoos, conditioners, detanglers, and deep treatments. It was just recently that we add It was just recently that we added to our cosmetics the acne skincare line. Rhythm Cosmetics products are sold in many states New Jersey, California, Missouri, Georgia, and Kansas to name a few.

Last but not least is our non-profit organization – The Walker Foundation.
The Walker Foundation is all of our businesses in one place. This Foundation means so much to us. Through The Walker Foundation, we provide free hair services to children in foster/adoption care, women and children with medical hair loss, children and seniors with disabilities, traumatic brain injury, and children transitioning back into the world from homelessness. Overall, to all those in need in terms of hair solutions. Additionally, we hold our Walker Foundation Kids Hair Fairs every other month with the help of donations and sponsors. A portion of Rhythm Cosmetics and Xtensions 4 Us sales are donated to our non-profit. Our next Hair Fair event is scheduled for October and our Annual Alopecia Fundraiser with NAAF will be held on September 24th at The Royals Kauffman Stadium. We are looking to expand in Kansas City with The Walker Foundation and our businesses with other new ideas in our pipeline.

Q: I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
T & A: Being an entrepreneur is not a smooth road. We do not have a book or blueprint to go by. Our businesses and foundation are created from scratch. We always have to find out what works and what doesn’t. We take so many leaps of faith and sometimes we go through tough times and hardships. We struggled with people believing in our ideas, we struggled with financing our businesses and creations in the beginning. We have our ups and downs. However, this has made us stronger and wiser. We wouldn’t change anything about what our direction in life is and our purpose.

T & A: All of our businesses and foundation is in the beauty industry. We want people to know we started with a dream and vision. We both have put more than 100% into everything we do. We are more than part of the beauty industry – we build people. We build confidence and give people hope.

Q: Are companies and foundation bridges filling in the gaps that people didn’t know exist?
T & A: We love what we do and most importantly, we care and love people. What sets us apart are all the services we provide from wigs for hair loss to hair regrowth products. And most importantly we give back. When you can’t, we can. And we focus on your inner beauty and help you wear it proudly. We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis.

Q: Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
T & A: Yes, most definitely. Love people. You never know what others are going through. Also in business, you have to pivot and accept changes. Creativity is your best friend. If you can’t change it learn how to manage it.