Springfield Braiding Company

Springfield, MO — Springfield Braiding Company held its grand opening last month on December 1, 2019. The business, located at 219 E. Commercial St. in Springfield, MO, is quickly becoming a one-stop-shop for all-natural hair care and protective styling. Unite had the opportunity to sit down with the owner, Champale Love-Hudson for a quick interview. 

     Love-Hudson, a native of St. Louis, moved to the area four years ago and was inspired to open Springfield Braiding Company. “I used to work in the back of a barbershop and I just wanted to expand and do my own thing and a lot of bigger cities have braiding shops on every corner and we don’t have enough here for ethnic hair, African American Hair,” Love-Hudson said.  “There weren’t a lot of options so I just wanted to branch out and open my own.” When asked about how she liked the move to Springfield she responded, “I like it a lot. It’s very peaceful and quiet. The air is cleaner than St. Louis and we have a lot of parks here, that’s my favorite.” Before moving to Springfield, Love-Hudson attended college in Cape Girardeau at SEMO, Southeast Missouri State University, pursuing a degree in Computer Information Systems but quickly found the coursework to be endless, given the rapid pace of changing technology. She had always done hair on the side for family and friends and she knew that she wanted to turn her passion into a career instead of continuing on with something that she didn’t love.

     Springfield Braiding Company is open Monday – Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and is closed on Sundays. The salon offers many styling options including over 20+ options for braids, twists, faux locs, regular locs, sew-in styles, dreads, cornrows, and more. “For most services, you can get in the next day, appointments aren’t always necessary. They are recommended but we have a few styles available that fit in-between booked appointment times, ” says Love-Hudson. A big plus about getting your hair done at Springfield Braiding Company is that braiding session times are often cut in half compared to when you’re doing them yourself at home

. “We actually team up on long styles so styles that usually take 6-8 hours, it may take us two-in-a-half to four hours. That’s another thing we’re offering is a faster service. It gets it done faster and we can still keep the momentum going. When you’re at home you start getting lazy and people just get tired of doing the same thing for six hours so, they stop and slow down and lose motivation, whereas if it’s two of us, we can get it done in two-in-a-half to four hours and we’re still pretty upbeat at the two-hour mark, so it’s not too bad,” says Love-Hudson. 

     Springfield Braiding Company is currently hiring more braiders. If you’re interested in becoming a braider at the Springfield Braiding Company they will help you get the certification that is needed. Love-Hudson said, “We have everything as far as helping them get their license, registration, state licensing, all the paperwork and everything professionally needed. They just need to bring their braiding skills.” Last year Missouri dropped their cosmetology school requirement for hair braiding and opened the barrier to entry for many home braiders to work professionally in salons. More information is available on Facebook @Springfield Braiding Company or call (314) 800-6537.