The Bronner Bros. International Beauty Show, an annual event that supports Black hair and beauty professionals, returned February 24 through 26 to celebrate its 77th year at Georgia World Congress Center after a four-year hiatus.
As it has in previous years, the privately owned haircare company’s tradeshow featured vendors showcasing hair products, professional equipment and apparel, plus live demonstrations from beauty service providers, including barbers, cosmetologists, wigmakers and nail technicians.
Guests also attended various gatherings, including town hall meetings, meet-and-greets, classes themed around issues affecting the hair and beauty industries, and more.
Glynn Jackson has produced the hair show’s signature night event since 1998 that recognizes the unsung heroes that are often behind the scenes in hair and beauty. Themed this year as “One Enchanted Evening: The Untold Story,” the program also featuring musical performances and a runway fashion show was the first event Jackson executed for Bronner Bros. since the COVID-19 pandemic paused the show for four years.
Credit: The Glen Agency
Credit: The Glen Agency
At the event, Jackson presented recent Grammy winner Killer Mike with a Lifetime Achievement Award for The SWAG Shop, his barbershop chain located on Edgewood Avenue and in State Farm Arena.
Singer Bobby V also received Lifetime Achievement honors for his duet, “Pimpin’ All Over the World,” with Ludacris that mentions Bronner Bros in one of the rap verses.
Credit: The Glen Agency
Credit: The Glen Agency
At the beauty brunch event, former Destiny’s Child member LaTavia Roberson made a guest appearance to unveil details about her makeup line, The Queens Kollection, in partnership with Bouji Lip Cosmetics. The products are available to order on the Bouji Lip Cosmetics’ website.
“Our collection is about women being beautiful,” said Roberson, who’s now based in Atlanta. “It’s great to be in a room full of excellence and so many entrepreneurs that are doing the doggone thing.”
Stephan “Step the Barber” Swearingen, the owner of Plush Midtown Barber and Beauty Salon, performed a haircut tutorial at the Cocco Hair Pro station. The developer of his own natural hair products line, Kinks and Coils, Swearingen took questions from the audience as he explained his technique.
“There are so many small, Black-owned businesses who are able to get major attention and their products in the hands of people that want to support,” Swearingen said. “The people standing around will be able to take what they saw back to their salons and produce even better or more efficient styles to get the look they want in less time.”
Sherita Cherry, founder of the Sherita Cherry Institute in Jonesboro, agreed with Swearingen about the quality of information shared during each session. “The education here is overwhelming because there are classes on everything,” she said.
The three-day event is one of few platforms exclusively showcasing Black talent in hair and beauty anywhere in the world. And it began with one man’s ability to spot – and provide –opportunity.
Credit: Bronner Bros.
Credit: Bronner Bros.
In 1940, while working a newspaper delivery route, Nathaniel Bronner Sr. realized he was selling more products from his sister’s beauty salon than printed copies of the Atlanta Daily World he distributed.
He kept hearing owners and staff express concerns about product availability, and how racism kept limiting their access, while traveling across Atlanta to various salons. Seven years later, he and his sister gathered 300 people at the Butler Street YMCA for a hairstyling class with product demonstrations.
Credit: Courtesy of the Bronner family
Credit: Courtesy of the Bronner family
The attendees kept asking the Morehouse College alumnus to do the class over, so he turned that demand into the Bronner Bros. International Beauty Show.
“My father wasn’t interested in doing hair, but he was interested in getting to know his customers and understanding their needs, challenges, and their knowledge,” said James Bronner, who became president of Bronner Bros. in November 2023.
“He would talk with different people. They didn’t know they had similar issues, so he wanted to get them together to show them that they share experiences.”
The show was so successful in achieving this goal that it drew others from outside the beauty industry who were aware of the gathering’s power. Past hair shows have featured appearances from such luminaries as Muhammad Ali, Dick Gregory and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Credit: Courtesy of Bronner Bros.
Credit: Courtesy of Bronner Bros.
Third-generation entrepreneur Autumn Yarbrough made her Bronner debut this year with her hair wellness startup, Nu Beauty Standard.
The granddaughter of Pro Line Corporation founder Comer Cottrell, Jr. and daughter of kids natural haircare line Just for Me creators Eric and Renee Brown, Yarbrough heard countless stories throughout the event about her family’s commitment to legacy by uplifting the Black community through service, and actively funding historically Black colleges and universities.
“It’s a dream come true and an honor to be here to celebrate my family,” Yarbrough said. “We’re a legacy restart, and it’s exciting to continue that tradition. I have unfinished business, and I can’t wait to do this again and continue that trail they’ve blazed and carry on to the next generation.”
The core values started by Nathaniel Bronner, who died in 1993, are leading Bronner Bros. into the future. As president, James Bronner has been instrumental in modernizing the show with technology and IT services. Having attended Georgia Tech, James was able to recognize the need to make the improvements after working in various departments and shadowing his siblings over the years.
James son, John Bronner, is coming onboard in August to assist with the show in New Orleans. The 24-year-old’s inclusion brings a third generation of Bronner family members into the business.
Credit: Jerome Dorn/In Da House Media
Credit: Jerome Dorn/In Da House Media
“We’ve been in this all of our lives, so it doesn’t hit us until we get the testimonials of other people,” James Bronner said. “We feel the impact, the weight of the legacy, and what it really means to society.
Yisrael Wright, co-founder of Beard Goalz, an all-organic product line, shared that the show’s growth and continuation, added to its ability to change the lives and careers of attendees, motivate him to attend.
“It’s motivating just to see the hair show survive the test of time and change so many people’s lives and careers,” he said.
“It’s great being around like-minded individuals, shape shifters and innovators who are trying to move the industry forward.”
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