Redefining Beauty on the Other Side of Survival
By De’Vonna Pittman
The first time I cut off my hair, I was young and searching. For relief. For permission. For a version of beauty that felt like it belonged to me.
The second time I cut off my hair, I was 53, and I wasn’t searching for anything at all.
That difference matters.
Hair has always carried weight for me. Not just aesthetically, but emotionally, culturally, spiritually. From puberty onward, beauty became something I chased. Something I tried to earn. Something that felt conditional, dependent on how closely I aligned with expectations that were never designed with me in mind. For Black women especially, hair isn’t “just hair.” It holds memory, trauma, resistance, and survival. It reflects how we are perceived before we ever speak.
I grew up in the poorest suburb of America. That sentence alone carries a lifetime of context. I was supposed to be a statistic. The odds were clear. And yet, I made it. I don’t take that lightly. Especially now, as menopause arrives in a very real, very physical way, bringing emotion to the surface whether I ask for it or not. As I write this, tears are streaming down my face, not from grief, but from recognition.
I made it to the other side.
The first big chop came during a season of becoming. I was shedding damage and learning to sit with myself. To meet my natural texture without apology. That journey led me to my kitchen table, where Nature’s Syrup Beauty was born, a haircare line I created out of necessity, frustration, and a deep desire to create products rooted in trust for Black hair. I wasn’t just formulating for hair. I was formulating for healing.
That season was about survival and vision.
This season is about arrival.
I’ve cut my hair again, and it’s grown back quickly, about seven inches so far. Right now, I’m wearing cornrows. Simple. Unbothered. Free. And for the first time in my life, I genuinely do not care what people think about how I look.
That sentence still surprises me.
At 53, with products on shelves in major retailers and deals closed by someone who was never supposed to get this far, I finally understand that beauty isn’t something you arrive at by perfecting your appearance. It’s something you access when you stop performing, shrinking, and explaining yourself.
Beauty, I’ve learned, is a state of ownership.
For years, I believed beauty was about presentation or how “put together” I could be, how acceptable my hair was in boardrooms and political spaces. Like many of us, I learned these rules early. But following them came at a cost. There was always a quiet disconnection between how I looked and how I felt.
Letting go of that disconnect has been the real transformation.
Nature’s Syrup Beauty grew alongside me, but it didn’t freeze me in time. The brand has evolved because I’ve evolved. I’m not the same woman who started mixing oils and butters years ago, hoping someone would see value in what I was building. I now understand that the work was never about proving anything; it was about creating space. Space for women to trust their hair again. Space to honor texture without trauma. Space to define beauty on our own terms.
Women often forget how much work it took to get to the place they once dreamed of. We’re so busy moving forward that we don’t always pause to recognize the miracle of arrival. And then one day…you’re there. Standing in the life you once prayed for. Wearing your hair how you want. Living inside your truth.
This season of my life feels like a return— not to who I was, but to who I’ve always been underneath the weight of others’ expectations. Cutting my hair this time wasn’t about loss. It was about lightness.
I’ve spent a lifetime seeking beauty. Now, I recognize it when I feel at home in my body. When my hair reflects my truth, not my fear. When my work aligns with my values. When I show up as I am, without asking permission.
I’ve learned that transformation doesn’t always announce itself loudly. Sometimes it's a quiet confidence. Like cornrows at 53. Like surviving what should have taken you out, and standing on the other side, whole.
Once you claim that kind of beauty, nothing can take it from you.
DeVonna Pittman
DeVonna is a writer and entrepreneur who founded Nature’s Syrup Beauty while navigating the same challenges many women in business face—self-doubt, financial strain, and the pressure to prove herself. A 2026 NAWBO Top 10 Women in Business honoree and SBA Women in Business Champion, she’s living proof that our struggles don’t disqualify us—they’re what make us unstoppable.
