DERIDDER, La. (KPLC) – The name Chew is tied to a well-known hair brand, but the man behind it built much more than a business.
“First beauty supply, black or white, period,” Russell Chew said.
In the black community, hair is more than style; it’s identity, culture, and history. And in DeRidder, one man helped shape all three, one curl at a time.
For Chew, life began in the most unimaginable ways, born in DeRidder, on Oct. 9, 1947, so small that doctors said he might not live past one day. But he did.
“I think I was two or three pounds, and they forced me to live. I made it through. God is good,” he said.
Stories from his childhood, ones that seem almost unbelievable, shaped the confidence that would carry him through hard work and big dreams, but not without hardships in personal life.
“It was tough, it was prejudice, but it was still good people too, you know, they had white, they had black, we couldn’t go into the white bathroom, we couldn’t go in restaurants and stuff, we couldn’t do anything, we had to stay in our lane,” Chew said.
Starting his journey, Chew quit his bank job and began hustling, door-to-door selling other products, visiting hair shows, and soaking up all the knowledge from his mentors.
It was at a hair show that he says he knew it was time to start his own line of hair products.
“Charles Solwell started the business with me. When I first went on the show, I jumped on top of the table, held onto the bucket, and said Spanish perm, and from then on it was history, and I went from there on my own business, Chews Perfect Curl, which made history,” he said.
Later in life, he met his wife, Carolyn Thomas. Their partnership would last 36 years and eventually lead to a pioneering business in the South with their two children.
“I would take the kids in the truck; my wife took them with her. It’ll be a bunch of kids in the back of the van when I go; we rolled without kids. They were with us when we travelled. We would leave the house about 6 o’clock and get back home at 1 o’clock in the morning,” Chew said.
In an era when black travelers had to take precautions, Chew says he was blessed to drive with his family from state to state without incident. But getting his product on the shelves was the hard part.
“We work the stores, we worked the stores, we had to push our way because they weren’t giving us anything. They didn’t have black beauty supplies, so we had to go up there, talk loudly, and let them know they didn’t have any black products. People surround us, and then they told me to come to the office. We had to push hard to get the black products in the stores,” he said.
As business grew, Chew expanded downtown and into cities like Lafayette, Baton Rouge and Houston.
Chew’s Beauty Supply, later Chew’s Distributors, became more than a store. With a fleet of vans and a team of employees, they delivered hair products wholesale and retail throughout Louisiana and Texas. They dropped their own line, with Chew’s Perfect Curl products hitting shelves nationwide, and becoming a multi-million dollar company.
His product even made it to the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., but he didn’t know until he got a call from someone who knew him.
“I didn’t even know it was in the museum because someone discovered my patent. I didn’t think I would use it anymore, so I gave it away for the money. I was hurt, matter fact, I shed a few tears behind that. But I realize it didn’t stop anything. I just made a mistake, and I made a lot of those in businesses,” Chew said.
He hosted annual multicultural hair shows in Lake Charles, drawing vendors, stylists, and barbers from across the nation, turning a local brand into a staple of the community.
An example of his impact was that Tranquill R. Crosby started her own salon, Sophisticated Hair Design.
“I met him when I was in Stevens-Hair school in New Orleans, and that was in 1998,” Crosby said.
“And then she went in brown and brother’s hair shows with me,” Chew responded.
But Crosby didn’t stop there.
“Because of him, he said you need to start a line. In 2013, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I’m like, we have to find something more natural and still give everybody what they need. He said, ‘Let’s try my chemist’; We got with his chemist, and here’s the line,” she said.
“And this is one of the products I made for her breast cancer, and I pray for her every time she goes in snot-nose crying. We’re friends, ride or die,” Chew said.
“That gangsta and pink gangsta,” Crosby responded.
“Definitely,” they agreed.
Through it all, he says he leaned on his faith, family, and relentless work ethic.
“Tell them to stay up, love, and try to do good, and love is the main thing, and treat all mankind equally, and do the right thing and just live a good life. Main thing love love love,” he said.
Today, he still sells his hair care product, but also air fresheners. He’s still active in the community with Brothers Stand in Unity.
Chew’s story reminds us that perseverance builds legacy, not just for an individual, but for family and communities alike.
“I just gotta keep thanking God cause he’s good. I told y’all I’ll get to crying, but God is good, that’s it,” Chew said.
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