Carolina Contreras is a Dominican born U.S raised entrepreneur and the mastermind behind Miss Rizos. Her movement started as a blog in 2011 to share information and resources in Spanish on how to care afro-curly hair, especially during a time where curly natural hair wasn‘t considered as professional or well put together.

Through Miss Rizos, the Dominican-American beauty connoisseur created a community that used social media to celebrate, educate, and empower women to love themselves just as they are and not to fall victim to the beauty standards imposed by society.

Right after her movement became a total success, Contreras saw an opportunity to keep helping curlies, and in 2014 she opened the first-ever Miss Rizos salon. Her beauty parlor is a safe space explicitly dedicated to curly hair care while banning any type of chemicals or excessive heat.

According to Contreras, her salon is a social enterprise, where naturally curly-haired girls and women can meet to find an innovative, diverse, and dynamic team.

Their mission is to educate and empower clients through beauty, always with the hope to continue changing the world one curl at a time. Miss Rizos is the only hair salon in Washington Heights, New York, dedicated to curly hair.