Tina Knowles spent decades styling hair, experimenting with treatments and building a business before launching her hair care brand with daughter Beyoncé. What began in a Houston salon eventually became Cécred, a brand built around her experience working with different hair textures.
How Tina Knowles turned salon experience into a beauty brand
According to Fortune, Knowles spoke at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Santa Barbara about Cécred, the hair care line she launched with Beyoncé Knowles-Carter in February 2024.
During her years as a salon owner, Knowles experimented with different treatments to meet her clients’ hair care needs. She used protein-based products and prepared butter and hot olive oil treatments to help moisturise hair. Her daughters, including Beyoncé and Solange Knowles, also spent time working at the salon.
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“The dream has always been to create a product that had everything that you need in one product and one step,” Knowles told Fortune senior writer Sheryl Estrada.
She said Beyoncé shared the vision because she had experienced the lengthy process of combining different treatments first-hand.
{{/usCountry}}She said Beyoncé shared the vision because she had experienced the lengthy process of combining different treatments first-hand.
{{/usCountry}}Knowles added that Beyoncé chose to fund the brand herself rather than bring in outside investors. The pair wanted to prioritise research and development and create products that worked with different hair textures, rather than simply coating strands to make them feel smooth.
“Our customers have done the marketing for us because it’s really a quality product,” Knowles said.
From a Houston salon to a family business
Knowles established her Headliners salon after her marriage ended and she needed to support her children. Determined to become financially independent, she designed the business around professional women who could not spend hours getting their hair done. Clients were promised service within 15 minutes or their money back.
Her daughters started out sweeping the salon, which also became an early performance space for Destiny’s Child. Knowles later styled the group as it rose to fame and went on to co-found a fashion label.
In her bestselling memoir, Matriarch, published in 2025, Knowles also explored her family’s history of women working as seamstresses, including her great-grandmothers and great-great-grandmothers, who were enslaved.
Tina Knowles on reinvention and finding herself
Knowles said her divorces prompted her to reassess her life and make time for herself. Writing her memoir became a therapeutic experience and a way to document her family’s story beyond how it was portrayed on social media.
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Now in her seventies, she is also focusing on philanthropy. She chairs BeyGOOD, Beyoncé’s charitable foundation, and supports WACO, an initiative that mentors girls through art, cultural experiences and life skills.
Her advice to younger generations is to work hard, learn from setbacks and avoid feeling entitled to success.
“Just be authentically yourself,” Knowles said. “That’s my mantra.”