Creating a career with Tu Organics Foundation

The Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday, May 18, for a new business that opened in Pahrump. The business, Tu Organics, isn’t the typical small business offering retail products and services, but part of the non-profit Tu Organics Foundation dedicated to “supporting three key populations who face significant barriers to education, employment and self-reliance,” as their website tuorganicsfoundation.org proclaims.

Tu Organics Foundation fosters a spirit of creating self-sufficiency for survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking and recent incarceration through cosmetology and entrepreneurial training.

The “Tu” in Tu Organics is Mariatu “Tu” Browne, the founder and executive director of the nonprofit. “I’m a survivor [of] domestic violence,” explains Browne. “So that’s why I started this foundation, really to provide cosmetology training and business training for individuals that are survivors. So, the goal is to come here and create this foundation so that they can stand on their own two feet, or create a life, a career for themselves.”

Browne’s achievements and experience include over 20 years in the beauty industry and her own salon in Las Vegas; an author of her autobiography, “Tu Success!: A Journey From Pain To Purpose”, and working on her doctoral dissertation on modernizing cosmetology curriculum to advance economic empowerment for underserved women in rural communities.

Browne’s initial vision for Tu Organics, located at 1201 S. Hwy. 160, Suite 110, is to enroll 5-10 students to begin their one-year (1,600 hours) cosmetology training (with new classes starting every four months), leading to a state license.“People that are interested in going to our school, will come in here, and they will sign their name on a waiting list, and let us know that they are interested,” Browne states. “Then once the school starts, then they can enroll in the school.”

Once participants earn their cosmetology license, Browne plans to mentor them and instill in them entrepreneurial training, so they can start their own businesses. As her foundation website explains, “We equip individuals with the skills, credentials, and confidence to rebuild their lives and strengthen their communities — one license, one client, and one business at a time.”

Browne hopes the school will start by the end of the year, and that the location will also serve as a place where the community and other non-profit organizations can visit to get more information, donate, sponsor or partner with her foundation. “The first 25 students that enroll get their cosmetology kit on us,” Browne says, which is a $1,500 value. If prospective students come through the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR), state grants will cover the tuition fees. Browne also mentioned that she is looking for other funding sources to cover the tuition fees. “The goal is to really partner with other organizations that will help support us to support the students.”

Browne explains that the “Organics” in Tu Organics means the beauty products are all natural. “The products that we use are non-toxic products. There are plant-based products where we’re using it at the school. All the products I’ll be using will be clean products, which is what I’m using right now, in my salon.”

For more information, visit the foundation’s website at tuorganicsfoundation.org, or to sign up for cosmetology training, visit tuorganicsacademy.com. Tu Organics is located at 1201 S. Hwy. 160, Suite 110 in Pahrump.

John Clausen is a freelance reporter living in Pahrump.