Coral Lahiani

Coral Lahiani owns Beauty Culture, where she works as an owner, educator and stylist, and she is the founder and CEO of the Coral Lahiani Institute for Advanced Cosmetology. She started working in salons as a shampoo assistant at 14, was an assistant to Bernard Johnson of the Ultra Sheen Dynasty by 16, and had her license and was working at the Nieman Marcus salon on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago by 18.

She spent about ten years in retail and private salons before opening her own salon, and has owned a salon for nearly 30 years. Her experience covers nearly 40 years in the profession. Her work includes hair color, cuts, styling, relaxers, natural hair, special occasion styling, permanent waves and extensions, with a focus on highly textured hair and organic extensions.

She has run advanced hair color classes for Joico, Pivot Point, Premier Beauty, Jordan's Beauty Distributors, Cosmetologists Chicago and Salon Lofts. She has served on the board of directors of Cosmetologists Chicago, the association behind The America's Beauty Show, and launched a master class series for highly textured hair at that show in 2018. She has also hosted beauty and fashion events, performed platform work at tradeshows, and worked on campaigns for growth and development aimed at equity and inclusion in the Black hair industry.