Celebrating the Individuality of YOUR Hair Journey

Carolyn Marshall Covington began living her dream at age 21, opening the first In-Flight Hair Salon in Maryland, eventually expanding the chain to Virginia and North Carolina. She got married and raised two sons while balancing family and a career. Inspired by Madame C.J. Walker, Covington and her team developed CEO Hair Care products to empower generations of African American women.

Over the span of 40 years, Covington’s accomplishments are: Licensed Cosmetologist/Instructor, Certified NC State Board CE provider, and a Salon-Spa and Beauty School proprietor. She has employed and mentored over 1500 people, helping many of them start new businesses. In 2000, she entered into a partnership to open the Cameron Village location of Jolie the Day Spa, which produced record-breaking numbers in the first year. The collaborative effort resulted in the site being part of a $6-million acquisition by a venture capital group.

Shortly thereafter, Covington was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), which would eventually cause her to go blind. In 2016, she founded Insightful Visionaries, a 501(c)3 non-profit, to empower all persons with disabilities. She recently started Visions on the Move, an advocacy fund to support Absentee Voting Program accessibility to voters with disabilities in NC and beyond.

WRAL recognized her as a role model impacting the community. Covington serves on the Mayor’s Committee for Persons with Disabilities, and as an Ambassador for the Foundation Fighting Blindness, and she was featured in the 2020 National campaign “Stronger Together.” She is also a 2020 inductee to the NC Women Business Owners Hall of Fame.

Covington has lost her sight, but not her vision of helping others.