Meet Shu’

Shu’Carra Cotchery is from Birmingham, Alabama. She began doing hair at age 13 where she serviced her first client in her parents basement. Shu’s mentor as a child was Alesia Stewart; Alesia was her mom’s stylist and was also the first person other than her parents to believe in her dream of becoming a hairstylist. Back in the day being a hairstylist wasn’t the most desirable career choice, however Shu always knew she would follow that path. After highschool, Shu’s parents encouraged her to go off to college and obtain a bachelor’s degree so she would always have something to fall back on. She then decided to further her education at Tuskegee University fall of 2012; She served as a member of the cheerleading squad 2012-2014. During those years at Tuskegee she met her former teammate and business partner Tiffani Crutchfield. Tiffani was also a hairstylist and they worked together to build a clientele at Tuskegee working side by side to not only service their teammates, but the majority of their peers at Tuskegee as well. Shu then made one of the hardest decisions of her life, leaving Tuskegee to  transfer to the University of Alabama. Throughout her college journey, Shu made a name for herself at Tuskegee as a hairstylist so it was no different at UA. She quickly built a clientele in Tuscaloosa and being that her hometown was only 45 mins away, she was able to service clientele in Birmingham as well. Hair became her full time job while at UA because she no longer had the obligation of cheerleading. Shu graduated from the University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication Studies. After graduating it was finally time for her to walk in her purpose. She moved to Atlanta August of 2016 to attend Paul Mitchell the school Atlanta. Shu was very motivated entering the school, but eventually she struggled to get through. She decided to take a leave from school for 3 months to work in the field a bit and regain that momentum she once had. After a refreshing leave, the opportunity presented itself to attend Caper with Paul Mitchell; this event gave her the motivation and boost she needed to go back and kill her final days of cosmetology school. She secured a spot in Phase 2 as one of the most talented students in the program; she has served as an assistant for her instructor and mentor Dallas Christopher, as well as former owner of Paul Mitchell the school Atlanta, Scott Cole. eventually finished and received her certificate of completion. Being a top stylist in Atlanta is not an easy task and Shu had a hard time finding her place in the industry after completing school. She lost a very big piece of her life, her grandmother Carra, and it was the motivation she needed to keep pursuing her dreams. Her grandma encouraged the move as well as motivated her to go after her dreams no matter what. She opened her first salon suite in Tucker, Ga. in 2018. During this time she secured her place in the Atlanta Market by specializing in Itip Extensions. Because of her rapid growth in her business and on social media, Shu upgraded her personal suite to a 4 person salon suite in Sandy Springs a year later. In a year's time, another expansion opportunity led to the Shu & Company you know today. Shu has worked tirelessly to build her brand and this is only the beginning.