Hoover native releases international hair magazine

At 24 years old, Hoover native Tracia Jones has accumulated quite a list of accomplishments. An entrepreneur, aspiring actress and model, she is ambitiously making guest appearances from coast to coast on reality television series, modeling for various fashion lines and music videos and working on her line of ethnic hair care products.

“I wanted to brand myself into something, so since both my great grandmothers were hair stylists in salons, I wanted to carry on that legacy by venturing into the hair care industry,” Jones said when asked about the inspiration behind her hair care line, Simply Straight by Tracia J. “There really are not a lot of models/actresses who are doing this, so it became my focus to help people get their ‘real hair’ healthy and keep it healthy.”

It was through working on her hair care line that she, with the encouragement of her mother and a friend, decided to create and publish a hair styling magazine with the same name.

“I believe that my magazine stands out because it is unique — there is nothing on the market like it,” Jones said. “It focuses on everything hair and fashion, as it shows off the hairstyle designs of stylists and barbers on their models.”

The Simply Straight magazine features both local and international hairstylists and their work, as well as different celebrities and their hair stylists. The magazine also spotlights different salons, make-up artists, nail technicians and boutiques, and models and musicians who want to show off their style.

The magazine launched in August, with a release event held at RICH Unisex Salon in Hoover to celebrate.

Jones said the magazine was received “extremely well” and the first round of prints sold out the weekend of the launch. 

Her passion for modeling, fashion, entertainment and hair started as an early fascination. It was through the television series “America’s Next Top Model” that she found an interest in modeling.

“But I knew I wasn’t as skinny as those models on the show, so I had to create a lane that would fit me and what I wanted to do,” she said.

After being asked to model in an Atlanta fashion show in 2014, Jones decided to make her dream into her career. In September and October of 2018, she walked in various New York and Los Angeles Fashion Week shows.

“New York Fashion Week was so much fun. Walking in a show right in the middle of Times Square, ‘Runways on Fire,’ was so surreal,” Jones said. “There were thousands of people out there as it drizzled rain. Then I had to rush to my next show at the Roosevelt Hotel.”

The experience was a homecoming in a way, since she had stopped doing runway modeling for two years in order to focus more on acting and modeling in music videos. Now that she’s back, Jones said she can’t wait to do more runway work.

Jones’ ultimate goal is to be the head of a global empire of her own within the next five to 10 years. 

“In the near future, I see my career continuing to take off as it is. I feel that I am still in the beginning stages of my life and I have so much farther to go, but I am so blessed to be where I am now,” she said. “I hope to continue to be on magazine covers, get more acting roles and keep pushing my magazine and products.”