By Ellie Pitkowsky ’18, Section Editor 

Most of the Newark Academy community knows Issi Young ’17 for her funny and entertaining Jewish and French Club announcements and her unfailing friendliness. However, what most may not know is that Issi has a serious hidden talent. Just a few months ago, Issi started a braiding account on Instagram, cleverly named @igotbraidsinatlanta. Taking advantage of the prevalence of social media and the ease of using it as a means for self-promotion, Issi displays beautiful hairstyles, all done by her, on the account. To have a better understanding of her inspirations, favorite hairstyles, and more, I decided to interview Issi.

Ellie Pitkowsky: How did you become passionate about braiding (where, when, why)?

Issi Young: Strangely, I initially discovered I love braiding thanks to head lice. I was a sleep away camp counselor this past summer and a couple of my campers had head lice and the best preventative measure for lice is constantly having your hair in tight braids. So, every morning while getting ready and every night after showering, my campers would line up and I would braid everybody’s hair. To make it more fun than just preventing lice, I started doing a bunch of cool braids and actually found it super fun and kept going with it after camp. Braiding hair is almost therapeutic for me when I’m stressed out now!

EP: What or who made you decide to make your passion public and start your account? What made you decide that Instagram was the best platform to demonstrate your skill?

IY: After braiding off the social media radar for a while after camp, my friend Erin Eagle (who has a fashion Instagram called @inthesejeans) inspired me to start a braiding Instagram. It’s still pretty new and it is admittedly difficult to get a queue of photos and decide where/when to take photos, but it turns out there’s a huge community of stylists/passionate braiders on Instagram who I look to for inspiration and guidance. Instagram is the perfect platform for me because it gives me a chance to show my braids to friends and connect with and learn from fellow braiders.

EP: Do you take inspiration from any hairstylists or does it mainly come from your own ideas?

IY: Some of my ideas come from my imagination, like a five strand braid where each piece is a Dutch braid or Dutch halo braids as a hairdo for boys with longer hair. Others come from photos and video tutorials on other braiding Instagram accounts or pictures my friends show me of what they want in their hair.

EP: Have you always been into hairstyling in general or is this new?

IY: I’ve always liked doing classic French braids or little baby braids, but until now, the main hairstyling I was interested in was straightening and curling because I wasn’t the biggest fan of my own curly hair. While I still love blow-drying or straightening or curling hair (and even do for @igotbraidsinatlanta), braiding is a much healthier alternative to flat ironing for everyday looks!

EP: What is your favorite braid to do on someone?

IY: While it may sound boring, my favorite kind of braid to do is two classic Dutch braids. But I also love doing five strand braids and Scooby-Doo braids (which I haven’t featured yet!) on long hair.

EP: How did you learn all of these different intricate braids?

IY: I taught myself how to French and Dutch braid, but once you know the basics the rest comes pretty easily! I struggle with some braids, like infinity braids and French fishtails, but others are easy to pick up from looking at a picture or a 10 second video!

Thank you to Issi for answering these questions, and through these answers, giving important insight into the social media community for both learners and teachers of all different skills. If you have not yet followed Issi’s account, please do! I hear she is always looking for new followers and models.