FAROUK SHAMI

Farouk Shami arrived in America in 1965 with the intent of going into education, but his aspirations took a big detour after he landed a part-time hairdressing job to help pay his university tuition and became smitten with beauty. “I found my true calling—I became an artist and hair was my canvas,” Shami says. In 1978, he headed to Houston, where his career behind the chair was humming right along until it nearly came to a grinding halt in 1981. “I discovered I was allergic to the ammonia used in hair dyes,” Shami says. Undeterred, Shami’s entrepreneurial spirit kicked in, and he set out to find an intelligent solution to his problem that resulted in his invention of an ammonia-free hair lightener and coloring system called SunGlitz in 1986. That same year he founded the company that bears his name, Farouk Systems, and soon after other breakthroughs, including BioSilk haircare and CHI tools, made their debuts. “My allergy to ammonia could have easily ended my career, but as it turns out, it spurred me on to achieve even greater success and for that, I am thankful.” ✂ —Kelley Donahue