From Poverty to Purpose: Emily Blackmon’s Journey to Building Roots Salon in Cookeville

Once a month, Emily Blackmon spends three hours cutting hair for people in need at Collegeside Church. What the hesitant individuals who sit in her chair on those special Sundays have come to realize is that they are not all that different.

Now a successful salon owner, becoming a master stylist and businesswoman did not come easily for Emily. Her road to creating the thriving beauty establishment that is Roots Salon was full of curveballs, which ultimately shaped her into the strong, resilient, and faithful woman she is today.

Originally from Central Florida, Emily grew up as a dancer. Her lifelong dream was to be a backup dancer for Justin Timberlake, so academics naturally took a back seat. When the time came to attend college, she spent one semester skipping basic courses and only showing up for dance and photography classes. Quickly realizing college was not the right path for her, Emily decided to focus on working. She got a job teaching dance and worked in retail for years.

Then one of her friends told her she could make extra cash dancing in clubs in downtown Orlando. Emily recalls that season of her life with mixed emotions. “Think about the movie You Got Served. We were basically having dance-offs every night, and I was a real-life go-go dancer. My mom and aunt finally sat me down one day and had the ‘come to Jesus’ conversation I needed. They suggested I try hair,” she said.

She enrolled in the Aveda Institute in Orlando and quickly found a rhythm that felt right. “I finally felt like I fit in,” Emily recalled.

After graduation, Emily landed a job at the Aveda Institute in Orlando, where she met her husband. The two eventually moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where Emily accepted a position at one of the top salons in America, Van Michael. “I was working under the Head of Color for Aveda. She was on the Wall of Fame at the Aveda Institute where I studied, and I walked by her picture every day,” said Emily. It felt like fate.

For two years, Emily worked side by side with the master stylist, whom she remembers as straight out of the movie The Devil Wears Prada.

But something was missing.

“I was longing for the artistry that I had as a dancer,” she said. “I had started doing hair for the Falcon Cheerleaders in Atlanta and really enjoyed that. I decided I needed to explore working in New York City.”

Emily traveled to New York and secured an apprenticeship doing hair for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and other productions. After eight months, she realized the big city was not the right fit for her and her husband. They moved back to Atlanta, and soon after, she became pregnant with twins.

At 30 weeks, Emily delivered her baby boys. “One of my sons had open-heart surgery shortly after he was born,” she said. “He didn’t come home until he was five months old.”

This season was emotionally overwhelming and financially devastating. “We had to get on food stamps and couldn’t afford our living expenses anymore. One of my husband’s friends found us a place for $300 a month in Albany, Kentucky. We had no cable or internet for almost a year and a half. We were poor, but my kids were healthy, and I didn’t have the outside stresses of the world,” she said, looking back with perspective and gratitude.

After unsuccessfully trying to find a salon job in Albany, Emily began traveling once a month to Atlanta to earn extra income by serving her existing clients. Eventually, the strain of being away from her children for a week each month became too much.

“My husband was working in construction and had a client in Cookeville who was opening a furniture store in Washington Crossing. There was a small room available for rent in the building, and my former boss had gifted me all his old salon furniture when I left,” said Emily. They had a small financial cushion and decided to take the leap.

Emily opened the first location of Roots Salon and hit the ground running.

But she had zero clients.

“I would go to local restaurants and seek out women who I thought likely got their hair done. I would strike up a conversation and offer them a free haircut if they would come check out the salon,” she said.

It worked.

Referrals began pouring in, and soon Roots was thriving. After two years in the small room, the building sold to new owners, who approached Emily about moving into the larger space where Roots is located today.

During that same season, Emily was battling her own struggles.

“I was struggling with alcohol abuse, and one day a client came in and said, ‘God told me you are not okay.’ I broke down. She took me to the back room and prayed over me. I bent over and heard rushing water in my ears. I felt like I had been cleansed,” Emily recalled.

Now three years sober and active in therapy, Emily has learned how to navigate the stresses of being a business owner, mother, and wife with healthier outlets.

She began teaching adult dance workshops at Storyteller House for the Arts and also takes classes at Stage One Dance, reigniting her love for movement. “I love teaching people to let their bodies be exactly how they are supposed to be. Our natural movement and personalities are how we were made, and we should honor that,” she said.

Today, Roots Salon serves roughly 2,600 clients, with Emily personally serving about 200 of them. The vibrant space has all the makings of an upscale salon, but without the pretentious energy.

“I try really hard to focus on the mental health of my staff,” Emily said. “If someone is off, it affects the entire salon. We have staff meetings where everyone can talk about what is happening in their personal lives. Then we do guided meditations and spend time on affirmations. If my stylists are not healthy in their mind, body, and soul, they cannot be fully present for their clients.”

She also offers flexible scheduling and growth opportunities, creating a model where her stylists are not capped in their potential.

Emily wants Roots clients to feel comfortable expressing their needs without pushback. Clearly stated on a sign when you walk through the front door, her mantra reads: “A Positive and Creative Space Focused on Uniting and Supporting All Good Things.”

Looking toward the future, Emily welcomes the growing pains she knows will come. As she has throughout her career, she plans to take steps that may feel uncomfortable in the moment but are necessary for progress.

“I am a lifer,” she said. “Roots is somewhere I want to drive by when I am 60 and still see the lights on. It is more than a hair salon, and I will always give my 100 percent to make sure my staff is happy and my guests are cared for from the inside out.”

Emily credits her husband, Justin Blackmon, for being the steady partner she needed through every challenge and triumph. A successful artist and art teacher at Prescott Elementary, Justin also serves as President of Art Round Tennessee.

Justin and Emily are preparing to welcome a new baby this spring and are optimistic about the future in the hometown they did not know they needed.

So the next time Emily cuts hair for someone down on their luck at Collegeside Church, they will likely see her not just as a stylist, but as a friend.

“When I tell them my story of poverty and substance abuse and how I came out of it, I hope it gives them hope. I am open about my struggles because in our weakness, we find connection. Those connections build the strongest bridges. I feel like I was supposed to go through hard times so I could sit with people who are wounded and remind them that we are the same,” she said.

–written by Chelsea Dartez, photos by Olivia Merritt