Knotty By Nature brings dreadlock hairstyles to new Elburn salon

Elburn resident Jami Green is turning her passion of creating dreadlocks for friends and family into a new business.

Green, who sports the same type of dreadlocks she creates for her clients, is a loctician who specializes in the growing, maintenance and styling of locs. She recently opened her salon Knotty By Nature at 309 Stetzer St. in Elburn, where she also makes and sells jewelry and more.

“I remember showing up at this lady’s house in 2018 broken and wanting to look different and to have more confidence or something,” Green said. “I had been in a coma for two weeks and I told God I would do anything and life is short so do whatever it is that makes you feel good. I made the basement into the shop and started from there. I got certified and learned how to do the locs one client at a time and before I knew it, people were calling me to get their stuff done.”

While change certainly can be difficult, it often is necessary and can produce immense joy.

“The lady who had done my locs had asked me ‘Why are you doing this?’ and most come here because they want a change,” she said. “They want something different. A lot of people have made changes in their lives, like left a job or started a new career. One girl had been in an abusive relationship and now she says she feels different and left that relationship. I’ve been blessed to see some neat things.”

Perhaps the neatest thing is seeing her reflection in the mirror, recognizing her changes and knowing she has the talents to help others.

“I had a lady call me two days before school who wanted locs for her daughter who is very insecure and doesn’t want to start school with short hair,” she said. “I realized this poor kid doesn’t want to start freshman year [of high school] looking this way, so I knew I had to do this. I felt like this was really important to this kid, so I did it and it took 12 hours. I set my life to the side after she shared that insecurity and she just looked amazing when I was finished. I was exhausted. but it was worth it to know this kid is feeling confident.”

As a parent, Green truly can empathize with unhappy clients.

“I want that 14-year-old to be able to walk into school feeling comfortable,” she said. “That I was able to do that, to make them feel more comfortable is an honor. I was so honored to do this. I feel so blessed that someone was able to come and find me and that I could be a part of that.”

Kids aren’t the only ones who are getting locs these days and the reasons vary, from making a fashion statement and boosting one’s confidence to an ease in hair maintenance and the elimination of those awful bad hair days.

“I met a woman who didn’t have a lot of hair and what she did have left was thinning,” she said. “She was very insecure to start to get locs, but by the time she left she was in tears. She hadn’t felt that much hair and that secure. We took before and after photos and you can she her scalp in between the locs, but I filled in all those gaps. I added fullness and body that she couldn’t believe was possible.”

Montgomery’s Sera Aniszewski is one of Green’s many satisfied customers.

“She’s awesome,” Aniszewski said. “She takes her time and she really listens. My locs stay way tighter and I only need maintenance twice a year. When I first went to her I didn’t know her, but now I consider her one of my friends. If anyone is looking for locs or for maintenance, I’d pass along her business to them. She’s wonderful.”

Those who know little about locs but are looking to learn more are welcome to reach out to Green who is used to answering a lot of questions.

“I call it a journey and when it’s someone who has never had locs before, they’re going to want to ask a lot of questions about how to manage and take care of them,” she said. “I’ve had people come in and just do a couple of rows in the back because they’re still a bit nervous. Their hair needs to be three inches long but I can add human hair or synthetic [hair] in every kind of texture and color.”

Rockford’s Christina Reid wasn’t sure if she would be able to find someone who could help her, but soon learned she couldn’t have found a better person than Green to do her hair.

“I didn’t realize it yet, but I was at a point in my life where I soon would be transitioning into a new career after doing one thing for over 10 years,” Reid said. “I sat with her, which was a great, fun experience. She’s so friendly and even though we had never met before we had automatically hit it off. I felt at home. It took eight hours to do my hair, but it didn’t feel like that. We hung out, watched some TV and chatted.”

Reid felt like a new person once Green was finished with her.

“Shortly after getting it done, I felt like a different person,” Reid said. “I was more confident. It carried a lot of meaning to me.”

Green has been making jewelry for much longer than she’s been a loctician, a hobby that goes all the way back to her high school days in Oswego. She used to congregate with friends at the park with her big tackle box to collect stuff to turn into jewelry. Little did she know that years later she’d open a shop to sell her one-of-a-kind creations and create loc-friendly hairstyles.

“I’ve been collecting stuff and making stuff since I was young and I dreamed that one day I would have a shop and somebody would be wearing my jewelry,” she said. “I don’t have any two things that are alike. Everything that I make is unique. So right now I’m doing locs and making all kinds of jewelry, from glass beads to wooden beads to acrylics and metals. And I do personalized hand stamping on metal.”

And she’s helping all types of people with their locs, from police officers and school teachers to drug/alcohol counselors and students.

“It’s amazing the different walks of life that have walked into this door,” she said. “There are times where I get to spend four to 18 hours with somebody and that’s breakfast, lunch and dinner, so I get to know my clients.”

For information, call Knotty By Nature at 630-800-6694.