About

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 To make a long story short, in 1859, Zacharia Lewis Moss, a free Black master barber, and his wife Mary, a hair stylist, came from Mississippi to Lacrosse, WI on a packet boat. They made Lacrosse their home and opened a barbershop. Lacrosse was not only the end of the line for the packet boat, but Wisconsin was a safe haven for freed slaves and the Wisconsin public schools allowed blacks to be educated in them. 

The Moss barbershops were said to be one of the best-known shops in the city (at one time there were as many as four), with “good fair prices” and the “genial proprietor of the shop had only skilled workmen employed.” 

Zacharia was later joined in business by his son, Zachariah Henry Moss (Zack Jr.). As the family line continues, Zack Jr. was joined by his son Orby Moss. Orby Moss had four sons. His son, Raymond, was a licensed barber, but did not make it his career. In 1998, Orby Moss' grand-daughter, the great-great granddaughter of Zacharia Lewis Moss, the daughter of Orby Moss, Jr. and the niece of Raymond, partnered in her first salon, Warren's of Buckhead. After a few years of operating Warren's of Buckhead, she sold the salon to her partners and opened M. Anthony Salon in 2002. The legacy of Zacharia Lewis Moss continues through me, Tracy Moss!

You could say I began my cosmetology career while I occasionally sat and waited for my hair to be done.  As a young teen, I would watch the stylists and study how they hold the hair and move their wrists while cutting and styling.  Soon I started looking at hair books and attempting the different styles of the ‘80’s.  The magic started happening when I went into the bathroom with a Soft & Beautiful box perm.  I relaxed my own hair and actually cut my shoulder length hair into the short pixie on the box.  As I remember, it took me the whole afternoon.   

When I returned to high school the next day, everyone was so impressed that they asked to be next in line.  So that was the start!  I was officially a “Kitchen Beautician.”  

As I matriculated through Hampton University as a marketing major, I not only began taking clients in the dorm, but I also got a job as a shampoo assistant where I could be close and personal to continue my unofficial education that consisted of listening and watching the skilled stylists.  After graduation, I continued my academic education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  While there, I was able to get close to the business of cosmetology when I started working as the administrative assistant to the owner of a nine-store chain of salons in the area.  I received my MBA in marketing and then got started working on obtaining my cosmetology license.

I was trained in Honolulu, Hawaii and that is where I truly began to understand textures, before social media and products let us in on the fact that there was more than two types of hair- it has never been just Black and White.  In the Hawaiian culture, you are taught the many diverse backgrounds that make you who you are, and with that comes a plethora of hair types.

I brought my knowledge back to the mainland in 1993 specifically to Atlanta, Georgia in a time where hair styling, not haircare, was the trend.  It was very scary for me to start my business at that time because I was more proficient in the structure and health of hair as opposed to how to do finger waves, pineapple curls and waterfalls.  And I definitely did not believe in updo’s lasting 2 weeks.
So, I focused on what I knew, and that was how to repair and grow hair that had been damaged by the current trends.  And that is how I began my business, and that is where I still reside. 

I love this business of hair.  I have been in the business in some form or fashion for over 40 years now.  And, although I am a consummate entrepreneur, I would say I am in the hair caring business to stay.