The prince and princess of health and beauty

BY PUNEET SANDHU, Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG — Marlo Scott goes by the moniker “the Princess of Health and Beauty.” Her co-host, Robert Davis, is also known as “the Prince of Hair and Fashion.”

The two host a weekly, hour-long health and beauty audio-podcast called Hair It Iz Radio, which airs Mondays at 2 p.m. on their website, www.HairItIzRadio.com. Scott first launched the show in January of this year.

“My whole purpose for the program is to raise awareness on health and beauty topics to keep you updated on the latest trends and fashions,” Scott said.

Both Davis and Scott have impressive credentials in the world of beauty. Scott has been a hair stylist for 24 years and has her own business, Hair it Iz Natural and Chemical Salon, LLC. She also markets her own line of hair care maintenance products. For nearly three years, Scott has written a health and beauty column for The Weekly Challenger featuring local cosmetologist and barbers.

Davis, meanwhile, has been a hairstylist for 21 years. He also makes and sells lady’s dress hats and clothing for men and women. Next spring, Davis will be opening his own consignment shop.

“I just added the radio show so that I could offer more,” Scott said, “because there was still more that some of the salon and barber shops had to say. I wanted to get more information on them, to be able to talk to them and have them open up and share some of the things that they find as an interest.”

Speaking about the podcast, Scott said they cover “different topics about hair care, skincare, nails and health, such as diabetes, kidney transplants—anything that’s health and beauty related.”

The show has several sponsors, including All Kidney Patients Support Group, Creal Funeral Home, Next Level Grooming and One Touch Massage, all of whom have featured as guests on the show.

“We basically have a venue available for hairstylists, barbers, nail techs, people involved with health-related items and beauty to come on and share with our audience what they have experienced or gathered from their line of work,” Scott said. “We’ve had shows where we talked about diabetes, hypertension and people that have survived cancer.”

A frequent guest for the podcast is the seamstress Tanasha Whiting. “She knows what’s in fashion,” Davis said. “She comes on every so often and we talk about the different skirts for women, different tops for women, shoes, stockings how to wear them, what not to wear and what’s in,” said Davis.

Though the show often has a fun atmosphere, the hosts said they cover serious and difficult topics as well. For instance, Davis said that his favorite show is when the late author India Nicole Welsh opened up about her battle with depression and suicidal thoughts, as well as one podcast focusing on the topic of abuse, which featured Tampa-based author Valerie Miller.

“Some women have been abused by men physically or mentally, or both,” Davis said. “Some men have been abused also, and [Miller] talked about that. And she also talked about how you can get help and how you can overcome physical and mental abuse.”

To encourage positivity and self-esteem in their listeners, Hair It Iz Radio has also aired podcasts on the theme of loving oneself.

“We believe beauty starts on the inside and then it goes on the outside,” Davis explained. “Knowing that you’re beautiful, knowing that you’re taking care of yourself, knowing that you’re health conscious—that’s where beauty starts, on the inside. Once you get the inside right then the outside will be beautiful.”

Scott and Davis said they do not have a target audience, but try to be as inclusive as possible. Shows that focus on beauty topics are not solely geared toward women, they said. For instance, Next Level Grooming was featured on a show to give advice to men on how to groom and take care of themselves.

Scott said that she also helps local artists gain exposure by playing their songs during the show’s commercial breaks. While the podcast currently focuses on local guests, the hosts plan to expand in the future, and not just with guests.

“For the future, we would love to continue a radio show, but we also would love to go live with a camera and go to different establishments, like salons and retail stores, and speak to different owners and different people that are doing uplifting things in the community,” Davis said.

According to Davis, he and Scott also plan to create natural hair and skin products and to start a print magazine to continue the podcast’s themes of health and beauty.

“In the magazine, we would definitely have fashion, we would definitely have different types of natural products, we’d definitely have different natural hair styles and how to achieve natural hair, how to take care of your hair, what to do and what not to do for all hair types,” Davis explained.

In the meantime, the podcast will continue to bring new guests each week to discuss a variety of health and beauty topics.

“I typically get excellent feedback and wonderful reviews,” Scott said of the show. “Everyone that comes on the show has been really honored; they’ve had a great time. We have a lot of fun.”

You can also access the show on the Life Improvement Radio website at lirpodcasts.com. Click on Hair It Iz Radio under LIR After Dark.