2026 COWU Board of Director Candidates

September 1, 2026 /

COWU VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING is SEPT 28th, 2026 at 11am

Enrolled Member Advocates Must Submit their Board of Directors Ballot prior to Sept 26th at 11pm. Ballot will be sent directly to your email.

Member Advocates will receive your Zoom Link info and Annual Meeting agenda in your email the week before the meetin.

Kristina Malolua is a Tacoma-based salon owner, educator, and industry advocate with more than 23 years of experience in cosmetology. She is the CEO of Left Coast Salon and founder of Contextual Salon Education, a training system that integrates technical excellence, professional development, and emotional intelligence to prepare hairdressers to serve people across all hair textures and patterns. Kristina’s advocacy centers on equitable access to safe, inclusive, and high-quality hair and scalp care. Her work has led to collaboration with the Washington State Department of Licensing on cosmetology education and regulatory conversations. She also serves as a Subject Matter Expert for the National Interstate Council of State Boards of Cosmetology, contributing practical industry knowledge to national testing and licensing standards. Kristina brings the perspective of a working cosmetologist, employer, educator, and small-business owner. She hopes to serve the COWU board by strengthening communication between professionals and policymakers, supporting thoughtful and inclusive industry standards, and helping Washington’s personal-services community move forward through practical collaboration, accountability, and shared purpose.

D’Arcy Harrison has been a licensed cosmetologist in WA State since 2003. She originally grew up in Rhode Island, went to college in Boston & for many years worked in fringe theatre. Her salon practice has been centered around Capitol Hill, Seattle since 2008 and she has been a business owner since 2012. D’Arcy co-owned Emerson Salon from 2014 until 2021, then took over the brand and adapted to solo salon suite life. Her salon practice focuses on custom haircare with a conscience in natural hair textures & curly/wavy hair, creative and precision haircutting, vivids/color correction and balayage. She also takes pride in and provides an intersectional & inclusive space for transgender and queer identifying people. D’Arcy started work with COWU back in 2019 in the grassroots effort to stop SB5326 (an attempted ban on cosmetology booth rental.) She helped “rally the troops” throughout and especially throughout Covid business closures, testify in hearings as well as simultaneously working to turn this into a 501 c6 non profit in 2021. She has served as COWU Board Secretary and Vice President previously and has consistently interfaced with Dept of Licensing, WA state legislators and our lobbyist Brooke Davies as the Regulatory/Legislative Lead. If elected, D’Arcy hopes to work with board members and Member Advocates to re-examine and better document our internal processes for Operations. As a “baby non-profit” D’Arcy hopes to re-evaluate with other Board members what IS working and what ISN’T. Doing this will help to streamline and best onboard newer leaders in this effort moving forward so the organization may grow and thrive instead of just surviving. D’Arcy knows this will best ready the organization for its next generation of Personal Services Pros and how best to work on their behalf. Her goal is to add Member programs for more business & practical education as well as grow the Membership and Sponsor base. We all must answer the question for ourselves: What does advocacy for Personal Services in WA state look like past 2027 and how can we invite more into that effort?

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