By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times
By the time Leora “Queen Leora” Byrd’s phone starts buzzing with direct messages asking her to post again on her social media platforms she’s often already booked, traveling between cities or working behind the scenes on her next move.
For millions of TikTok viewers, Byrd is known for her wig installs, unfiltered humor and unmistakable voiceovers. But for Byrd, the journey has always been about much more than going viral.
“I was already doing hair, and I was already in love with the hair culture,” Byrd, 27, said. “Growing up, I was always in the hair salon.”
That love followed her onto TikTok during the early days of the platform, just as hair content began gaining traction. Byrd had already been recording herself making and coloring wigs, silk presses and installs, posting videos consistently long before she realized she was building something bigger.
“When I saw TikTok and I saw that they were doing hair content, I’m like, ‘I could do that, that’s what I do all the time,’” she said.
Her first TikTok video took off almost immediately. “It got like almost 10,000 likes or something in a span of an hour,” said Byrd, who now has 2.8 million followers on TikTok (@thequeenleora) and nearly a million on Instagram (@leoraasqueendome). “And my heart dropped. I’m like, ‘Hold on. Wait a minute now.’”
Candor
What set Byrd apart wasn’t just her skill, but her authenticity. One of her most recognizable trademarks — candid, often hilarious voiceovers — came by accident.
“I tried to do the voiceover over and over again, and I just was so irritated,” she said. “I literally said, ‘What it do, bitch?’ … I was so mad I was saying anything that came to mind. And it actually worked.”
None of Byrd’s content is scripted. “I just record me getting my hair done… and then I sit there and just say whatever come to my mind.”
Before TikTok fame, Byrd was already thinking long-term. She began doing hair in 2018 and enrolled in cosmetology school not because she wanted to stay behind the chair forever, but because she wanted credibility.
“It was never for me to do hair. It was just for me to own my own salon,” Byrd said. “You gotta be a student before you can really be a master.”
That vision is now becoming a reality. Byrd, a registered cosmetician, recently announced her upcoming salon in Birmingham’s Lakeview area, featuring eight independent suites for stylists.
“I just want to make sure everything is perfect,” she said. “You gotta protect your dream. You can’t tell everybody everything.”
At Home
For Byrd, Birmingham is more than a business location — it’s home.
“Being in Birmingham just made me feel comfortable,” she said. “Ain’t nothing like home… I want to be able to have something here that says my name.”
Behind the confidence viewers see online, Byrd says she still faces doubt and pressure. “Sometimes people will think like, ‘Oh, you got it together. You already know what you gonna do. I’m human just like everybody else.”
Her grounding force, she says, is faith.
“I always try to reinforce like everything happens for a reason,” Byrd said. “You have to walk by faith… As long as you truly believe that God is gonna do everything. He said, He was gonna do, it’s gonna happen.”
That same honesty extends to the brands she works with and the advice she gives her audience. “I kind of got a little popular just from telling the truth,” Byrd said. “Whether it’s quality or whether it’s not, I just pride myself on being authentic.”
As her platform continues to grow, Byrd shows no signs of slowing down.
“This is definitely not the end,” she said. “It’s only the beginning.”
For many of her followers, especially young women watching from Birmingham and beyond — Byrd represents proof that success doesn’t have to look polished to be powerful.
“People genuinely enjoy [what I do],” she said. “And I have to remind myself of that.”
Followers Queen Leora on TikTok (@thequeenleora) and Instagram (@leoraasqueendome).
