BATON ROUGE, La. — Madeline Johnson, a former speech therapist with a profound dedication to the sensory community, has taken a bold leap from a stable hospital career to forge her own path, establishing Miss Madeline’s LLC. This innovative business is specifically designed to cater to the unique haircare needs of children and adults with sensory sensitivities. Her entrepreneurial spirit has not only led to the creation of a specialized product but also to a powerful collaboration that expands her reach and impact.
Johnson’s journey into entrepreneurship began with a deeply personal and impactful observation. The catalyst for her most significant innovation—an adapted shampoo bowl designed to move in sync with a wheelchair—was a distressing incident she learned about: an individual who experienced a fall at a hair salon during the precarious transfer from a wheelchair to a standard salon chair. This realization struck Johnson even before she had fully launched her own hair business, highlighting a critical unmet need within the accessibility landscape of personal care services.
“I had the idea for the bowl forever,” Johnson recounted. Her initial attempts to bring this concept to life through the Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Engineering Capstone Design Program, a senior design project where engineering students tackle real-world challenges for companies, faced early setbacks. “I submitted it two years ago before I even had started Miss Madeline’s. I did a terrible job writing it up. No students chose it then, which, thank God.” This initial rejection, however, proved to be a fortuitous pause, allowing Johnson to refine her vision and business.
A Pivot to Purpose and a Groundbreaking Design
After dedicating a year to consistently developing her sensory-based haircare business, Johnson returned to the LSU Capstone Design Program with a significantly enhanced and well-articulated proposal for her adaptive shampoo bowl. This time, her preparedness paid off. In August 2025, her innovative concept captured the attention of four engineering students: Claire Dolan, Jaden James, Tucker Poret, and Cheyenne White. Their collective commitment to addressing this vital accessibility gap marked a turning point.
The LSU Capstone Design Fair served as the initial showcase for Johnson’s groundbreaking idea. Tucker Poret, one of the engineering students who joined the project, recalled Johnson’s memorable first impression. “She walked in from the pouring rain right into her presentation,” Poret stated. “She walked up there and gave her presentation while soaking wet. It really showed me that this person really cares a lot about this project and what they do.” This unwavering dedication resonated deeply with Poret and his teammates.
Poret elaborated on the students’ motivations, noting the contrast between typical Capstone projects and Johnson’s endeavor. “A lot of the ideas pitched are for bigger corporations, and those are projects that typically get a lot of funding and support,” he explained. “But this was someone in Baton Rouge that wanted to do something cool and just needed some resources to do it. That was part of my decision, and my teammates would echo similar thoughts.” This sentiment underscores the appeal of supporting local, community-driven innovation that addresses tangible human needs.
Engineering Innovation: From Concept to Prototype
Johnson’s original concept for the shampoo bowl focused primarily on accommodating mobility and movement, envisioning a bowl that could adapt to a wheelchair’s position. However, the LSU engineering students pushed the boundaries of her initial ideas to meet the rigorous requirements of their senior design project. Their approach involved extensive use of paper design and sophisticated computer-aided design (CAD) software, including AutoCAD and SolidWorks, during the first semester to meticulously finalize the design.
The manufacturing process presented a series of significant challenges, as Poret detailed. “We started building things, and we realized that a lot of it needed more work to actually be put together,” he admitted. “For example, the different adjustments had to be redesigned on the fly the second semester after we realized that the first idea wouldn’t really work during testing.” This iterative process involved substantial redesign work on the vertical, forward, and backward adjustment mechanisms, as well as the tilting system. The team tackled this intensive redesign phase within a compressed timeframe, demonstrating remarkable adaptability and problem-solving skills.
Despite these hurdles, the team achieved a significant milestone. “At the end, I think we created a really great prototype. Ours does function, and with the constraints that Madeline gave us at the beginning of the previous semester, our project met all of those,” Poret confirmed. The successful development of a functional prototype represents a critical step toward making the adaptive shampoo bowl a reality for those who need it.
Johnson and the engineering team recognized the potential for further refinement and agreed to bring the project back for Capstone consideration in 2026 to develop a “second generation” of the design. This ongoing commitment highlights the collaborative spirit and the shared vision for continuous improvement.
A key aspect of the Capstone project was that every part of the design had to be made by the students and be replicable. Initially, Cheyenne White 3D printed the shampoo bowl. While this demonstrated a resourceful approach, the prototype encountered functional limitations. “It didn’t drain well enough,” Poret noted. Following the project’s grading, Johnson acquired a commercially available bowl, which the students then retrofitted to integrate with their adaptive mechanism. This post-project adaptation further solidifies the practicality and immediate usability of the design.
Poret emphasized the powerful influence of Johnson’s passion. “Johnson’s passion drove the students to work hard on it,” he said. He expressed his hopes for the project’s future impact: “I hope it expands access to people, and it inspires work to continue because there’s so little in that space, as it’s kind of a niche area. It needs people like Madeline and other engineers paying attention to it so they can solve problems for people that need it.” His statement underscores the broader significance of such innovations in addressing overlooked needs within society.
A New Space for Sensory-Friendly Care
With the development of the adaptive shampoo bowl, Johnson faced the next logistical challenge: securing a salon space that could accommodate her innovative equipment. Her previous lease had ended in May, creating an opportune moment for a fresh start.
The pivotal connection that led to Johnson’s current professional arrangement was made by Rachel Guidry, a speech-language pathologist and owner of Connections Speech, Language & Reading Specialists. Guidry had seen Johnson featured on local news for her sensory-friendly haircuts and noted Johnson’s expressed desire to pursue both speech therapy and hairstyling part-time. Recognizing a shared commitment to serving individuals with diverse needs, Guidry reached out and offered Johnson a contract position.
After several months of working with Guidry at Connections, a mutual search for a new clinic space began. Together, they discovered a promising location on Jamestown Avenue. The building’s owner, C.T. Taylor, was in the process of renovating office suites. Guidry identified a former small kitchen space as an ideal location for Johnson’s salon, and Taylor subsequently renovated the room to function as a dedicated salon area, timed perfectly with the readiness of the adaptive shampoo bowl.
Further enhancing the facility’s capacity to serve the sensory community, Guidry also incorporated an occupational therapy gym into her expanded office and hired an occupational therapist. This integrated approach ensures that both the new salon and the occupational therapy gym operate as comprehensive sensory-friendly environments, tailored to the specific needs of Johnson’s clients. The dual functionality of the space allows for holistic care, addressing a wider spectrum of therapeutic and personal grooming requirements.
Guidry and Johnson officially moved into the new clinic on Memorial Day weekend, marking a significant expansion of their services and collaborative efforts.
Facilitating Seamless Client Care
A crucial element for Johnson in providing her services is minimizing unnecessary transfers for her clients. Her goal is to limit transfers to just two key moments: from their vehicle to her wheelchair and back again. To facilitate this, Johnson required a specialized wheelchair. She approached Our Lady of the Lake on Goodwood Outpatient Pediatric Clinic, who generously donated what Johnson described as the "perfect comfortable wheelchair," perfectly aligning with her client-centered approach.
Johnson’s professional life now involves a dynamic schedule. During the week, she dedicates her time to her speech pathologist contract work, serving clients at various schools. Her weekends are reserved for her passion: providing sensory-friendly haircuts to her clients at Connections. This blended approach allows her to leverage her diverse skill set and serve a broader range of needs within the community.
The collaboration with LSU engineering students on the adaptive shampoo bowl and her partnership with Rachel Guidry have created a powerful synergy, opening new avenues for Johnson to reach and support more children and clients with disabilities. This innovative integration of therapeutic services and specialized personal care exemplifies a forward-thinking model of support for the sensory and disability communities. The development of the adaptive shampoo bowl, in particular, stands as a testament to how targeted innovation can significantly enhance accessibility and quality of life for individuals with mobility challenges.
© 2026 The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.
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