Fellow straight hair grower with 5yrs of dreads. I work in a dreadlock shop in my city, and have learned so much. (You can check out my profile for pics too and if you’d like, I can also send you my shop IG and you can see some beautiful transformations with straight hair. We may even have recommendations for your city too!) Straight hair, look for someone that can do insta-locs(or askif they use the crochet method. This method is the best for straight hair. Interlocking and twists are better for 3/4 types) good loctitans will section the hair(usually a brick pattern), back comb it and then crochet it into a dread. It’s the only method I’d recommend, don’t let anyone use products, products get stuck in the locks and can cause mold. Definitely don’t perm them to get them locked up either. You want healthy locs, perming damages the hair and will cause breakage, it’s completely unnecessary. Also I feel like the dreadlocks that look awful, are all self started by palm rolling or neglect. Don’t do this. If you really want them and will take care of them, pay someone who knows what to do. Like some other comments on here… time does make them look better. Dreadlocks are a journey. They start little and stiff, but as they mature they thicken up and turn into beautiful locs. Also, make sure you check out references. We get clients from other states who have had people claim to know what they are doing, and we’ve had to fix them. Your hair won’t look like the picture, especially if you separate your locs so they don’t grow together, and care for them properly.