Gonna try to be growing my thick hair out. Any advice?

One thing I've always wanted to do is grow my hair out down to my neck. I'm also aware that for people with thick hair, it requires a lot of patience. I personally have incredibly thick hair and many hair stylists have mentioned this to me.

The problem is, after about 6 months my hair will enter this "middle ground" stage where it looks incredibly poofy and hard to manage. Like, instead of growing DOWN, it just seems to try to grow up. At the same time, my hair growth also slows down. This creates insecurity and makes me just cut it off. I don't want to do that anymore.

I know it's possible for people to grow long hair. Even with thick hair. Is there anything I can do to promote downward hair growth, or anything I can do to manage it during this awkward phase? I'm not there yet, but I suspect I will be in another month or two. Thanks!