Growing up, I have always loved coming up with creative, fun, and unique hairstyles. As far back as High school, I would make my own hair to school.
Edited Using Canva
I didn’t realize the gem I had in this skill until I got into university and then this hobby turned skill became monetized.
How did this start?
I am not comfortable with different people making my hair as some hairstylists lack patience and pay little to no attention to details with the client’s hair. So while I was in school, I would make my own hair by myself.
A hairstyle I did for a 90's-themed party
I was playing with this shade 😄
I was in my first year in school and with school work going into full gear, I barely had time to rest nor the energy to indulge in more activities, talk less of making my hair myself as usual.
So I decided to give the school salon a chance.
The first two people that tried to style my hair almost left me with a receding hairline on both occasions 😂😂. It's laughable now, it was not then.
I definitely took to my heels and went back to styling my own hair.
You can tell I'm in love with this shade-Another hair creation ❤️
In my third year, I made a look and people wanted me to recreate this hairstyle. With every person I styled, the more I got advertised and the more people kept coming.
I decided to add a fee to carry out this service as my time, energy, skill, and creativity were being utilized.
A client on bob braids
A client on two-toned crochet braids
I was scared charging a fee would drive people away as I mostly cared about people wearing the hairstyle over the funds but the reverse was the case.
A client on long crochet-twist braids
A client's hair packed for a wedding
Old customers kept returning and referring new ones and soon enough I had too many daily requests than I could handle.
The only challenge I experienced was in regards to dealing with the restrictions set by school rules.
My school was a conservative university and they mandated that students are only allowed to use black-colored hair extensions or those with the exact color of their natural hair while the semester is in session.
Back view of a clients hair
Most times some students would want to rock these hairstyles in other colors but could not due to the rules, so we had to wait till after school vacated for the semester.
I experienced a lot of success during this time.
- I was privileged to put smiles on the faces of satisfied young ladies
A happy client with ombre crochet braids
- I made extra income and did not need to touch my allowance
- I became financially independent to a certain extent
- I could freely help others with financial needs as I was able to give from what I had
- I saw something that started as a hobby slowly evolve into a business
- Seeing my hairstyles rocked by people on campus was a humbling moment
- Watching my ideas come to life as they became hairstyle trends was highly inspiring
Although the workaround was effective time management. Everything I was involved in demanded a lot from me but it only made me a good time manager. I had to juggle my studies, extra-curricular activities, and this newfound business while making sure none of them suffered.
It required a lot of early mornings and late nights but growing through the process and moving forward was the goal.
And we did it!
As always, I could not miss out on the opportunity to participate in this weekend's questions by .
Thank you for your precious time!
Till I come your way again…
Bye for now!