Meet April Hicks

We were lucky to catch up with April Hicks recently and have shared our conversation below.

April, so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?

It actually just comes down to being yourself. No matter where I am or who’s in the room I believe I bring something special and unique into the atmosphere when I walk in any door. It’s not arrogance but confidence in me knowing that God made me the way I should be and provides ways for me. I’m his creation, talented, strong, beautiful and driven. I learned to be effective and successful by trusting God and knowing I can do all things through christ that strengthens me, that scripture has helped me to shine as myself and just be me.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Being a part of the beauty industry has become a huge part of my life! Before I even knew I was going to go to school or try to build a career in this industry, doing hair was just something I did at home, styling family members hair for events or just trying to mimic hairstyles from magazines so that myself, my sister, and cousins could look cute going to lock wood skating ring on a Saturday night! I later found out my grandmother had a career as a beautician as well as a nurse so I like to think maybe I got some of my skills from her! I never really thought at first I would even do hair or run my own hair salon for a living. I do believe being a hair weaving & braiding specialist is one of my many gifts God gave me. Running Lady A’s Studio Is more than just providing braids and weaves its growing with people caring for clients, inspiring others, leading employees, being a part of the community its tiring of coarse, but definitely a blessing. Being a salon owner, Manager, Stylist, Rap Artist, song writer, Entrepreneur, product producer,Counselor, mom, wife & grandma
All comes with many challenges but its me, and I love it! Its really rewarding making people feel beautiful, encouraging people through tough times, or celebrating with them, seeing that smile when they look in the mirror, witnessing the love of Jesus with someone, going on a hair growth journey with clients, being a part of their families, seeing their kids grow, just meeting good people, and learning from the rude ones you come across.., lol, but those are the things that makes what I do worth it! I’ve worked in different salons gaining experience for about seven years before I decided to start my own salon. The name of my salon came from my rap artist name Lady A. Which was given to me by my husband.
I begun my career as a rap artist in Houston Texas joining in a group named Undisputed with Frydae Killasmoke and a former member in 2005. I still enjoy, create and perform as a rap artist today and I’m also Co C.E.O and first Lady of my husband’s
label Champ Records Music Production, which is an independent rap label in Houston. Texas
So after graduating from the cosmetology school and receving my license as a hair weaving and braiding tech, and gaining about 7 years in the industry, I was tired of the hoping around, seeing disfunction between stylist in most black hair salons. I paid attention to clients complaints and wanted to change the negative narratives into positives. So I vowed Lady A’s would value clients and staff times, starting with no long waits, better customer service will be given to people. One thing that stood out to me in most african braiding shop , was the lack of education at that time regarding haircare in the braiding field and I was seeing a lack of luxury in these types of hair braiding shops. I decided to move forward into opening my own hair studio and that was my start, it came to me to name it Lady A’s, and my specialty services were in braids & hair weaving. So Lady A’s Braids and weaves studio was opened in a small space inside a flea market in 2009. I sought out to include haircare services such as deep conditioning, safer braiding techniques reducing tension with our braiding and hair weave services. Since I was a mom of four girls I had lots of practice on what type of services I wanted to offer. I was very careful about the selection of services I wanted my business to provide. Lady A’s differ from other salons in this area because if we feel certain hairstyles place to much tension on a clients hair or its not a great protective style its not offered by us. We train our staff to practice the easiest methods for protecting peoples edges, & keeping haircare as a top priority is imperative to me. Being a mom was definitely a factor for our salon to run by appointments only. You know the saying, “A mom’s work is never done”! Well I had to make time for my daughter’s school programs, activities and be home to prepare dinner, clean, wash and whatever else. So appointments gave me a way to earn money , run out and get things done however I needed to. I am determined to succeed in everything I do. Being a high school drop out, teen mom etc, I wanted my girls to see with faith and hard work, no matter where you come from or what you been through in life, you could still be successful in whatever you desire to do. After working in the small flea market for 2years I started to face challenges due to needing more space for my clients. At that time, I was still taking some clients at my small hair studio in Houston and some clients at my home in Humble. I later found a commercial space on 1960 in Humble Texas and my husband and I expanded Lady A’s Studio using faith, skills, our small savings. We were denied loans so everything we purchased was bit by bit strategy. Some things, like my first shampoo bowl and chair was actually given to me, which was a blessing. My husband and I set up payment plans and worked negotiations to get everything going and we were the first salon of our kind in the Humble Texas area!
Our studio was the 1st black owned, family based, braiding and weaving appointment based, luxury salon in the area! The other salons were more cut, color and style types and Barbershops.. Most of the salons I saw, and once before, tried to booth rent from, were not black owned at that time. We became very successful as more people found out we were in Humble providing, shampooing, deep conditioning, trims, moisturizing along with many braiding and weaving services with true appointment times, organized, and “yes”, no long waits! Plus our customer service and Google reviews was top knotch placing Lady A’s as the #1 braiding and weave studio! Clients were always saying; they loved that we had actual appointments, a clean welcoming environment, very clean salon, beautiful decor, great services, safe braiding practices and they felt proud that we showed respect to them and listened to assist with their questions, which a lot of the other braiding shops they’d been to were lacking… Lady A’s Braids and weaves studio later incorporated becoming an LLC.
Lady A’s became a big part of the Humble area providing free services, back 2 school programs, providing customers with appreciation events, donations to the community and more. Lady A’s was recognized and awarded by the Humble awards program for 6 consecutive years in a row, beginning 2019, & was recently voted best in beauty, braids and weaves for 2024! God has truly blessed our business we were honored to be honored!
Though we’ve had a lot of obstacles along the way. Lady A’s grew into a beautiful larger salon in 2021, right after the pandemic, but recently downsized our storefront business in 2024 and has now moved into the suitelife professional buildings.
To compete and stay a float during this recession and to survive the hard hits of the economy, and its many changes in rates & expenses, Lady A’s relocated but still provides the best in beauty products & luxury services still here in Humble Texas. We are now continuing our services and growing our exclusive hair & skincare product line. “Lady April Professional ” I originally created my own haircare products in 2014 which were use in our salon only. Today I’m proud to say that our clients can now purchase our products online or in our salon. We also have our own hair extensions company, Fur’Mae Glamorous Extensions. We provide 100% Raw & Virgin human hair extensions, giving our clients more options connected through Lady A’s braids and weaves studio LLC . We offer online booking for clients through our business website ladyabraids-weaves.biz
People can now shop my self made professional hair & skincare products directly at furmaehair.com
We’re continuing to look for opportunities to advance Lady A’s businesses and do more in the community. Today there are many braiders and salons coming up in the area , However I’m happy to say that Lady A’s still stands in a class of its own! One thing about our studio is although braiding salons are no longer regulated by the state, Lady A’s still runs its salons by state board regulations. This is very important to me and for the clients safety and well-being. When I started my career, hair braiding services was regulated just as cosmetologist, weaving techs and barber’s.. this has now changed, so people need to be sure of who’s chairs their sitting in. At Lady A’s Studio our clients can trust and know that everything is clean, sterilized and sanitized properly. Our stylist are trained personally by Myself, to follow state board practices. Every braiding stylist or shop do not follow those standards so my advise is for people to look for the important things, not just the cheapest price. Another thing our clients love about us is the comfortability they feel with our team! We are a family owned business and we treat our clients as good family. At Lady A’s Studio they can relax, watch a movie with us, take a nap, catch up on their work, chat or read a book all while we work on their hair, so it feels a bit like the comfort of home. We provide refreshments if desired, and we like to get to know our clients, each person is special here. We are now focusing on expanding and growing another location for Lady A’s Studios to hopefully service more clients along with expanding our product line & hair company so that many people can experience furmae Glamorous Hair Extensions & Lady April Professional products to achieve healthier, stronger, growing hair plus beautiful, glowing skin!
Lady A’s Braids and weaves studio LLC
“We’re Da Business”.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

For me, being open to change is something that was very impactful on my journey so far, you have to welcome change in an ever changing world. Sometimes change can be an opportunity to challenge yourself or gain deeper understanding through though situations. Life will go on, as long as you live you can decide to stay where you are or grow with it!

Loyalty, honesty and integrity are of my top 3 qualities.

My advice for anyone as a business professional or just in life period.
I’ve learned to always get everything in writing, people will be dishonest, so be sure to always take your time with contracts & when making decisions.. Don’t be anxious for nothing, Pray & wait on God’s answer before you move. It’s important to have decernment and patience in all things.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

My dad is not really a part of my life at all right now..however he gave me my name when I was born, and he later walked me down the isle and gave me away to marry my husband at my wedding, that’s the most impactful thing I think he has done for me. My mom taught me to pray as a kid, and that has always stayed with me. My mom is strong willed, I get my strength from her and my granny. I’ll always remember a time she wanted me to create a hairstyle with extension hair that wasn’t normally used for the style she was asking me to do, I was telling her it’s not usually done this way, but she kept saying I could do it anyway, what she requested made the job tougher, but she was right i could do it, and I did! she was getting me to think outside the box when I was doing certain hairstyles for her, and I think that was impactful because now when I run out of something, or get stuck for whatever reason, I’ll seem to fiqure something out, make adjustments or sometimes create things from the unusual! Point is, I don’t give up easily,.. I realize the question says what was the most impactful thing? …not things, but it was hard to just state one lol! plus my mom also taught me how to cook, I got skills there too!..& I’m so grateful for that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Ladyabraids-weaves.biz
• Instagram: @ladyabraids
• Other: Furmaehair.comchamprecordsmusic.com