Meet Ken’ja Pharr

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ken’ja Pharr a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Ken’Ja with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

My work ethic honestly came from losing a parent early on. This has created me to become hyper independent. With becoming hyper independent and understanding that life is short I gained a belief that you should make the best of your everyday life because each day is an opportunity to strive to become better. You truly learn something new about self and life if you take full advantage of your 24 hours god has placed in a day. I first started making money for myself in middle school. Before I started making money in middle school I started out in my city corners selling waters. I was the kid growing up that was always different and ambitious. My family allowed me to be that they never tried to persuade me to be anyone else but myself. My grandma words are always replaying as I type this ” you are special”. As a kid I would sell about two cases of water a dollar a bottle I did not do this too often only when my mom allowed me and had the energy to sit out there with me because of course she was not letting me go out there alone. Then it is not that I needed to it was just something about getting my own money without being told no or having to wait. You know how parents could be at times. I did not like waiting for a response as they thought about whatever it was I asked for. All of my life from elementary school to now I was always the cool kid within my community. I started taking advantage of that and started selling snacks at school middle and high school. I averaged about $80-$100 dollars a day. Of course there was many times that I got in trouble for doing this by teachers and principles they all knew me by name that did not stop me. I eventually grew to the point of having an assistant. Someone working with me by the time I reached my 10th grade year. On top of that at fourteen I got a job at the grocery store… I pushed carts and bagged groceries for about three years. I did not leave that job until I decided I no longer wanted to live in Milwaukee anymore. This is where I grew up but me plus all my family are from Los Angeles. I enjoy stability so I try not to job hop often. At seventeen I decided I wanted to move to Atlanta so I did my senior there. I worked at McDonalds for about a year and went off to college. There I worked too .. I don’t believe I never not worked and that resulted to me having an understanding early on with god which was that I lost the one person who responsibility it was to care for me so I will trust in god and myself for my every need. He has not let me down yet. So to sum it up my work ethic comes from god a true gift if you ask me. With every adversity thrown at me you could not even manage I have encountered it has always worked out for me in my favor.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am the founder of a lash extension company here in Atlanta. I’ll be real that is my main focus at the moment is to continuously grow within the beauty industry and set a specific tone. Im enjoying this lane right now but I do know that god will and has introduced me to other lanes. Those lanes I choose not to speak on until the lane is open if I’m making sense. I also am an artist within the beauty industry and my expertise is the lash extension semi permanent service + skin. When it comes to my business what I feel that is most exciting is the after look and how people get hooked once they realize how quick they can get them and how long they last. 2025 we will be having all products available online + in person and bigger restocks far as the quantity. We usually tend to sell out quick of our vegan cruelty free lash adhesive that can also be found via google as well. The other many great things that will be happening for Kandikoatedminks 2025 will be on hush mode for now because it’s still in the making.

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?

Looking back I believe the three qualities that were most impactful on my journey is mastering customer service, accepting consumer feedback and financial literacy.

The advice that I have for people who are early in their journey is make sure you master those three qualities.. there is more to master but I believe these three are top five. I suggest mastering customer service due to the fact that this will take your business to the next level people will enjoy to support you and thats what you should desire. I always tell people to run something you love and treat it with chick fil a love. I do not believe I ever had a disappointing moment at that place they are always on top of it and if they do mess up sincerely they are sure to make it up. The key is always making sure your customer/client is satisfied. The next I mentioned was accepting consumer feedback. When you look at the bottom of your receipt it’s always asking you to fill out some sort of feedback so they can have an idea of how the experience was. Feedback helps you grow and become better. Last one I mentioned is financial literacy which I may should have listed first they key to a great flowing business is a solid foundation and mastering money management. You can improve money management by bookkeeping and having a true realistic budget.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

A book that has played an important role in my development was Set Boundaries & Find Peace. I recommend this book to all people pleasers and anyone who is the oldest sibling. The wisdom I learned from that book was to honestly put self first in order to be the healthiest human being you’re able to be. Know when to say no and be in tune with what your body is signaling. Know that it’s ok to rest. Health is wealth and that goes for mentally, spiritually and emotionally.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kandikoatedminks.com
• Instagram: kandikoatedminks
• Yelp: kandikoatedminks

Image Credits

fredfilmedit