Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Vanessa Brown. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Vanessa , we are so happy that our community is going to have a chance to learn more about you, your story and hopefully even take in some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Let’s start with self-care – what do you do for self-care and has it had any impact on your effectiveness?
For self-care, I take vacations every 90 days very therapeutic to my mental. I also get full body massages monthly being on my feet doing hair, can put a lot of strain on your body. I also treat myself to monthly facials. Self-care is very important to me because if I don’t take care of myself, I cannot be the best version of myself or my clients physically and mentally.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a self taught Loctician. I taught myself everything from YouTube videos to just social media In general. I started my own Locs in 2019 a few months after that, I had potential clients reaching out to me to begin their loc journey, even with the little knowledge I had at the time they were so confident in me, and satisfied with the results that I provided. Even though I had a lot of people telling me that I was doing really good I still wanted to master it before I decided to offer the services to the public, but before I knew it word spread fast, and my clientele increased quickly. I started doing locks out of my home shortly after that, I transitioned into a private suite. Fast forward 5 years later I am now a master loctician and I specialize in microlocs. I also have my own homemade rosewater and growth oil. Two years into my journey, I was fortunate to have a few baseball players as clients and ironically, they found me on Instagram. Social media definitely plays a big part in my success. I’m grateful for all my followers and my clients support by spreading the word even when I’m too busy to do it myself.
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?
The most important quality & skill to have in this business is customer service which includes but not limited to great communication. Great communication can get you a long way whether you’re giving good news or bad news the way you present it and relay the message is the most important thing. Clients may not always want to hear what you have to say, but be truthful, honest and respectful at the same time.
Another great quality to have is reliability. Your clients need to know that they can rely on you. You never know what they have going on event, or a special occasion in their life and their hair appointment may be the highlight of their day. You just never know.
Last but not least be welcoming and interact with your clients building a good report and socializing is OK just keep it professional. If someone is having a bad day, I take pride in my positivity and energy, making their day better just by sitting in my chair.
These three components alone will get you far. Along my journey I have learned that majority of my clients return just based off my positive energy. I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me and state that they’ve inquired with other Stylist but you something about my presence and communication made them comfortable.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me was support me whether my goals were big or little. They’ve always encouraged me to be the best version of myself. They are both the definition of hustlers my dad, being a jack of multiple trades & my mom being a hard worker. Till this day, at the age of 33 they both still support me and tell me frequently how proud of me they are. Being a single mother, you really have to have a village and that’s what it took to get me here where I am my son is my motivation. I’m so fortunate to have my parents and my son has great grandparents to support him as well. Definitely played a big role in my success.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/nessa_b?fbclid=PAAaYd1VabGKnafv3viqb0-h9jW8hLa533rFlqgT-tZJEoXQ2lqnbiIciWefg_aem_AYKTqbUEVHln3NyBR1SSmQEBYPdxmmJX1gdJ4Aw_iTRxjLCyrh1OdpfAQ6eI2GjTMzI
- Instagram: Locbardtx
- Facebook: Loc Bar DTX
Image Credits
Photographer Tori Owens IG urbanmomspot
