We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Vanessa Ramirez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Vanessa, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
My work ethic comes from my upbringing. I remember at a young age my parents taught me to always work hard and never give up. I played a lot of sports at a very young age and I believe that’s when I started to understand what the term “ work ethic “ actually means. Although I was working hard for trophies and medals I understood working hard paid off. So as an adult in my work life I followed the same guidelines I did as a kid playing sports. Hard work always pays off is a motto that I will always live by even in the most difficult of times keep going and if you put your whole heart into it it will pay off.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I opened a small boutique style salon called Vlovehair Collective in 2021 before the year was over I decided to expand and take over the business next to me as well and opened private beauty suites. This august will mark 2 years being open and 1 yr with both businesses which are joined together now.
The salon is a 6 station open unique area with one private brow room. The suites is the next door over with 5 private rooms. We have a total of 8 stylists, 2 assistants, 1 massage therapist, 1 brow tech, & 1 esthetician. We are all artists with the same vision. There is no competition & we just have good vibes with lots of laughs and good energy.
There are many photos ops in every corner in our little slice of heaven and the aesthetic is everything!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Looking back it was very important that I have self-confidence, integrity, & creativity at such a young age. I was very determined & I would hang out with like minded older individuals that I knew I could learn and grow from. Little did I know then that would actually help mold me into who I am today.
I will say patience is key you have to trust the process and put in your time. In order to seek growth you must allow yourself to be uncomfortable nothing ever grows in your comfort zone.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
A big challenge for me was being respected as a boss but also remaining fair and kind. I feel like people have this narrative that a boss needs to be mean in order to be respected. I am constantly educating myself to be a strong leader but also not being too hard on myself knowing I can’t please everyone 100 percent of the time at the end of the day this is my business. I can be fair, kind, & a leader all at the same time. Learning to balance that will always be work but I love it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @vlovehair @vlovehair_collective
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Vlovehair.Collective
