We recently connected with Raemi Paxton and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Raemi, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?
I’m Puerto Rican and Black. So being a woman of color, I’m aware of not only who I am, but what I bring to the table. Women like me have to work even harder to create an overall amazing experience to retain clients of all backgrounds. I’m able to focus on my skill set and give my absolute best to each individual client.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am the youngest grandchild of my whole family and growing up, my oldest cousin would let me play in her hair and she told me I was really good at it so that always stuck with me. Her dream was to be a make up artist and work in the field of cosmetology, but sadly she passed at the age of 24. I was 10 at the time so at that point I remember making it my mission to be in the field of cosmetology in her honor. I also had a very low self-esteem growing up. I hated everything about the way I looked. I had body dysmorphia, so I always wanted to do something that would make people feel good and in this field when my clients look good, they feel good and then that translates over to me. I feel good that I was able to make them feel good about themselves. It’s a domino effect and I love that about my job.I went to cosmetology school, my junior year of high school at Delaware area career center and ended up getting my cosmetology license before I even graduated high school. I specialize in color on every hair type and texture. Not only do I specialize in color though, but my goal is to give my client the color they desire while also keeping their hair as healthy as possible. Currently, I am looking into studying Trichology to expand my knowledge on scalp health.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
My advice to anyone who is in middle school or high school if you already know what you want to do for your career, go to a trade school because it will save a lot of time and a lot of money. And you can still go to college afterwards, but at least you have a trade to fall back on or to get you through those college years. three qualities that I would say, helped me are humility, perseverance, and a positive outlook. In this business things are constantly changing, whether it’s the chemical technology of certain products or trends, and we have to be adaptable to all of those things because if we stay set in our way, we’re gonna be left behind. We will be limiting ourselves in the end. When I first started this business, I had no clients and it could be discouraging sometimes sitting around waiting for people to come in. I just wanted to do some hair. But I still showed up every day at work and promoted myself. This was before technology was asbig as it is today so I didn’t have Instagram or TikTok or Facebook all like that to promote myself. I only had myself and word-of-mouth. So perseverance was a big key in building my books. As I mentioned before, though I did have many days of discouragement, but me focusing on the future really helped me get through those days. Thinking positively about what my goal as a hairstylist was outweigh the discouragement that I was feeling at the time. I kept remembering my promise to my cousin and I kept remembering my personal goal, which was to help women of color be more represented in this field and to help them get the healthy and beautiful hair that they’ve always wanted, but have been told they could never have. That just wasn’t acceptable to me.
How would you describe your ideal client?
I really love this question because I actually was asked this by one of my previous employers and she expected me to give her physical characteristics of what my ideal client looks like. That really enraged me and made me decide to go another direction so my ideal client respects my expertise, respects my time, respects my worth, respects my personal life, will not argue the price because they trust that I’m using the best products on them, feel like I’m worth it, and know that I’m creating such a good experience for them, they will follow my aftercare instructions so that they can get the most longevity out of their appointment, and also they’re comfortable with telling me when they don’t like some thing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lerevechateau.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rae_at_lereve?igsh=dGVmcWZnaHYwbTho&utm_source=qr
Image Credits
Brooke Muhumad
