Janaya Harris is a five year industry veteran holistic hair care provider in D.C. and an independent stylist in her own suite.

Today we're going to hear what her startup story is and what exactly is holistic hair care.

Welcome back to the Hairdresser Strong Show.

My name is Robert Hughes and I am your host.

And today I'm with Janayah Harris.

How are you doing today, Janayah?

I'm good, thank you.

Robert, how are you?

I'm good, thank you so much.

Okay, so some context here.

I met Jennea at the Forum for the D.C. board of Barbara and Cosmetology.

And you came up to me and approached me about, we were talking about the shadow program and how we want to add mentoring and you approached me and said you're interested.

And that kind of started us talking.

At the time, we were kind of knee deep in the beauty business, brunch planning, and so we kind of pushed it till after the summer.

And so here we are getting the process started, building a relationship, getting to hear your story, share it with the audience.

And we'll be working on developing that mentorship program before we launch it.

So other people that are listening and watching, if you're in the DMV area and this sounds interesting to you, reach out to us and let us know.

Okay, so that's the context.

So the reason why, beyond wanting to be part of the community and participate in this community initiative for mentor, a mentorship program, beyond that.

I, you know, I was talking to you about your story and you've been in the industry for five years and you, you plan on working in a salon, but there was some situation that prevented that from happening and you ended up going into a suite.

And, and so like, I think that that's an interesting story to tell because not even though we believe that everybody should go into a salon right after school to get experience and, and build clientele and make sure that they actually want to go into ownership.

Because I think some people think they want to be an owner of a business, but really they just want the flexibility that being independent actually will give them.

And so I think it's important to discern the differences because there's so many different avenues for us to go through in this industry.

So.

All right, so that's the context.

So, Janaya, tell us about, tell us your story.

So you went to school.

I didn't mention this in the opening, so I figured I would let you, you go to school, do an apprenticeship program.

How did you get your license?

And tell us about, like this.

Like, what is your story with this whole transition from.

From not having a license to having a license and doing hair behind the chair?

Okay.

So I went to Aveda, and I was in the cosmetology program.

And while I was there, we had a lot of people come in and speak to us on owning a business, being in a salon, success in the hair industry.

And we heard some daunting things, like, about how tough it could be.

But I do just remember thinking, like, okay, that might be true for some, but I am going to make it work.

And so when I graduated, it was March of 2020, actually.

I didn't even get to have my graduation because literally the week that it was supposed to happen, D.C. shut down.

So.

But before then, my.

One of my instructors, she told us that we need to start building our clientele now.

We need to start being entrepreneurial as far as, like, creating products or, you know, just expanding our business.

So that way we are set up for as much success as possible.

And so with that in mind, I started, you know, telling my friends that I would do their hair.

And I created an Instagram page where I showed the work that I had done, and I got a lot of clients to come in.

I think I went from three clients that were my friends to about 60 by 2022.

And with that, before, like, before, it was a hard shutdown, I. I was just working and building clients, and I just kept going, just kept posting stuff.

And when it came to, I think, like, right before everything officially opened up, I was also taking clients again from my house, not doing any One.

Sorry, one second.

Let me go back.

So you were telling me a little bit in your.

Before we started a little bit about your story, and I don't want to miss.

To skip over that part.

You had a different plan?

Oh, yes.

Yeah.

So tell us what was your plan before graduation?

And then you can tell us what this disruptive factor was, Covid.

And then what.

What your pivot was.

So what was your plan before you graduated?

So my plan was to go and get a job at a hair salon I actually had gotten hired at.

Can I say the name?

Yeah, yeah.

At Bang Salon.

That was in chinatown Gallery Place, D.C. and I was going to be, like, an understudy of a hairstylist who was really good at his job.

He was one of the lead stylists in the salon.

And I was really excited about that.

But then, yes, Covid happened.

And so they emailed me and told me that we'd have to put my hiring and me Coming into the salon on pause.

Oh, so you didn't even make the decision that maybe now is not a good time to go into a salon?

You did.

You got.

Almost got a guy, like, your offer rescinded or postponed.

Exactly.

Yeah.

That wasn't even up to me.

Had it been up to me, I would have been in a salon.

But the world said no.

At that time, like, everything shut down, and I had already had a little bit of clients, and they were still requesting me, so I just kept serving them.

Yeah, it was not a choice that I would have made because I wanted to be good at what I did.

I thought that I had the book knowledge, and I did take clients toward the end of cosmetology school, but I really wanted to learn the ins and outs.

I'm a professional student.

I take classes all the time.

And so I wanted to be learning from somebody who was positioned as the best to me, but it wasn't up to me.

Covid happened.

And so I had to just work.

Work with what I wanted, because even if I couldn't learn from someone who was years ahead of me with these voluntary clients and people who trusted in the work that I had been doing, I just kept practicing and learning from my work and from their feedback, and that's how I was able to build up my clientele.

So, okay, I think that's a very, very good point to have to make, because your.

Your plans got changed and you pivoted, and so, like you said, you started taking clients, and you.

You put together, like, a place in your house to, like, take to, like.

What do they call that in home salon?

Like, basically.

Right.

Yeah.

So you had.

You had the setup.

That must have been nice, because you didn't have to pay rent.

That was amazing.

Yes.

Yes.

That was great.

And you didn't have to pay commission to a salon owner, and you didn't have to pay rent to a landlord.

Yeah.

So go ahead.

Oh, no.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I. I was able to keep my earnings.

That.

That's what I was about to say.

So that was nice.

So did.

Were you doing any chemical work?

No.

No, no, no, no, no.

Okay.

Yeah.

So, well, what were you.

What kind of work were you doing?

Like.

Yeah, tell us what type of work you were doing.

So I was doing natural hairstyles, braids, silk press.

More technical work than chemical work.

I like color, but this was also my house, and I didn't have the setup for that.

And I wasn't taking, like, three clients a day.

It was just maybe one or two clients A weekend.

And so I didn't even have the money to fund all of the color chemicals and lightener, anything like that.

I hadn't even been doing like hair treatments for real.

And in my community, it's not strange for, as a braider to have somebody come with their hair blown out.

Now, I did provide that as a service because I just wanted my clients to feel like this was somewhere that was easy, where they could just come in and be taken care of.

But no chemical work.

I, I, as a student, I know that that is not okay.

I was even a little skeptical to take clients at first out of my house.

But my instructor told me to build up my clientele.

And without a salon space, the only thing that made sense was to buy a chair and start working from home.

Totally.

So, okay, so, so that, Wait a minute.

So that was slipped in piece.

So you bought a chair so that I, I, like, what were some of the startup costs that you had to incur, Incur to con.

To, to start this process of building your clientele during lockdown?

And just, just like, for the record, I don't know very many people who, very many hairdressers who didn't do hair at their house or at other people's home during the lockdown.

And it definitely was not legal.

So, you know, I just kind of put that out there.

So, okay, so you're, you're building your clientele and you are, but you, but you have to, you have to like, have some startup costs, but you don't have chemical, so that keeps your costs low.

You bought maybe some tools or maybe you already had tools.

You got a chair, A salon chair?

Yep.

Okay.

I bought a salon chair and an ergonomic mat.

At the time, I had really poor posture.

My back was not as strong as it is now.

And so I just wanted to make sure that I would be okay standing for hours on end.

I had flat irons, but I did get a better one and a blow dryer and I got a rack to make pulling hair or braiding a little bit easier.

But my startup costs weren't that much.

Initially I thought I was going to go and be back in a salon.

So I didn't overly invest.

I did what was manageable for me and I worked with it.

And if I couldn't provide the service for someone, I didn't take their money and, you know, accept the appointment.

Okay, so, all right, so I think, I think we got the foundation of your kind of like, jump off.

And I feel like there's gotta be A number of people that had a similar situation where they had to make change plans and go about doing things in a way that maybe they didn't want to or didn't plan on doing.

But you're here five years later, you're.

You're running your bit, your own business, and you made it.

So tell us a little bit about that process.

Like, you definitely start with, like, was there any shell shock when you decided you were going to.

Or price shock when you decided you were going to go.

Go for it and go independent and go into a suite?

Or did you, like, do a ton of research and then you made a plan and then it took you three months or six months to save up the money?

Tell us a little bit about that thought process.

Okay, so it was 2022, which is two years after I finished cosmetology school.

And as I said earlier, I only did maybe, like, one or two appointments a week at that time.

And so the thing, though, was that I was very tired of having people in my house and having worked so close to home, because I'm a big mindset, girly, I need the separation, you know, like, when to turn it off type of thing.

And then also just having people in my space.

And when that, like, hard shutdown was lifted, I.

It's a crazy story.

I went on Craigslist because I had found an apartment on Craigslist years ago.

So I went on Craigslist and I looked up Salon Suite, and I found, like, all different kinds of listings.

And the only reason why I didn't choose a salon at that time was because I did have a clientele that I was just like, you know, it's not the biggest, but I'm confident in what I'm building.

And so I found this place.

They had all utilities included.

They had a wash bowl, a chair, like a.

A workstation.

And it was a.

It's a beautiful space.

So I was just like, you know what?

I'm gonna do it.

And then they told me the rent, and my heart sank.

I didn't know what I was going to do.

And I was like, okay, so maybe I'll just work more days per week.

Like, if I price this at that much out, at the least, cover rent.

And I'm pretty consistent with getting one client a week, so I think I can do this.

And there were.

You think.

I'm sorry, you figured out how to pay your rent with one client a week?

My studio rent, yes.

One set of braids, which at that time.

Well, no, at that time, this is 2022.

I probably would have had to do two.

Right.

But that wasn't always what was on my calendar because I offer a number of services.

And so there were a lot of times where I was struggling to pay my rent.

And it's not even.

It wasn't even as much as it is now, But I started working more days.

That was one thing I had to do.

And it was exhausting at first because I just wasn't used to putting out that much.

Like, my capacity wasn't as large as it is now.

But I got to work, and I was really proud of myself at one point because I was just like, here I was complaining about one client a week, and now I'm taking sometimes two clients a day, and it's even more now.

But the point was, like, when you set a goal for yourself, you really like you.

You are just setting yourself on the path to achieve it, and it brings more out of you than you could even imagine.

Like.

Like I said, my heart sank when I initially heard what rent was.

I thought that was a monthly price, not a weekly price.

But I made it happen, and I'm very grateful and kudos to me and my clients.

So.

Yeah, so.

So, yeah, congratulations, for sure.

So I. I'm curious to know, like, shoot.

I had a question and I. I lost it.

But.

So I'm thinking about the person who's watching this, who maybe is.

Is already kind of, like, doing out there doing their thing, and maybe they want to go independent or an independent person who is maybe struggling or not doing, like, as good as they want to.

And I'm also thinking about this.

I don't know if I said this.

The student who is thinking about going out on their own, whether it's right away, which, you know, we.

I definitely don't recommend, but if.

Even if it's, like, down the road eventually.

So, like.

So which pieces I think is the most important?

I think, like, one.

Could you give us?

Do you remember what the costs were for you?

That were the numbers that you, you know, just for the audience to know.

Initially with my studio rent.

Yeah.

What was it when you looked and you were like, wow, that's.

That's a lot more than I thought it was.

It was $300 a week.

Okay, so $300 a week.

So like 1200 bucks a month for.

Rent, sometimes 1500 if it was October or August.

I think it's like two months a year or something like that.

You might.

You might have to pay 5.5weeks in a month.

Exactly.

So.

So you You.

Oh, I know what my question was.

I knew I would get there.

What were you doing?

1.

Were you living at home with your parents or were you paying rent at.

For your home?

Paying rent for myself.

My own apartment.

You were by yourself?

Yes.

Oh, geez.

Okay, so what did you do for money during the week when you weren't taking your one or two clients a week?

So at that time I had gotten late.

I forget the term for it, but because of COVID I got something by like, I can't remember.

It's not like a furlough.

It's not late.

Maybe it's laid off.

Maybe like severance or something.

I think it's laid off.

I got laid off by my job.

I was working at a restaurant, and because I was non essential, that happened.

And with that classification, I was eligible for benefits.

I took them all.

I took them all.

In D.C. they offer some.

They offered some really great benefits as far as, like, helping with rent payments.

And I took advantage of everything.

Everything.

Yes, I did.

Okay, cool.

Awesome.

So.

So that kind of floated you a little bit.

So like, so like the downside of, of the, of the trial, which was Covid, was that you.

You weren't able to go on the path that you wanted and it worked out and planned out and, you know, I can't imagine that was an easy opportunity to land.

And I'm sure there are plenty of other people who you were competing with and then.

So.

But then you als.

But that same trial created an opportunity for you because it Create.

Put money in your pocket.

Like, I. I know that, you know, like, I applied for all this stuff too.

I got money.

I.

For like the business side, the personal side.

You know, I didn't do the rent side.

Honestly, I don't think I thought about it, but.

But I know that, that.

So that's awesome.

So you were out there like, you know, looking into what opportunity, what help offers there were.

How did you discover what opportunities there were for you?

I mean, did you, like, were you.

Where were you looking?

How were you discovering these things?

I think that I can't remember who exactly told me it might have actually been my job.

They were very supportive.

The restaurant I worked for, it's like a larger restaurant group but in the area.

And they always took care of us.

And I was full time at that time.

And so they let us know ways that we could be supported while this was going on.

Nobody expected it to be as long as it would be, but.

And then actually my rental office, they let me know about the Rent program.

And.

Yeah, so I. I was like, great.

So everything was paid for.

Like, it was really what I would describe as the perfect storm.

It was really an unfortunate circumstance, Covid and everything.

And I did have my sightset high on, like, working with someone who was a great stylist.

But that was also one of the reasons, like, all of the assistance that I got was one of the reasons that I took my leap of faith, because I'm like, I'm provided for.

Like, I do have a little bit of cushion in this.

And while I'm figuring things out, I know I won't go bottom under.

And in the beginning, I did ask for help from, like, family and friends a couple of times, because this was a weekly.

A weekly.

A weekly bill, and that is tough to maintain when you're not used to it.

So crazy to pay every week like that.

Yeah, it gave me anxiety thinking about it.

Yeah.

So it was just tough.

It was tough.

So.

Okay, so I think that's an important piece to any student or new talent coming up.

Just know that, like, you know, if you got.

If you got a little.

If you got, like, some money coming in to help you with your bills, then the risk of starting something diminished goes lower.

Yeah.

Because, like, you're not.

You're not.

It's not like.

It's not like the double swing.

Like, when you go solo, you got a double swing.

You got the rent.

You got the rent, plus the expenses of the business, plus you have your.

Your rent and your other bills.

So now all of a sudden, you have two different places that you're in, personal and business.

So, like.

Yeah, that's.

I think that's a really awesome part of the story.

So.

Okay, so I think we got a good picture.

We got your setup.

You go through this process of building.

You go strike out on your own, you ramp up your hours and your clientele, and you get kind of up and cruising.

And so tell us, you know, because we're getting towards the end here of our time, so let's kind of, like, before we wrap it up, and I want.

I want to know what advice you have for some other folks.

But before we do that, I want to give you a chance to tell us about your suite and about.

What is this?

Holistic hair care practitioner.

I think that's.

Was that the words that you used?

Provider Provider.

Holistic hair care provider.

So can you tell us a little bit about your suite?

What the.

What the customer experience is?

Like, what's your vibe?

What type of vibe you're trying to set and tell us about holistic hair care providing.

Okay.

So the name of my business is Naya's Chair, and it's a boutique salon or boutique natural hair suite here in D.C. and we integrate beauty and wellness for lasting change for our clients.

I have experience as a mindset coach and a personal trainer, and so I realized that the body is just.

Everything is connected.

Like, the quality of our hair is impacted by how we're feeling internally, how we're nourishing and caring for ourselves externally.

And so I wanted a business that could support my clients inside and out.

So we blend styling with trichology and holistic hair care, which means we not only care for the hair and the scalp, but also wellness of the mind, body and spirit.

So from silk press and trims to treatments and wellness reflections, we cultivate a space where my clients feel seen and nourished and empowered to love on their hair, but also themselves.

Nice.

And I like that you're pulling in your.

Your other things that you have done in the past and things you learned to kind of incorporate it into your business.

Do you, do you sell any holistic packages or anything like that?

Like, like hair pla.

I don't know.

Yeah, whatever comes to mind.

Like what, what type of things do you see?

You have your services and they have their experience.

I don't know.

Do you have any ideas or dreams or thoughts on, like.

Okay, I know what the question I'm trying to ask is.

What is next?

Like, what are you, what.

What are you working on right now in your business?

That's kind of where I was trying to get to.

Okay.

So for one, I, during the service, all of my clients, not only am I caring for their hair, like, we're going to make sure they look good, they're going to look good, but also in the health of their hair.

But I'm also educating them on like, everything from like the styling products to maintenance of at home care.

So that's included, but so is the wellness reflection.

So it's kind of like a hair p session where we go into like.

Okay.

My thought process is if you have your attention on something, you're more likely to act in that direction, like just being aware of it.

So I asked them mentally, I asked them where they are mentally, their wellness, emotionally, physically and spiritually.

And I tie that all into hair being that like, the, the better you are.

Because even if your body is fine, if you are like severely stressed out, not only is that impacting your hormones, but also like, imagine doing your hair at Home when you are like pissed off at everyone and everything and you're just frustrated, that has an impact on your hair as well.

So all of that is included with a standard, standard service in my chair for my clients.

But that wellness aspect right now, what I'm working on outside of the chair, which I hope to integrate into a space where all of this can be accessible, is going out into my community and speaking with people, women in particular at the moment on their wellness and their self care and how like we are whole beings and every aspect of our life plays in like, plays a role in our overall well being.

And so just being mindful of that and taking the steps that could help to create stability in ourselves and empower ourselves to do what we need to do and feel good.

My mom's philosophy was always look up, feel good, do good.

But eventually I'd like to have a space where there is hair available, where there are mental health or coaching sessions available, where there is like a fitness area and just a community space where business and talks on wellness or mindset or just some kind of community effort to improve the lives of those who didn't have access to this is available.

So that's the overarching goal.

I don't have a package for it right now.

As of now.

Every service is the package.

It's just included.

It's part of what comes along with this experience.

Nice.

I think from just from like a business development perspective, this is my brain, how my brain thinks a lot is getting from point A to point B.

When your idea is much bigger than what you currently are offering or can offer it.

Sometimes it's easier to go to market with a smaller offering that signals the other offerings that are coming down the line.

And so that way you can, it's like brand development.

And then there are like other thing.

I'm like, I'm thinking of all kinds of things that I feel like we should have a conversation.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Like about like different, different things you can do.

I have and especially like pulling community in like a lot.

Like, like I'll give you one.

One.

One thing is like and you probably have already done this but like finding organizations that already exist that you can go and like speak to or speak with or volunteer.

I found that like the best way to get in is to go into something, into a community without a desire to make money.

That's how we started Hairdresser Strong.

We didn't start it as a business.

We started as a passion project, community initiative.

And now we can actually think about it as a business, while we continue our community initiative stuff, we're getting to know people and they're telling us what they want us to do.

Like, I had somebody ask us to create a class around the book that I wrote about etiquette.

So Sammy and I put together a class and we're going to be going out and teaching it in the, in the salons.

And that is like an actual thing that we can make.

We can make some money at.

But we wrote the book because we did all this research into the schools and the students and the salons, and what we discovered is this big hole in the world of etiquette, customer service, customer experience, boundaries, communication.

So, so we wrote the book don't have Bad Breath.

And now that's being requested to actually become something that we can actually do something beyond what we initially set out to do.

So that's kind of like my approach.

So, like, when you're talking, I'm like, my, my brain is starting to like, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, you know, going.

So, yeah, let's definitely talk about that offline.

And we'll also talk about, about coming in to do the mentoring as well, like we talked about before.

But okay, so, like, that's, that's, you know, side note, sorry for the podcasters who are like, in the middle of our conversation, but I had an idea I wanted to share.

Okay, so let's say to wrap up, what advice do you have for anybody out there?

It could be a person who's already independent and they haven't gotten as, like, holistic or comprehensive or as in depth about what they want their brand experience to be, and they're just like, I'm just doing hair.

But like, they're having challenge building a clientele.

It could be because they don't have a cohesive brand promise and customer experience that they deliver on a recurring basis.

I know that statistically customers look forward to that because they recommend their friends and then.

Or they look at you online.

But then if the consistent.

If there's no consistency between what a person told them or what they see online, then they're unable to build their clientele.

What about, like.

Or a student who's thinking about going independent or a stylist who has been wanting to go independent but just hasn't.

Has been too scared to pull the trigger.

Any or all.

You don't have to address all, but whatever comes to mind when I say, you know, to sign off with some words of wisdom from your experiences or some advice.

Okay, so two things.

First, I will continue to be an advocate for community and mentorship and education.

Right.

So like if you have never experienced a salon environment where there is like learning and just resources, you've got to cultivate that on your own.

Now you are responsible for that.

So that means joining groups like Hairdresser Strong or any other community of hairstyles that can relate to and that you can ask questions to so that you can continue to grow.

Also in a salon, they're usually keeping up with the latest techniques and science and so making sure that you stay informed in that way by taking classes, by going to whatever your, your board has available or recommends.

Like just keeping yourself in the loop of how the industry is constantly evolving.

I think that is key.

And because at the end of the day you switch from being a service provider to a business owner, you've got to keep your mind in the state of someone who wants their business to be successful.

So knowing how the industry is evolving and having people who are actively implementing these new techniques or strategies, all of that is essential.

In addition to that, also business like educating yourself in business and how to run things.

Bookkeeping, client marketing, sales, the technology that will make your job easier because there is going to be a lot of work expected of you in order for your business to survive.

It's like a baby and you got to get it to the place where it can like feed itself.

And so you need to fill in that gap.

What you would have had been possibly provided for you or at least the information or seeing it from the owner of a salon.

You've got to put yourself in the position even if it doesn't exist fully on the level that you want.

Now you've got to like plant those seeds and cultivate them to make sure that you stay sharp in the industry.

And the second thing that I want to, I can't over stress enough how important customer service is.

I mentioned before that I come from the service industry.

I've done a billion things in my past.

But whether it was like substitute teaching, working at a restaurant, being a personal trainer, all of these things have service in mind.

And honestly the reason why I was able to scale my business from three clients to 60 in the midst of a shutdown and not even working throughout the whole thing because it was actually like shut down is because my clients, I don't even think I was that great of a hairdresser, but they appreciated the service.

They liked that I did let them know what I was doing and why I was doing doing it.

They appreciated.

I don't know, you know, snacks and beverages.

The experience was something that they.

They.

Even though it was from my home, they didn't get it from any other stylists.

The conversation was just natural, and I wasn't trying to force them to speak or not talk to them, you know, so just reading that room and being aware of your space and knowing how to.

Knowing how to interact with people, that really saved me.

And even to this day, I think about 20% of new bookings come from social media, but the rest is literally client referral.

Okay, some people do find me on Google, but the rest is literally client referral.

Like, and it's because the experience is there.

They.

They.

They're not only paying for their hairstyle.

People value their money, especially in times like now.

And so you have to provide a valuable experience.

And that doesn't just mean mean styling their hair.

Not anymore.

So customer service and keeping yourself educated on all things hair and business are two very important things that I would stress for anyone who's looking into breaking into the independent stylist arena.

Yeah.

And I would even say, I think that advice goes to.

If you want to open up a salon with people working for you.

I mean, I. I love that advice.

That was great.

I mean, thank you for sharing that.

I totally agree with all that, especially the customer service and experience side.

So thank you so much for sharing your story.

We'll be bringing you back to do some more stuff in the future, but until then, I just want to say thank you so much, and I look forward to talking to you again soon.

Thank you, Robert.

Thank you, hairdresser.

Strong.

Sammy.

I appreciate you even hearing me out, and I don't.

I was a little nervous approaching you that day, but I'm so glad that you were willing to hear me out and work with me.

And I'm excited for what we do in the future.

Me too.

Very much.

So awesome.

Well, thank you again, and I will talk to you later.

Thank you.

Bye.

Bye.

All right, bye.