Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Aeleise Ollarvia. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Aeleise, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?
For hairstylists, the biggest challenge to profitability is understanding business operations. Often our prices are based on what others around us are charging and what we think clients will pay. Pricing is often not based on the actual expenses of our businesses, take home salary we desire to pay ourselves, and the desired profit margin we want to have after all expenses and salaries have been paid.
I’ve been licensed for 18 years and much of the industry has shifted from being volume providers to offering 1:1 service experiences for our clients. Our prices must reflect that. If we want to offer 1995 prices we need to be booking 4 clients every hour on the hour for a Saturday like the stylists of that era did.
Aeleise, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a dancer and visual artist turned hairstylist that infuses the elements and principles of art into tight curly + natural hair cutting and styling education.
I’ve been a licensed stylist for 18 years and exclusively working with tight curls & natural hair for 14 years. In that time I have been a salon assistant, salon owner, corporate salon manager, freelance makeup artist, platform artist, and so many more roles. I am also the co-founder of Black Girl Curls and the infamous #30dayhairdetox
For the past 7 years I’ve been on a mission to lead licensed cosmetologists and barbers in building tight curl + natural hair centric businesses that are sustainable, profitable, and scaleable for soloprenuers and salon owners alike with my company Cut It Kinky. We connect tight curls & natural hair to cosmetology theory through intimate, immersive, and intensive digital + live educational experiences.
I also consult with and educate for product and service based brands as a subject matter expert in the tight curl + natural hair market.
You can find my editorial styling + curl education work featured in the creative campaigns and platform artistry for some of your favorite curly + natural hair brands like CurlMix, TreLuxe, Entwine Couture, and Innersense Organic Beauty.
How did you build your audience on social media?
It’s taken me 12 years to build a 20k following on my personal IG and 5 years to build a 37k following on my business IG. I have no secrets to tell anyone.
Sometimes I’m consistent, sometimes I’m hiding from my phone and the internet. Sometimes I’ll do a live three times a week and sometimes I’ll go three weeks without posting anything.
What I don’t do is obsess over when to post and what to post. I don’t spend much time creating content that is solely for the ‘gram. Much of what I post is snapshot moments from classes and workshops I’ve taught. With my audience being hairstylists I know my content is super niched anyway so much of the basic IG coaching themes don’t apply to me.
All I can say is to be easy and keep being you.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
From the beginning Cut It Kinky has been self funded. In September 2017 we decided to host our first workshop and have been funding the business through sales helped along by a few business loans to make it through lean times.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cutitkinky.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cutitkinky/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cutitkinky
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aeleiseollarvia/