Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jasianna Ortiz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jasianna, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I remember when I first started braiding while being in cosmetology school, I was working three jobs. I was working at Target, Supercuts, and braiding on the side in the back room of a nail salon. Thankfully, I do still live with my mom so it was a little easier for me to slowly start cutting off the extra jobs in transition into a full-time entrepreneur. As of today, I’ve been braiding full-time for about three years and there has definitely tough days–or months really. Theres times where I consider getting a second job but something that always keeps me going is the thought of why would I want to put in time and effort into someone else’s company when I could put thar same time and effort into my own business and figuring out different ways to create profit streams. I believe that choosing to be full-time in my business forces me to continue to be creative and innovative instead of becoming stagnant and staying stuck in the same place.

Jasianna, 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?

My name is Jasianna Ortiz and I’m a 23 year old licensed cosmetologist specializing in knotless braiding with color customization services. What sets Apothecary Braids apart from other competitors is the inclusivity of my clients. As a Puerto Rican Latina, my hair texture is very thick, blunt, and “silky”; which is a texture many braiders wouldn’t even consider touching. And then anytime I did find someone to braid it, not only would it hurt, my ends would be sticking out everywhere. Because I learned to braid on my own hair, I learned the importance of tucking the natural hair when braiding in order to maintain longevity and avoid those pesky ends from poking out–on ALL curl types. Teaching myself this technique later inspired my love for fully transforming a clients hair from one color into another without the need of dying it. These transformations have easily become my favorite kinds of services to do for others and is something I wish to solely specialize in in the future.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I think one of my biggest regrets when it comes to my career was not attending a vocational school. During those times it was always said how if you wanted to go to college the best insured way to get there was through a private school, so I wasn’t even really allowed to apply to our local Volk to begin with. Looking back now though, knowing I’d end up dropping out of college anyways just to attend Cosmetology school, I wish I had gotten those hours over with in high school instead (especially since it would have been for free!) Though nevertheless, I did have such an amazing time at the cosmo school that I ended up attending so I’m still grateful!

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

One day I was just scrolling on Instagram and I saw that one of my favorite music artist post how they were returning home to Boston. I didn’t know they were from Boston at the time and so when I found this out, I decided to shoot my shot in their DM even though in my eyes that was completely crazy and there was no way that they were gonna ever see it or respond to it. But to my wild surprise, she ended up responding to me and not only did she just respond back, everything was aligning perfectly for us both and she ended up getting her hair done by me, which was such an out-of-body experience for me. Having the opportunity to service not just any celebrity but one that I truly admire and look up to so early on in my career was only a reminder to me to always believe in myself and in the great things I’m capable of.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://apothecarybraids.comb.works
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/braidedbyjasy
• Facebook: Apothecary Braids