We recently connected with Yene Damtew and have shared our conversation below.

Yene, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My mission is everyone, regardless of where they stand on the socioeconomic ladder deserves a quality experience in beauty. Education and customer service are at the forefront of everything that myself and my salon team do. It’s always important to provide a high-quality experience for every customer and to continue learning as techniques and trends constantly change.

Yene, 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’ve always had a love of hair, since childhood. I started out by braiding my older brother’s hair and then other kids in my school and neighborhood. I also enrolled in Cosmetology school while still in high school and began to carve out my career in beauty. For me, mentorship was very important as I started to navigate the industry. I’m very grateful to all the people who opened doors for me and embraced me. I’m big on education and continuing to learn skills and techniques, so it was invaluable to me to be around and meet different hairstylists and gain things from them. Now, I own Aesthetics salon in Arlington, VA, and our mission is that we’re greater together than we are by ourselves. At Aesthetics, we’re all about working as a team and creating a safe space for like-minded individuals. We have a unique concept at the salon where we truly embrace collaboration over competition and clients are welcome and encouraged to see different stylists on our team for their hair needs. Clients might go to one stylist for color, another for a trim, another for braids, and another for extensions. We’re blessed to have several experts in the field on our team and we believe in haircare with the integrity of our client’s hair needs as the top priority.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I’d have to say that picking up and moving across the country and building a new life in DC is the best example that illustrates my resilience. I was very young, about 21 years old, and I made the decision to move from California to Washington, D.C. It was a scary thing to do, but it was one of the best things I could do for myself and my career. I’m still here, 14 years, and 3 salon spaces later! That situation taught me how to get comfortable with being uncomfortable and it’s helped me in how I approach things in my life.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

My business is self-funded and I also have a bank loan. The process to put capital together was harder than I imagined because there was a lot more paperwork than I originally thought. I’d say that the lease part was actually the hardest part because I didn’t realize what all went into it. I had to quickly learn and recognize all of what funding entailed so that I could do it properly and set my business up for success.

Contact Info:

• Website: aesthetics.salon
• Instagram: @aesthetics.salon

Image Credits
Antwon Maxwell & Nicole Melton