We recently connected with Keyla Haynes and have shared our conversation below.

Keyla, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

My business was always focused on catering to those with natural hair. In 2018, I decided I wanted to niche down and specialize in working with those who wear their curls in their natural state.

I needed some education on how to get a better understanding on working with curls and how to cut the hair in its natural state without having to straighten. I have taken a class with Cut it Kinky where I learn how to cater to tight curl clients and Devacurl I learned how to cater to the loose curl and wavy hair curlies.

Once I completed those classes I was ready to figure out a concept of what services I wanted to offer my clients. I know that when you have any business idea you need something that will make you stand out from your competitors. Specializing in natural hair in the beginning of my career the pain point of most clients I talk to was they really didn’t know how to care for their natural hair. Unsure on what their hair truly needs for it to be healthy and thrive.

In the natural hair community there’s a lot of miseducation on the proper way to care for our hair. A lot of natural’s have been doing DIY haircare and are frustrated with their hair due to not understanding what their hair needs.

Doing market research I noticed that it was something that nobody in my area was offering and that was “Educating” the client on how to care for their hair. I made some new client packages that included education on how to properly care for your hair. In those packages Including Product Knowledge, it’s important to know how and when to use a product. To achieve a nice style that will last you need to know how product application and technique is also important to styling your hair. The tools you use are also important. You want tools that will help make your wash day easier. Most importantly you will need a regimen that’s based on your hair care needs for you to follow at home in between salon visits.

For those who want more in-depth on how to style their hair I offered the look and learn “Curl Lesson” where I will show you how to style your wash & go. This service has helped so many clients cause they’re able to see how I’m applying products to their hair, see what I’m doing that they may have not included in their styling at home.

What gets me excited is when I hear someone say that my hair can’t do that, once I style their hair and show them the finish results the smile on their face lets me know my job was fulfilled. I’ve heard so many women say that they have never seen their natural hair look like this. Reading the reviews my clients write on how much I’ve helped them. Hearing about them getting so many compliments on their hair and people asking them how did you get your hair like that. Being able to guide them and be a part of their curl journey, seeing their transformation of where their hair was when they first came in to now and them being so amazing at the results.

Since 2018 I’ve helped countless naturals simplify their routine by educating them on what their hair needs. I can say that I found a need and ran with it and helped many naturals along the way, it was all worth it.

Keyla, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

After being in the industry with my natural hair license, I realized that my natural hair license had me very limited on what I could do in the industry. I wanted to specialize in curls doing curly cuts and color services and with my natural hair license I couldn’t offer color services. In 2018, I enrolled in The Paul Mitchell School of Columbus to get my cosmetology license. Since being behind the chair I’ve seen a lot of clients dealing with hair loss and to be able to help them in 2021 I became a Certified Trichologist.

As a curl specialist I help naturals simplify their routine, educate on how to properly care for your hair, embrace, and fall in love with your curls. With also having a background as a Trichologist I’m able to deliver solutions for your hair or scalp needs by creating a plan of action to get to the root cause of the problem.

I offer a variety of Curl Care services such as curly cuts, color, wash & go, rod sets, two-strand twists and flat twist styles. Treatments and scalp care services such as deep condition treatment, protein treatment, curl detox, olaplex, and scalp exfoliation for those who may deal with scalp issues.

Here at Naturally Chic Salon It’s a place where you feel listened to, understood and focused on helping you become your own hair goals. Whether you’re a curlie newbie or an expert, partnering with our salon we can help you with whatever challenge you may be facing with your hair. We have experience with all types of curls—so we know how to make sure your hair is healthy and looking its best. Our services and recommended hair care are tailored to fit your individual hair care needs using products from hair care lines that are eco-friendly with high quality ingredients.
I look forward to helping you with your curl journey!

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Since being in the industry I had to grow my clientele twice, both times starting with no clients. When building a clientele there are some important things you need to figure out before growing a clientele. Niche down to be a specialist in a particular service.

These questions will help with figuring out your target market.

What do you want to specialize in or be known for?
What problem will you solve?
Who is your ideal client?
What product or services will you offer?
What are the prices for the services you offer?
How will these clients find you? Internet, referral, social media, flyers, radio, etc
What experience will you offer these clients
Once you get the clients in your chair how will you bring them back?

Once you answer these questions it will give you some insight on the client you’re looking for and how to speak to that client.

These are some of the strategies I’ve used to help with building my clientele.

When I started to grow my clientele back in 2014, what I noticed most hair stylist in my area wasn’t utilizing Google Business or having a website. So my focus was getting my website on the 1st page of google and building my google business page so when someone searches for what I offer they find my business. Currently in 2023 its other ways for clients to find your business you have to know where your target clients are at and what social platforms they’re looking for you and your services. When you figure that out, focus on creating content and showing up in those spaces. I’ve had clients say they found me from Youtube, Facebook and Instagram.

Clients are looking for visuals of your work so you will need to show pictures and videos of the styles you can do. Since you don’t have any clients yet you can do these services on family or friends. Once you get pictures, set up all the social media platforms you want to utilize to get those clients.

You will have to continue to promote your business and always show up so that clients can find you. I’ve had clients tell me they watch me for months or years before coming into the salon. Once you get clients to come in for a service make sure to give them an experience to remember that they will tell everybody about their experience with you. After you service them you still have to nurture those clients so they continue to come back to the salon.

Make sure to always take before and after pictures so that you can have pictures to showcase your work.
Success doesn’t happen overnight. Be very patient when building a clientele it can take you a couple of months to build a solid clientele. Don’t look at what others are doing, focus on your business and the goals you’re trying to achieve.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

I’ve been wanting to create a hair care line since 2015, I have been researching companies and trying out different products they manufacture. It wasn’t until 2021 I found a company who could manufacture my products to start my hair care line.

When I created my hair care brand “Naturally Rooted Strands”, I started off with a clarifying shampoo, moisture shampoo, conditioner and deep conditioner. I love the products and my clients also did, I just didn’t like that the product couldnt be customized to how I want it to smell or ingredients I want to be used. I also needed some stylers to be able to use such as gel, twisting cream and foam. Other companies I found I didn’t like the results I was getting from the stylers they offered.

Going into creating a hair care line I never wanted to create the product myself being that I knew it would take up a lot of my time. I would have to balance life behind the chair and create my hair care line. Since I needed more products to add to my line I decided I needed some more insight on how to formulate my own products. In 2022, I took a course to learn how to formulate hair care products. I’m currently in the process of relaunching my hair care line and creating the products for this line.

When searching for a vendor or chemist to create the product you’re looking for make sure you test the products out and it will do what you need the product to do. Be clear on the product you want to create and what it’ll be used for. Who will you be selling your products to for natural hair, relaxed hair, hair loss, or children? Test the product on yourself and clients before you’re ready to bring it to the market.

Finding a good vendor or cosmetic chemist will take some time. You really have to search high and low for them because they’re not easily accessible.

The lessons I have learned along the way about manufacturing a product is that you first have to have a clear vision on what you want in your product line. Do you want a company to manufacture your product or do you want to formulate it yourself? You can always formulate your product yourself and use a manufacturing company to distribute the product in the bottles for you to sell.

Formulating a product yourself will come with a lot of work. Having to first come up with a formula for each product you want to create, and testing it out to see if it does what it needs to do. Purchasing ingredients for all those products you want to create. Being a small business some ingredients aren’t accessible to small businesses. It is a lot that goes into making your own products and testing that needs to be done to make sure the product will hold up for months after making.

I love being hands on in everything with my business and being able to create something that people would love will be a great achievement for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.IamNaturallyChic.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/naturallychicsalon
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/iamnaturallychic
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/naturallychicsalon

Image Credits
Naturally Chic Salon and Portraits By Patrick