We were lucky to catch up with Melissa Kinkade recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Melissa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

My business technically began to brew when I was in college for graphic design almost 20 years ago. I was a college softball player who loved doing hair and makeup, but I had never considered it a career. When my friends and I would go out, I was always the one doing 10 people’s hair and makeup beforehand. I really started to love it more and more but I was in the middle of college and a softball scholarship that I didn’t want to give up. I told myself that if I still loved hair and makeup when I graduated, I would then go to cosmetology school. Needless to say, I only loved it more and more and when I graduated I went straight to cosmetology school. After about 5 years in the business, I discovered a technique that was not known in our area yet called Microblading, a type of semi-permanent eyebrow tattoo. At the time, there were no regulations on this service so I went and got certified on the technique in Texas and began offering it in our area. I had a gut feeling that this service would be very popular and my gut was right! I continued to offer this service as well as hair and makeup while working at a commission salon. At that time there was discussion of adding regulations to microblading that would make it required to have a tattoo license in order to preform this service which would require me to do an apprenticeship and so that is what I did. 300 plus hours and 50 practice tattoos later, I had a tattoo license.

It was around this time that I started dreaming of the things I could offer to clientele on my own, that I could not offer at the salon I was currently in. I had a full clientele, so I was confident that I could make it on my own as a separate business. I weighed out the pros and cons. I knew exactly what the cons would be for me. I loved my coworkers and I knew it would be hard for me to leave them and I knew that I loved having a receptionist to handle all of my appointments and phone calls. Going out on my own meant that I would lose those two things. Even knowing that it would be difficult, I knew that my list of pros outweighed the cons. I could have more control of my hours at work, I could charge what I needed to charge, I could control my own social media outlets, and I could work towards working smarter, not harder. I had no doubt I could start my own business successfully and learn to do my own taxes but I would say my biggest hurdle was being so loyal that I hated to tell my boss I was leaving. I had to tell myself that I was growing and not abandoning the boss and coworkers I loved so much. So in 2018 I had the difficult conversation and I started my own LLC and decided to quit the commission life and start working for myself.

Over the last 5 years, I have slowly transitioned from doing mostly hair and some tattoo, to all tattoo. The business has grown and I am now even further trained in tattoo plus areola restoration for breast cancer survivors. My focus now is growing the areola restorative tattoo side of my business because I feel that there is a lack of this service anywhere close to our city. Cancer survivors deserve to have someone who will help complete their journey close to home so that they don’t need to travel hours away for this service.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I probably answered this more in the first question so I will copy and paste here and add on.

My business technically began to brew when I was in college for graphic design almost 20 years ago. I was a college softball player who loved doing hair and makeup, but I had never considered it a career. When my friends and I would go out, I was always the one doing 10 people’s hair and makeup beforehand. I really started to love it more and more but I was in the middle of college and a softball scholarship that I didn’t want to give up. I told myself that if I still loved hair and makeup when I graduated, I would then go to cosmetology school. Needless to say, I only loved it more and more and when I graduated I went straight to cosmetology school. After about 5 years in the business, I discovered a technique that was not known in our area yet called Microblading, a type of semi-permanent eyebrow tattoo. At the time, there were no regulations on this service so I went and got certified on the technique in Texas and began offering it in our area. I had a gut feeling that this service would be very popular and my gut was right! I continued to offer this service as well as hair and makeup while working at a commission salon. At that time there was discussion of adding regulations to microblading that would make it required to have a tattoo license in order to preform this service which would require me to do an apprenticeship and so that is what I did. 300 plus hours and 50 practice tattoos later, I had a tattoo license.

I would say that my discipline came from growing up in sports and from parents that held me accountable. Sports taught me time management, accountability, and the ability to see how hard work pays off.

I provide cosmetic tattoo services such as eyebrow, eyeliner, and lip tattoo and also scar camouflage tattoo and areola restorative tattoo for breast cancer patients. Many people do not realize that most breast cancer survivors are left without nipples when they finish all of their surgeries, lots of times leaving them to feel incomplete and a constant reminder of when they were sick. I am most proud of this service because it is very fulfilling to the client and myself. Helping people feel good about themselves is my number one goal. I feel that what sets me apart from others is that I have the ability to make people feel comfortable and understood. My goal is to listen to what each client needs and I think I do a good job of making sure that we have a great consultation and know that we are both on the same page when it comes to their tattoo.

The main thing I want potential clients to know about my work is that they will feel understood before we start the process of tattooing so that everyone is comfortable. Tattooing someone requires a lot of trust and I am committed to making sure they feel that they can trust me. My dedication is to make people feel better about themselves and to feel beautiful so I will do everything in my power to make that happen.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I went to college, I did not know what I wanted to do with my life in regards to my career. I knew that I loved to be creative, and I knew that I loved to be active and play softball. I started taking art and communication classes and when I was forced to choose a focus for my degree, I chose graphic design and a minor in communications. Once I graduated and earned my degree, I then pivoted and went a completely different direction after realizing that I loved hair and makeup. I enrolled in cosmetology school without ever pursuing my degree of graphic design. Although I never technically worked in that field, I like to joke that I have a very expensive prerequisite in art that truly did help me in my cosmetology and tattoo careers. I also have a minor in communication that I feel really helps me relate to clients.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I don’t know that I have a specific story for this except for the fact that throughout many high school and college art classes I was taught lots of techniques for drawing, sketching, painting etc. Learning how to tattoo was a completely different art. Many of the things I learned before don’t necessarily work when it comes to tattooing skin. Rather than using a technique to get a certain look on paper, I had to learn how skin reacts to those techniques. It added an entirely new aspect to art. How will my speed, pressure, and ink choice look on some ones skin. How do different skin types then react differently on top of all of that?

Contact Info:

• Website: www.onesevensalon.com
• Instagram: @onesevensalon
• Facebook: Melissa Kinkade Hair & Permanent Cosmetics

Image Credits
Courtney Tompson Photography