We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Diamond Jackson . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Diamond below.

Diamond , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?

If I could turn back the hands of time, I would go to trade school straight out of high school. Instead, I graduated cosmetology school at 23. If I could go back, I would have taken the business just as serious as the craft. Instead of limiting myself, I would invest in a business mentor and continuing education to learn high income producing skills such as hair extensions and hair coloring. I would have worked extremely hard to become a six figure earner within my first two years of business all while keeping my living expenses as low as possible and investing every single penny outside of that into real estate, IRAs and whole life insurance. The cool thing about real estate is the different strategies you can use to obtain even more real estate, which essentially puts you in a different race and tax bracket.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hey y’all! My name is Diamond Jackson and I am a proud mama, licensed cosmetologist and real estate investor. I have been in the beauty industry for 9 years. I am a Texas resident, but I am Mississippi raised. A little over a year ago, I got a word from God to relocate to TX, so we stepped foot in Frisco, TX, May 25, 2022. I love it here. This part of my journey is very special to me, as I hope to inspire and motivate other women, emphasis on single mamas, to move around the fear that could be keeping them stagnant.

Since a young child, I had always had dreams of being an entrepreneur. I was in middle school when I got my first taste of entrepreneurship. My grandmother taught me how to braid hair and how to crochet. So I would crochet these scarves and sell them to my classmates and the teachers. In high school, I would sell brownies, burn cds and braid hair in my grandmother’s kitchen. Doing hair was my favorite out of all of my other hustles. It came natural to me. However, when it was time to graduate, I chose to attend college. I was there studying business for a few years until one day I had had enough. I remember coming home for thanksgiving one year crying hysterically, because if one more person ask how I’m doing in college. In 2014, I finally decided to set out and pursue my dreams! I enrolled in an 18 month cosmetology program. I graduated cosmetology school in February 2016, and opened first salon, with the help of my best-friend, the same month. I went on to purchase a salon in 2017 and then another one in 2019. This was the start of me becoming a real estate investor.

I now have a salon suite in Frisco, TX where I offer natural hair services, bridal and luxury hair extensions, such as Tape in extensions, I Tips, K Tips & Weft extensions. My clients love it here! My #1 goal is healthy hair and keeping you informed on what is going on with your hair and scalp. I am good to my clients and I am also honest with them. I take pride in my craft, but also in building relationships. It’s 50% hair, 50% relationship. You know they say, “it’s not what you know, but who you know”. This is so true. The relationships I am building is keeping me what’s keeping me in business. The referrals from my loyal clients keep me busy.

When you leave my salon, I want you to feel important. I want you to know that this is a safe space. I will remember your kids names, your occupation, the dog and the last conversation we had. I think that is what sets me apart from others in the industry. I understand that it’s business, but I also understand that I’m dealing with real people.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Social media, specifically Instagram and TikTok have helped me grow my business. I used Instagram and TikTok, heavily when I first moved to Texas and was able to build a full clientele in 6 months. Styleseat also played a major part by putting me in the top ranking based on my reviews.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

As mentioned earlier, I started braiding hair in high school. In college, I would always do the girls hair before the club, on the weekends, just whenever I could. It wasn’t a consistent thing until I got a job at a beauty supply store. I think I was 21 at the time. The customers would always come in asking if we knew someone who could do their hair and the store owner would always tell them that I could. I decided to print out some business cards and hand them out while I was working. At the time, I was charging $50 for a traditional install and was making way more than I was making on my job. Fast forward, I stopped working at that job and got a position at a retail store as a key holder, which was a step under the assistant manager. Something happened at that job where I found out my co-worker, in the same position was making more than me and we had the same level of education. At that point, I was young and fed up. Lol. I realized that my passion was beauty and I needed to follow through with it. I quit that job in June 2014 and enrolled in cosmetology school in August 2014. I haven’t worked for anyone since.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.diamdivaz.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diamdivazbeautybar/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@DiamondJackson92?si=LI2N-3lgEU35pj1n
• Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@diamdivazbeautybar

Image Credits
Photographer: Brittny Miller Photographer: By All Means Creations and Wright Way Phptography