We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kiera Cook a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kiera , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I took a risk by opening my own salon. I left a great paying job to venture out on my God giving talent.
Was I terrified? Extremely, but
I had a dream, a big dream of being this great hairstylist (braider).
I struggled but the struggle was necessary.
I painted the picture and I did the hard work and I’m still doing the hard work.
I took the risk and it paid off greatly and now I am the proud owner of
Successful Hands Braiding Lounge.

Kiera , 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?

My name is Kiera Cook and I’m 34 years old. I am the proud owner of Successful Hands Braiding Lounge in Birmingham, Al
I learned to braid when I just nine years old.
My aunt Mary had a salon named Golden Silk and I was just in awe of the smiles that she put on those women faces.
I would sit there all day and just watch.
I knew then hair was my passion, so I taught myself to braid.

I started working in her salon at the age of 15 and the rest is history.

I now have my own salon and a natural hair product line.

M goal is to give my clients an experience not just a new style.
I want to make them feel like they stepped on the red carpet every time they grace my chair.

I am so proud that my clients put that kind of trust in me to enhance their beauty.

SHBL is not just a braiding lounge it’s a luxury escapade, so book the look.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I grew up not wanting handouts, so I did everything myself even when I wasn’t physically or mentally able to. I had to unlearn that nothing comes easily especially with running a business.
I wanted everything quick and perfect.
I learned fast and hard that it wasn’t going to go that way.

I had to learn discipline and patience.
Even though I had this big dream, I knew that it wouldn’t happen overnight.

I’m a perfectionist and I needed everything that way but
as I got older, I also had to learn that asking for help is okay.

Always let your actions be louder than your words and your dreams bigger than your fears, so asking for help is not so hard for me anymore.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Honestly, I ran from the thought of doing hair full time. I was terrified of letting go of a 9-5 because it was all I knew.

I didn’t know how to stand firm with doing hair full time until I had to.

There’s no way God gives us this kind of talent just to sit on it and he proved that to me.

I worked in corporate America for 17 years before I decided to do hair full time.
I dabbled in it, but I never made it my full-time job.

Once I moved back to Alabama and couldn’t find work because I was overqualified, I knew then that it was time to use my talent.

God put me in a situation that the talent I ran from, I now needed to survive, and I haven’t turned back since.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://book.heygoldie.com/Braids-By-Ki
• Instagram: @SuccessfulHandsBraidingLounge
• Facebook: Successful Hands Braiding Lounge
• TikTok: @braids.by.ki