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

Alright, Desilin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

If I could go back in time I wouldn’t change nothing honestly. I believe I started my business at the right time in my life. Yes I do think we’ll what if I had started earlier on would I be farther then where I am now? I would be lying if I did say I don’t ask myself those types of questions. But I believe everything happens for a reason. I started at the right time because who knows what I would have went through if I started to early. Mentally I wasn’t at the right place to even carry a business let alone be a business owner. Financially I didn’t have enough to carry the weight of a business and I wasn’t smart with my money at the time. When I did eventually start the business I was a full time student in college and was working a 9 to 5 for a parking company. Around the time I stepped into the beauty industry I was just coloring hair. I started actually doing hair about 6 months after the end of 2019.

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 background and context?

My name is Desi (Owner of Desi Hair Parlor INC). I specialize in hair care and custom coloring. I started as a self taught hairstylist 3 years ago and last year November I received my licenses to practice hair. I started coloring hair as a side hustle back in 2019. It wasn’t something I thought long term about I just needed to make extra money. Eventually it grow on me and I went full force into doing hair. Now when you ask about business what sets me apart from others is my personality and energy. I believe I set the most positive atmosphere for my clients. I try to set a tone for them where even on a bad day by the time they leave me their energy has did a full 360. My regular clients are more like family to me. They motivate me more then I do for myself. They push me out my comfort zone to try more and do more. That not only shows me that they trust me but that they want more from me. What I am most proud of is how far I have came in this industry. And I can say that’s a blessing because not to many people can endure the things I go through as an Hairstylist and really stick it out. In the business industry there are many pros and cons. It’s not easy running a business and it definitely not easy dealing with 5 to 10 different personalities a day. Learning to be able to endure through everything is what made me stronger throughout the years. The main things I want any potential clients, followers or fans to know about my work and brand is that I want it to continue to improve. Anything that you may not like let me know. Tell me how you like things so I can one try a different way which means I’m learning more techniques. And two make sure you are satisfied at all time. My Job is to provide a service that you will never forget.

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

The initial capital I used to fund my business was the money I was making from my 9 to 5. The money I was making helped me purchase the products I needed to start up the business. I did that for about one year until I build enough courage to step out on faith and go full time with my business. Now leaving the company was scary because I didn’t have a paycheck to fall back on but I couldn’t look back now. The first year was rough as expected but as the years went by my business began to pay for itself. I’m able to expand my current location and add more services for my clients. I’m doing more than I was doing 3 years ago because now my business hold more capital to hold itself up now.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process?

Yes I manufacture products for my clientele. I supply hair, bonnets, head wraps and melt bands. Supplying products wasn’t easy in the beginning because I had to find the right vendor. Now finding vendors isn’t hard because they will contact you first majority of the time. However, you have to eventually pick one out of the hundreds that will contact you. I believe I got lucky because someone exactly gave me my vendor just because she knew I did hair. I tested my vendor out before I started investing into hair. Maybe about two years later is when I started manufacturing hair for my business. The hair accessories came before me actually selling hair. Along the way I started learning more about profit and lose basically making sure I was earning more than I was spending. Till this day I’m still learning to pay close attention to that because in any industry you want to profit more than you are spending.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bookingdesihairparlorinc.as.me/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cdl-QrTuxdt/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=