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

Aj, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I am grateful for the journey it took me to get to where I am. When I was able to work, I worked numerous jobs, including retail and fast food. However, there is nothing like being able to work for yourself, in my opinion. Once I started, I knew it was going to take so much to convince me to go back to working a regular job. Even recently, I thought of getting a part-time for extra guap. When I go to applications, I honestly can not bring myself to fill them out. Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a regular job, I’ve worked many and am grateful for the journey. But I’ve transitioned into my entrepreneur stage. Being a business owner has its challenges, including taking risks for a vision no one else can see but you and making it work, funding, promoting, and marketing. Regarding my salon, other challenges may include dealing with picky and unhappy clients. With picky clients, they are very specific. Although it can be tedious and frustrating at times, those clients help me to improve. Sometimes I’ll get clients that are unhappy and they bring a negative energy into my space. I don’t like that. However, I’ve learned I won’t be able to please everyone, and that’s okay. If clients are unhappy with my work, I would encourage them to go elsewhere, and it’s all good. There are also days when I’m mentally struggling to get through. But, the good thing about working for myself is that I can take a break when I want to, when I am ready to, for however long I want to.
Despite the challenges, I have grown to love being a business owner and entrepreneur. I am happier and still learning a lot, like new hair trends, how to manage a business, setting boundaries, and being assertive as I make my way. The ability to walk into my own suite, create my own schedule, make my own money, and work for myself, with clients who want me to do their hair, is an amazing feeling. It is worth it. I am very grateful to be able to do so.

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?

I’m Aj Byrd, and I am the “Aj of all trades”. The Most High has blessed me with many gifts, so I consider myself to be an artist of multiple forms. I am mostly known as a natural hairstylist and loctician who specializes in the care and styling of loose, natural hair and locs. I have a salon suite located in Irving, and it’s been successful for a year and a half. I am also a self-taught artist working with acrylic and watercolors. I believe I have my own style, yet inspired by so much. I also make commission pieces, and plan and host my own art-related events. In my free time, I like making things, such as candles and hair accessories.
My brand is called “Vintaj”, which is a wordplay on the word and pronounced “vintage” and my name, Aj. I’ve been told I have an old soul and I like that description. Under this brand name, I have my businesses and hobbies, like my art, my salon, my crafts, etc.
In 2020, I graduated college with a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and started teaching that August. In October 2020, I got hired at Eyat’s Natural Hair Salon. Two of my students went to that hair salon, but their mom couldn’t get them a hair appointment on a specific day because it was booked. So, after school, I did the two students’ hair. Their mom took a picture of their hair and sent it to the owner of the salon. The owner reached out to me and I was blessed with an opportunity to work there part-time. I was teaching on the weekdays and working at the salon on the weekends. I already had skills in braiding and twisting, since I was little, but while working there, I’ve worked with some incredible ladies and was taught about locs and more natural hairstyles. I caught on really fast.
By May of 2021, I finished out the school year and decided to do hair full time. So, I became a full-time natural hairstylist at that salon until I started my own business in February 2022. Not only did I decide to be a stylist, but I’ve also decided to take my artwork more seriously, meaning I would step out of my comfort zone and post my art pieces on Instagram, I began hosting paint and sips, going to more art-related showcases and events, trying to get my name out there as an artist. I became a Zumba instructor this year, so I was excited to add that to my repertoire.
I am mostly proud of my growth, improvement, and my ability to flourish, and it is showing. I can say my business thus far has been quite successful. All praises to The Most High, to Ms. Eyat for the skills she has taught me, to the other stylists I learned from, and to our relationship. I enjoy seeing a fresh, clean scalp on my clients and watching them get out of my chair with smiles on their faces. I feel like my work speaks for itself. To the people who support my crafts and art, I am thankful.
I want the world to know that I am versatile and there’s no limit to the things I can and will be able to do. “Give meaning by being meaningful.” – Word to Stalley— a quote I live by. For me, to be meaningful is to create. I give meaning to all my creations with love, and I want to be able to give that to as many people as I can.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Word-of-mouth has been the most effective strategy for growing my clientele as the hairstylist of my family and friends. Shoutout to my madre because she would refer her natural hair passengers to me while driving Uber and Lyft. She’d give them my business cards, my Instagram and Facebook profiles, or my number to reach me. My friends would also do the same. I remember working with a client who had Alopecia and wanted a style to cover her thin spots when I first began working with natural hair. I came up with a flat twist updo, using added hair and she loved it. I am now the hairstylist for her entire household, along with the family’s close friends. That’s how it starts. I’d have one person come to me in hopes that I can help them love their hair again. After they leave my chair, I can tell they feel like a new person, and I am grateful to be able to create such a flourishing experience for them. That’s when they start to stick with me and tell their family and friends about me. The majority of my clients come from people who referred them to me. I am grateful, ya dig. All praises to The Most High.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I learned to do hair really young because I had to start doing my own hair. It was a skill I learned how to do, not thinking too much of it. Friends, family, and teachers would ask me to twist or braid their hair, and then I started making money from it, but I didn’t think I would make a career of it. I developed a passion for natural hair once I started working with it every day. While teaching during the week, I worked at Eyat’s Naturals on the weekends and still had my own clientele on the side. I decided to become a full-time natural hairstylist once that schoolyear ended, transitioning with ease into a new career field. Apart from the clientele at the salon, I would have my clientele at my home or I would go to theirs. I As a result, I needed my own space to do hair because I didn’t want people in my personal space all the time.
Before branching out on my own full-time, I worked at the salon for two years, working weekends and becoming a lead stylist. My business ‘Flourish with Aj’ opened in February 2022. My favorite word is “flourish” which means to grow. That word describes me and the evolving journey I am on. In my role as a natural hairstylist, I am responsible for promoting healthy, growing, natural hair. My relationships with clients and the relationship with their hair will also grow as I grow, hence the name ‘Flourish with Aj’.
I am incredibly proud of my business. I will always be grateful for the process that led me to where I am now – all praises to The Most High. A few of my key milestones include being booked months in advance, having a client from Australia, being interviewed, and getting Dallas publications to write about me. I am very grateful and I thank The Most High, my clientele, friends, family, and those who support me wholeheartedly.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vintaj.us
• Instagram: @vintaj___ and @flourishwithaj
• Facebook: Aj Byrd (AjByrdyyy)

Image Credits
Studio M for the cover photo and my hair photo. The rest were taken by me.