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

AKera, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My mission is to restore women and men crowns around the world with the proper hair and scalp care. I also provide information on products and tools needed to carry out the goal in the chair and at home. We all know that when your hair looks good you feel good and that is the experience you will get when you’re a guest in my salon.

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?

I am a master stylist that started out as a young lost girl trying to find my way. When I would comb hair, I was escaping my reality by doing me and my little cousins ponytails getting us all ready for school. I would clean my hair buckets detangling all the hair bows organizing them by color. I braided my brother’s hair and was horrible at braiding, but I kept practicing determined to get my braids neat and parts perfect. I was learning other styles along the way that were popular and in high demand and that kept me determined and my mind clear. When my family realized how good I was my hobby turned into cash flow. I remember making my first $15 bucks it was up from there and I never looked back. Once I realized that my talent could not only keep me grounded and make me lots of money, I took it more seriously and practiced every chance I could. I would do other girls’ hair and cornrow for low prices to build up my clients. I was only 12yrs old with a small steady flow of people. When I dropped out of high school I got married, had two girls my career being a licensed stylist was on the back burner and to be honest it was not really a goal of mines because growing up in my times being an entrepreneur was not a thing so college was the only thing being pushed. Time fast forwards my girls were getting older and I got tired of being and kitchentician I was overworked and underpaid. That’s when I knew I needed to take a leap of faith and get licensed. When I graduated and got licensed, I thought the big bucks were going to roll in I quickly learned that my clients was not going to stay once I raised my prices. So, I started working for other companies and went right back to being overworked and underpaid with a lot of new clients. I was so scared to jump out there on my own because I knew the risk of starting over. One day I walked into the salon I was working for and was told I was fired, right then and there I knew I had to jump off the porch and become my own boss. It took a lot of discipline to keep going even when I didn’t know where my journey was headed. I took what I learned and picked right on up where I left off renting out a booth space.  I now have my own business  offering top tier services providing, bonnets, scrunchies, growth oil, bundles, etc..  When it comes to natural hair call me the problem solver of having a horrible experience and wanting to go back to the relaxer. My guest leave feeling more confident about having natural hair and more aware of any scalp issues. I am relatable to my client’s creating bonds and watching them grow into feeling comfortable wearing they own hair having amazing results, that separates me from other salon chair operators. I am proud of my ability to grow my client’s hair out and them experiencing what healthy hair feels like. Seeing the beautiful smiles when they leave my chair is my biggest flex. My guest leave with a clear understanding on what it takes to achieve healthy hair and to maintain the results. I Am HairByKera your healthy hair guru, If I can’t grow your hair its deeper than that. I eat sleep breathe hair been and has been in business for over 20+ years. I am an influencer for a huge brand EAP Heat. I also just birthed my new baby UpperHairchelon offering waxing, facials, braiding and lash extensions with exceptional luxury hair spa amenities.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I built my audience through clubhouse putting out clean crisp work and being consistent. My advice to any creator just starting out, invest in your production lighting and a good camera. I use my iPhone for all my material, so I invested in the best phone that was available when I first started creating my content. Make sure to get around like minded creators who can help you grow, create and build. Cross promo is also one of the best tools to get your brand to stand out. Get you a team of people who can help you record, find a few muses who will allow you to create and work with them along the way and never stop promoting. 

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the biggest lessons I learned  while climbing to the top was that everyone don’t want to see you win once they see your success rolling in. When I started creating content clients started to roll in but some of the people who I thought was supporting was becoming envious of my success. I had to unlearn that everyone was genuinely happy for me. I had to unlearn that the people around me Watching was supporting, they were just that, WATCHERS. I quickly had to look to strangers for the true support. It was a hard pill to swallow but I prayed on my brand and kept learning and growing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hairbykera.as.me
• Instagram: _hairbykera
• Facebook: HBK Kera
• Linkedin: AKera Harvey
• Twitter: hairbykera
• Youtube: hairbykera

Image Credits
Photo Cred goes to terrenncejacksonphotography.com (IG) trj__photography