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

Alana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I get people all the time ask me…. “How are you successful in this field”. Being successful in the beauty industry amounts to more than just money. So many other things play a part in being successful owning your own business. First and foremost you have to be a genuine person within. I think it takes a great kind hearted person to listen to what the consumer wants and what they desire and require because without them, my business would not be standing today. I make sure that any question a client has prior to book, during booking, and after booking are answered to the best of my ability. I want them to feel comfortable with the style they are choosing and how I will go about conducting service. I also pay attention to their body language and nature. If they want to engage in conversation during the service i engage back. If they are a quiet person that is okay too I’ll make sure there is a show on the television they want to watch so they can be comfortable throughout their service. In my opinion the hospitality, and good nature a business owner has sets up the business for success or failure. Some people will be life long clients/customers just because of the person you are. :)

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Alana. A.K.A. Christine (which is my middle name). Owner of Creations By Christine. I am a licensed Cosmetologist specializing in Braiding and custom color blends. I’ve always loved anything that had to do with beautifying. Makeup, hair, skin you name it. Ive always circled back around to that hobby and interest. In high school I was starting to apply to colleges and just didn’t know what my major would be, none of the majors interested me. That’s when I knew cosmetology was my calling. From then when I graduated high school in 2019 I immediately started cosmetology school and I immediately fell more in love with the craft. I then realized what I wanted to do was braid. I’ve always had the skill of braiding from a very young age and it was easiest from me. Since then I started doing hair full time in 2020 and have been happy ever since. after a year of doing hair full time I got more interested in doing colorful braids, which is where I discovered doing color mixes and color blending with braiding hair. The possibilities are endless. I am now most known for doing the braids of WNBA basketball star Aliyah Boston while she was in college at the University of South Carolina. I not only was super excited about being able to showcase my work in a broad light but it also meant so much to me because that showed younger girls who look like me that they can wear whatever color braids they want and be proud of the person they are. I also love being able to have people walk out feeling like a brand new person even when they are nervous at first. I get many clients who are nervous about trying a style or color or has hair loss in certain areas so it can be challenging to provide a service given those parameters. But it is my job as the stylist to talk through all options, possibilities and choices so that my client and I come to a compromise so that they can walk out feeling confident and with a smile on their face. I want everyone to know that your hair is a big part of you and it shapes you as a person so you have to love what you walk out of my chair with. I create magic and would live to bring whatever ideas you have to life. The sky is the limit when it comes to this industry you just have to say the word.

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

A lesson I had to unlearn was trying to make everyone happy. It is just not possible in this industry for everyone to be happy. I found myself putting more time into working than for myself. I found myself getting very Burnt out at the end of the days because I didn’t want to turn people away. If someone needed their hair done I would take them. I had to realize this will set me up for failure in the long run to where my career could potentially end early due to not taking care of my self. As a result , I now block on my schedule the days I take for myself but still balancing out to where I take clients throughout the week so that it doesn’t hurt me and I can still fit in as many people as my schedule will allow.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Another important part for a business in this day and age is SOCIAL MEDIA. As a person in the beauty industry, people want to see your work. Yes, word of mouth is about how I reach 30% of my clientele but the other 70% is on social media. When I immediately knew this was my calling i created separate business accounts on social media to showcase my work. The key is to be consistent, posting at least once a day. People need to see you are active on social media. Also having great lighting, the music in videos and clear pictures also all play apart in social media success. You can never start too late always start, and don’t doubt yourself. There’s a picture you might say “oh this doesn’t look too good” post it because a potential client may think it looks amazing and want to book.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cbccreations.as.me/
• Instagram: @cbc.creations