We recently connected with Alanna Fulford and have shared our conversation below.
Alanna, 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?
Being a business owner comes with a lot of ups and downs. Within that, I believe that happiness comes from understanding your WHY for being a business owner. For me, it’s not because I enjoy being a hairstylist, it’s being able to enjoy the freedom of setting my own schedule, making the rules, and being able to set the tone for the lifestyle I want to have. The feeling of wanting to go back to a “regular” hasn’t happened for me in a very long time, well over 5 years ago. In fact in all honesty I’ve never liked being on “regular” jobs, I’ve only had them because things were slow for me in the beauty industry. However now I understand the importance of finding your specialty, mastering it, and capitalizing of that.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Most people come into this industry wanting to know how to do hair, however for me it was just a God given talent. I have been a hairstylist since I was 15 year old; this is when I took my first client. my specialty is braiding, so I have been mastering it for a very long time. Throughout the years I have built a name for myself, but it wasn’t until about two years ago that I really started to dive in on how to actually maintain the business, build business credit, and learning how to sustain your clientele. In order to do these things effectively, I had to be willing to learn from others that were further along in this industry than I was. So I took classes, found a mentor that I could bounce ideas off or come to when I was feeling overwhelmed with this, and most importantly applied everything that I was learning into my business. In doing this, it has allowed me to built a great clientele, and open up my very own salon.
Opening my salon has been one of my most proudest moments within my career of being a hairstylist. Two and a half years ago when I decided to go back full time doing hair I made a promise to myself, that this time around there would be no going back to a “regular” job. So I did what need to be done and invested in my business and stayed consistent. In doing this I was able to go from doing hair at home to opening a salon suite six months later, then a year after that opening my own salon. It wasn’t easy, and there were plenty of days that I wanted to give up but giving up wasn’t an option. I’m order for me to do this in such short period of time I started specializing in what is called knotless braids. By doing so, within those two years I became known as the knotless guru.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Although I feel that I am still in the growing phases of building my social media presence, staying consistent on posting and understanding who my target audience is has been a major part of me building my social media platform. When you stay consistent in your posting it shows your audience that you dedicated to your work and provides them with a sense of security if they are looking to book with you. Being able to understand your target audience starts with understanding what kind of people or service you a wanting to provide. If you are trying gain clientele, posting your client’s experience, showing how much they love want you have done is going to draw people in that are wanting to book a service. Overall you just have to be present.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
There are a few things that I believe has helped me build my reputation within my market. The customer service that I provide to my clients is what I believe has been the most influential factor in building my reputation. My clients know that they are able to depend on me when it comes to providing quality service. From making sure i am on time for every appointment, to ensuring that when they leave the salon they are feeling even more beautiful than when they came. The customer experience is one of the biggest factor that can make or break the growth of your business. Clients/customers want and need to feel that the money they are spending with you is valued, and this is why I strive to ensure that I provide A1 customer service to anyone that enters my salon.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://iamalannadenise.as.me/
- Instagram: Iam_alannadenise
- Facebook: Alanna fulford
- Other: TicTok: Iam_alannadensie
Image Credits
Alanna Fulford