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

Alecia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

A lot of entrepreneurs take it personal when they don’t get support from family and friends. I believe you don’t need your family and friends to support your business or social media if they are not part of your target market.

Your business is not created for your family and friends. Your business should be created to solve a problem for a particular group of people. Then you focus on where your ideal client/customer are and how you can help get them their desired outcome.

I have never expected my friends and family to support my business in any way. Now some have been supportive but I don’t rely on them or expect their support.

Complete strangers are the people that will help your business flourish and that is who entrepreneurs need to focus on.

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 was born and raised in Portland, OR. I am a licensed Cosmetologist; I work as a Hair Stylist and Educator. Outside of the salon I create educational hair styling content for social media.

I love helping other Hair Stylists develop their skills beyond what is taught in cosmetology school. I’m all about continuing education and sharpening your skills.

My journey hasn’t been easy but I have embraced the process. I am most proud of not quitting when people doubted me and tried to discourage me from becoming a Hair Stylist and posting my content on social media. If I would have listened to the naysayers I would not be where I am today.

What sets me apart from others is my boldness, I don’t care about what others think of me because that will only slow me down. I can style all hair types which is uncommon for most Hair Stylists. And I don’t wait for people to give me permission to start or create opportunities for me. I just go after what I want in life and I thank God for the opportunities that he has positioned others to give to me.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Burnout is a real thing!

After I graduated from cosmetology school I struggled to build my clientele in my new city of Las Vegas. In cosmetology school I wasn’t taught much about marketing and branding.

But I didn’t let that stop me from pursuing my passion in hair styling. I quickly jumped back into braiding because that was what I knew how to do very well. And with the help of the new Instagram video feature at the time I was able to get some new clients.

As I got new clients I struggled to find a good salon home. While I was between salons I was home-based, until I found a small salon suite to rent.

I built a consistent clientele but I was starting to feel burnt out physically and mentally. I knew my body was telling me to slow down so I listened and eventually closed my salon suite. I made sure to pass all my clients on to a new stylist who was really good at braiding.

During this time I got a job at a call center, focused on resting more, exercising and reading business books.

Shortly after the pandemic hit and I was stuck in the house like the rest of the world. I kept reading books, studying social media, listening to personal development videos and took time to think about what I really wanted to do as a Hair Stylist.

Fast forward to 2022 I decided to post braiding tutorial reels on Instagram. I posted one reel everyday for 30 days and my following started to grow very quick. I grew to over 100K in 4 months.

Then I decided to enter the Behindthechair OneShot Awards, Texture Style Awards and the Hairbrained Awards. I placed in the semi finals in all three for hair braiding. During this time I created my first online hair braiding course that did very well.

Since then I have continued to have success as a Hair Stylist and on social media journey.

Remember don’t share you vision with people that haven’t been where your trying to go. And it’s ok to take a break to regroup but never give up on what you want in life.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

Email list are a gold mind…

I leanred having a big following is good. But if you’re not collecting your followers emails having a following doesn’t hold too much value outside of the app. Because at any time an app could be shut down and you will be left with nothing. For example when TikTok shutdown and then came back hours later. I didn’t panic because I could still talk to my people.

Emails are gold because most people don’t change their email address. Emails are a very reliable way to stay in direct contact with your people outside of social media apps.

Your email list helps you build a trusting relationship with your community and it’s where you can make offers.

Every entrepreneur needs a lead magnet to collect emails on their business website and social media platforms. Without an email list your business can crumble.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @aleciasvageeducation

Image Credits

Photos of Alecia Savage by Julia Lindly

Photos of hair models by Alecia Savage