We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alicia Imani. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alicia below.
Alicia , appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?
I intend to own the world’s first minority-led beauty conglomerate. When a large conglomerate acquires a small or mid-size minority-owned business most consumers worry that the formula or quality of the product or goods will change for the worse. From the entrepreneurial stand point, being acquired by large companies should be the highlight of your career & celebrated by all, not a somber moment for your loyal customers.
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 Alicia Imani aka the Brow Master, I started working in a salon when I was 13 years old. Been a licensed cosmetologist since I graduated high school at 17. I started with hair and realized my passion was in makeup. I worked as a freelance artist for many brands; Lancome, Smashbox, Skincare brands and finally Anastasia Beverly hills whose focus was on eyebrows. I always happened to be pretty good at brows and after working for that brand for 2 years someone recommended me to wax eyebrows in Nordstrom, My career took some detours but I finally opened my own brow bar in 2018 and have expanded so much since then! I currently own a studio named Master’s of Beauty located in lanham, MD. My studio is a collaborative space for all different minorities, we offer beauty services, retail space, co-working and an event space for pop-ups, podcasts, launches, mixers, trainings etc. Of all different art & beauty mediums. We’ve been at our newest space for a little over 18 months and I hope that it becomes known for art & beauty collaborations, as well as the showcasing and scaling of small businesses. A space for people to network and grow together no matter their business.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I have been working in and out of the salon/beauty environment since I was 13 years old. I struggled a lot with self-employment in my early 20s. In hindsight, I wasn’t as disciplined as I needed to be. In 2018 I told myself to give it one more try. I was working at a luxury beauty salon and they randomly fired me! I was scheduled to visit my grandparents in south America but had clients on my schedule when I return 10 days later. I managed to email a few people on craigslist about salon spaces before I left the country & while I was gone one of them reached out to me. I never got the opportunity t see the salon space before i set out to rent before taking clients. This was also different from the luxury salon because instead of commission I had to rent a space. New renters had to pay upfront but I had NO money, what little I had after getting fired was spent while I was out of town. I asked the owner to be lenient, She allowed me to pay the first days rent at the end of the day, I only had 2 clients scheduled (Which wasn’t going to cover rent) I walked around the new shop introducing myself as The Brow Master. I managed to make the rent in a little under 2 hours and I never took another job again. I stayed at that studio for about a year. She kept raising my rent for different reasons and one day I noticed a for lease sign in the parking lot. I honestly figured I couldn’t afford to open my own salon I just wanted to know how much I needed to save up. Turns out, what she charged me in rent was the price of leasing the entire salon. So I opened my very first salon right across the parking lot; Named Master’s of Beauty. I fulfilled my lease there and now have a much bigger space with room for more growth !
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
Books, Podcasts, Music, and Positive vibrations
The subtle art of not giving a f*%# by Mark Manson- I love this book and the perspective it allowed me to see in my own life, helps me to not look at life as this thing that just happens to me. I may not control what happens but I control how I respond to it and how long it effects me.
I am my Brand by Kubi Springer – Helped me to look at how I want people to see my brand
I’m a Badass at making money by Jen sincero – Helped me to look at my relationship with money, how I spend it, how I make it.
Boss women who pray- This has 32 prayers for any and everything you could possibly go through during the course of trying to run a business. It is the most necessary book for anyone who believes in God and is running a business.
PODCASTS
Assets over Liabilities – Earn your Leisure
Girl CEO
Therapy for Black girls
MUSIC
W.A.Y.S – by Jhene Aiko gets me through so many rough days!!
as well as positive vibrations on youtube
Lastly, the Movie JOY with Jennifer Lawerence
its the true story of a woman who created a business dynasty facing everything adversity that life threw at her. Watching it reminds me that what I’m working towards is still possible even when it doesn’t feel like it.
Contact Info:
- Website: linktr.ee/MsMaster , TheBrowMaster.co
- Instagram: TheBrowMaster_
- Youtube: The Brow Master
Image Credits
DeAsia Photography