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

Hi Alonda, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

At the tail end of 2020, I decided to pack up my things, leaving behind only what could fit in my car, sent my youngest son off to be with his dad for about a week and drove with my oldest son and our dog, to San Tan Valley, AZ. I left my career, my home, and everything I knew, because of an impulse. I learned a lot of hard lessons that I later realized were valuable and beneficial. I became a completely different person, I didn’t recognize myself by the time I came back to my hometown, which was about 7 months later. I struggled with my identity, my lifestyle, relationships…pretty much everything. I took that risk without a plan and it surely felt like it backfired on me but a diamond has to be polished in order for you to see the beauty of it, but no one ever said that process would be easy…so here I am. While I was away, I began channeling melodies, which then became full songs, which then inspired me to record music. Shortly after I came back, I named myself Lunar Goddess, not fully knowing or having any innerstanding of who I truly was, all I know is I was on a ride before I could even buckle my seatbelt.

Alonda, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a Hair Care Specialist, who focuses on the health & wealth of the hair and scalp. I began that journey soon after graduating high school back in 2006. I didn’t get to go to college, I became depressed and then one day I decided I was going to enroll in a school for cosmetology. I got myself into it and struggled to complete the program because of emotions I couldn’t control at the time. There was so much going on in my young life that everything felt like too much to handle. I struggled with my mental health big time but I was very close minded at the time. Finally, after 3 years, and a lot of exhausting experiences, I graduated and started my journey as a hair stylist. After years of trying to finding some type of stability in my career, I ended up at a salon that became a stepping stool for my growth. It is where I began to make a name for myself. It took a long time after, to realize what my actual passion was in the industry, which is hair care. I knew in my mind I could fix anything, and I could! So, I was known as the stylist who could “fix it”. It’s not what people said verbatim, but they came to me to fix their hair all the time. I would get bothered by it for a long time before I innerstood it was my purpose, or at least one of them. People were coming to me left and right whether in person or through email/ DM’s about how I helped their hair grow and so forth and so on. I had no idea, I was just doing what I felt was right to do and at some point, I made it my strength…intentionally. I can honestly say I am loved and appreciated by many. I am well-respected because I have integrity and I am genuine. I tell people all the time how I found a quote by Maya Angelou, back in like 2015 where she says “Don’t make money your goal, instead, love what you do so much, that people can’t take their eyes off of you” and so I stopped making money my goal. I heeded that message and low and behold, people could not take their eyes off of me, my work. Coming back to my hometown and getting back into my career, after a year of focusing on my own self evolution, was extremely difficult of an adjustment. One thing that kept me going up until now, is the love and support that I still receive from those who have continued to support me. I have lost many clients, and people I’ve considered friends and family, along the way, but I make peace with what is and what is no more and I continue to live everyday in a state of gratitude and appreciation because I know there is more for me to do on this earth, in this lifetime and I’m going to do as much of it as God’s timing will allow.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Being at the right place at the right time is what helped build my reputation. What helped me to maintain that, was being on time for my clients. Showing up before I needed to, but not only that, providing my clients, whether new or old with the great experiences and skilled services that were driven by passion. Don’t get me wrong, I am positive everyone who has sat in my chair and even some who have worked with me, didn’t all have great experiences. I still struggled with my mental health, but I also dealt with a lot of personal issues that I was having a hard time resolving with little resources, so my attitude and my energy were not always pleasant. It didn’t necessarily change my work ethic, however, it most certainly hanged how I operated in the salon. That was a pivotal time in my life, which led to me making multiple decisions to branch off on my own. Those decisions then led to other lessons that taught me how to structure a business, run a salon, manage a team and so forth. Quite a journey but still, my reputation means everything to me so to this day, I stand on integrity, and my clients come to me knowing without a doubt that I’m going to take care of them every time.

Any advice for managing a team?

My advice to anyone managing a team, or thinking about it, would be to operate with yourself in mind. How would you like to be treated? If the shoe were on the other foot or when the shoe was on the other foot, what would’ve helped you? My advice would be to listen to your inner compass but also to your team. Be considerate of those who are working with you, around you and “under you”. A solid reminder to anyone is that we can not do everything on our own all the time. Help is necessary and needed in one way or another, so being able to work well with other people can be a rewarding experience if you allow it.

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