We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ann Wright-Joiner. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ann below.

Hi Ann , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.

I recently had a client come in for an appointment. She was a lady in her late 60’s and she is experiencing hair loss due to medication and menopause. She was just so hurt that she is losing her hair, and she was telling me how she felt less than a woman because of her hair lost. She was very emotional and she was hoping that I could help her find other alternative so she can stop wearing hats everyday. I reassured her that there a several other styles I can do so she can wear hair on her head and not be self conscious. The end results was shocking and surprising happy. We cryed together that day because she felt so lost for so long and now, she feels like she is a woman’s again. And she said that I had a new client for life because of how beautiful she feels now. I actually videoed her appt with he permission, and I posted it on my Skilz Studio page on Facebook, so other women can see that just because you are experiencing hair loss don’t mean you can’t wear other styles with extensions.

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

I started doing hair when I was 15. It can easy to me. I knew by the time I graduated high school that I wanted to be a hairstylist. I worked in several other people salon, and always problem with other stylist because their clients wanted to sit in my chair. After getting kicked out for taking clients, I decided to open my own salon. I had been on my own since I was 17, so I always worked jobs, but opening my own business, I knew I had to work hard to keep it open. I’m a self taught stylist. Every style that was out, I practiced on my friends and taught myself how to do them. Back then, we didn’t have YouTube, so had to teach myself how to do styles. I use professional products only, because clients don’t want to pay a stylist to use products they can buy theirselves. I offer several services, because I didn’t want to turn away money, so I learned a lot of techniques and services. The biggest problem is I create style for women with hair loss, What set me apart from other stylist is I’m more than just a stylist, I have the desire and motivation to be better than yesterday. This is a passion for me, so I don’t see it as work. I’m a Creative Artist. Also, I think my professional environment, the way I cater to my clients, I go above and beyond to provide a great service everyday. I most proud of how far I have come. Where I started, being on my own at 17, to being a single mom at 21, sticking to my goals, pushing my brand, while raising a child alone. My art ( hairstyles) is signature. People know my styles when they see it. I’m also constantly teaching myself new techniques, styles, teaching classes, content creating and always seeking new ways to improve my brand.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When the pandemic happened, all salons was shut down. So I had to figure out how to continue to make money without being in the salon. That’s when I started pushing creating my own wigs, styling them, coloring and cut styles, then selling them on my pages. I had to learn how to make money without going to the salon. That is also when I learn about content creating, and I started focusing on earning money from social media when the pandemic happened. Once I got comfortable being in front of the camera, it became easy, and I was offered to be a Paid Content Creator on 3 different platforms by videotaping my clients hairstyles, me creating wigs from the beginning to the end, and doing tutorials.

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

By the time social media became relevant to me, I had already had a base. I was known for styling hair. It was my daughter that taught me about the different social media platforms. Once I was on FB, I use to just post my hairstyles, mostly pictures. As time goes by, I learned about how to do videos, and the I learned about lighting and editing. I joined IG and Snapchat. I didn’t learn about TikTok until the pandemic happened. my daughter told me about it and once I learned, it toke off from there. There is where I learned how to bring my videos to life. It is also where I learned to connect with people by not only showing my styles, but allowing them to get to know me personally, through my videos. It’s was finally a face to the name that everyone knew. Now I get paid off Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to create content daily.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Hairbyskilz
• Facebook: Skilz Studio
• Linkedin: Ann Wright-Joiner
• Other: Pinterest: Hair by Skilz TikTok: Ann Skilz Wright-Joiner