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

April, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

As a Single Mom and Entrepreneur Life can be hectic and some crazy situations can arise! Over a year ago on Valentine’s Day to be exact I was a target of a Break-in and vandalism to by business. Just imagine how It could feel to get a phone call saying your business was broken into. Gosh, it was a devastating emotional experience after I had just fully recovered from the Covid pandemic closures and loss of regular business due to Covid-19. As a small business owner I unfortunately wasn’t able to get any pandemic ppp funding due to exhausted funds for small business owners thus, this situation was a setback to say the least. I had the help from fellow barbers, clients and Wahl Clipper Corp. provide tools and products to get me back into business in the meantime. Unexpected events such as these can put doubts and negative thoughts into your head as to if you even want to stay open as a owner. Your mind starts to race It’s like the fear of failure takes control and giving up is the easy way out. Sad they never did catch the thieves who broke in that day. Flash forward to 2022 I have been blessed with many new opportunities such as a fun collaboration with Idlehandcollective & Wahl Clipper Corp. to create a creative mix of barbering meets Music Festivals. I was able to start providing professional Moblie services for Musicians, Athletes, & Music festivals. My business Fade and Blade Studio has provided some professional Haircuts for artists such as Fitz and the Tantrums, Foo Fighters, Tame Impala, Dillion Francis and Many more to just name a few. I’m A firm believer in goals and achieving them! As a young Entrepreneur this is something that I’ve always wanted to do as a professional hairstylist /Barber. My Business will now have an opportunity to work these events in the future all I can say is that it feels like a dream. I couldn’t have done it without my Tony and Close support system who has had to deal with me working many long days on my feet and traveling on weekends missing out on family events. Being an Entrepreneur isn’t a lifestyle for everyone it’s a way of life! Some can handle it when everything is going well, but once it gets tough that’s where you know how much ambition and drive you really have to make the business succeed. If you are ever in the North Phoenix area please check out my shop Fade and Blade Studio! I’m located inside “Spark” salon suites I-17 and Happy valley Road. My Instagrams: @FadeAndBladeStudio @FadeAndBladeHair

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is April I’m a Female Barber, Hairstylist, Educator, Entrepreneur & Mom. I currently have a shop located in North Phoenix called Fade And Blade Studio. We provide all types of services for all types of hair as we say all Hair is welcome! I provide services for anyone including professionals, artist, actors, & athletes. I have sacrificed a lot in a short amount of time to get to where I’m at in my career I first started out going to college at ASU for graphic design in which I realize that was not the type of work I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was able to get my professional license in cosmetology then go back to school and get my other two licenses one for educational instruction in Cosmetology & Barbering. In my second year of my career I was able to audition and make a international haircutting team in which I would travel around the country up until Covid hit and teach barbering to professionals in my industry I did all this under the age of 35 . It takes discipline but I was able to create a comfortable living situation for my two kids and still have a career that I love to drive to work as I’m thinking this is awesome I’m blessed to work a job that feels like a dream. My shop is for anyone looking for a vip treatment most ask about products, I currently use all Wahl, & Reuzel Barbering products.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Short and sweet trust is a hard lesson to learn. I have been scammed by clients, taken advantage of by a so called business partner industry lessons learned it’s hard to trust that people will do the right thing.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I started with many paychecks saved up from working 2 jobs for other people. I never wanted to owe anyone anything to start my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fadeandbladestudios.com
• Instagram: Fadeandbladehair
• Facebook: @fadeandbladestudio
• Youtube: Fadeandbladestudio

Image Credits
Decadence Relentless Beats Event