We recently connected with Brittany Roland and have shared our conversation below.
Brittany, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?
Well I’ve recently posted a service on my website, that is not viewable to new clients, called I ❤️ my clients. I have certain clients that I have been servicing for years and some over the last two years and I wanted to make them feel appreciated. Most of my styles start at $180/$200 so my promotion for them is 2 styles of their choice for $150 that they can use at any time during this calendar year. Some would think that’s crazy because braiding itself is time consuming, but I wanted them to know I value them. It’s not only about the money for me it’s about the loyalty they have for me as well.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My mother went to cosmetology school when I was about 3 years old and would sometimes take me and my brother with her while pregnant with my other brother and I immediately fell in love with the art of hair. It is just something about changing someone’s hair to make them look and feel good. Every doll I got as a child wound up with a hair cut, hair color (done with kool aid packets lol) or braids. By the age of 11, I began to do my own hair and from there started braiding and doing others’ hair. I went to cosmetology school 3 different times before I finally finished and when I did I was so proud of myself! I was proud of myself because I stuck through it, learned new things, and was able to step out of my shell of being scared to promote myself. What I love most about doing hair is creating different things for fashion shows, hair shows, or even just for a flyer and would love to make my way into platform hair styling.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
A learn I had to unlearn was “it takes money to make money.” While that is slightly true, it’s not the only thing you need when starting a business. It takes knowledge, it takes persistence, and more than anything believing in yourself. I had to believe in myself and support myself more than anything because I wasn’t getting as much supporters in the beginning. Sometimes the “support “ I thought I was getting was just people wanting something for free just to look good. No shares on social media, no referrals to others about my work just then getting their styles and going on about their day. I had to stop letting it bother me and start promoting myself. I do some of the services others won’t do, and what set me apart is I care about the health of my clients hair whereas some only care about finishing fast and making money. I’m not saying that’s how everyone is, but I have come across some stylist that are that way. I had to push myself to continue to market my services and business and still have to push myself because I don’t want to get too comfortable not promoting myself and lose everything I’ve worked so hard for.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I opened my own salon suite a year ago and was able to do what I wanted and set my own schedule and of course life happens. I ended up giving up my suite to take care of home. With my specialty being in braids, depending on the style I can’t just start at 10 am and finish by 1:30pm. So at first I’d only do hair on weekends or late evening appointments after getting my kids out of school but realizing it was too much stress on me and I was losing more money than I was making ( because I still had the rent for my suite, business expenses. And personal bills) I decided to give it to and go back to work. Even though I went back to work, what I gave up was the suite but still have my business. I went from a full service salon suite, to a full service traveling stylist. I began to travel to all of my clients which was a little more convenient for them because I could just service them right out of their homes. I bring everything with me from an inflatable sink for them to lay back in for a shampoo, to a dryer, products, styling tools and hair. I made use of it and then pretty soon quit the job I was at. I still had to work around my kid’s school schedules but was able to still do what I love. I did find another job to have as a backup plan once I received my first degree, an associate’s in business, that is helping me to get to where I want to be financially so that my next step would be to buy a building and have my own shop space that I own. It’s okay to have a business and work a job at the same time, because it will all work out in the end it’s just how you balance the two and decided which is more important. I still make more money doing hair some months than I do at work, but I keep both for the time being because I have a plan😊 
Contact Info:
- Website: brittreneelocdnloadedstyles.as.me
- Instagram: Perfect_slaybybrittrenee
- Facebook: Loc’d N Loaded Stylez by BrittRenee
- Other: Tiktok @locdnloadedbraidz
Image Credits
I’d like to thank my brother, Marcus Heyward for the amazing professional shot of me and you can all follow him on Facebook @crews nation media and Instagram crews_nation_media he is an amazing photographer and is building his own business as well. I’d also like to thank Tzipporah braids for the action shots she got of me at a giveback event where myself along with other braiders gave back and did children’s hair for free earlier this year.