We recently connected with Charlene Williams and have shared our conversation below.

Charlene, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Yes, a Name speaks volumes regarding a person. When God gave me the vision to open my 1st salon in 1997. I knew I wanted the name to represent me and what I believed in. One day while praying and reading… The word INTEGRITY just stood out to me. It 100 percent represented what I desired to have as a business owner. So, Integrity Day Salon was the name I chose for my 1st business. Then every subsequent business since then has “Integrity” in it.

Charlene, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Growing up I always wanted to help people. I am a problem solver.. At least that’s what I think. lol. My first heart was to become a Licensed Professional Counselor, but unfortunately, during that time not many people in my community went to counseling. So, my family just didn’t see that going to college for that would have been a great ideal. LOL, OH if we could have only knew the future.

But Needless to say, I didn’t pursue counseling but I did the next best thing. I became a Licensed Cosmetologist.

If you have ever been in a barbershop or beauty salon you will known a lot of counseling goes on in those chairs. lol

As my business grew, I also had the opportunity to meet more women and hear what their greatest concerns were.

Many women are so busy taken care of those around them, they neglect themselves.

As I am blessed to serve each person who trusts me and sits in my chair, several things happen. Not only do I get to speak life to them with nurturing words, I also get to see the transformation of the frowns or utter frustration turn into smiles and laughter. Just at the point when the chair is, being turned around and they take that first look at themselves with their styled hair. It was exhilarating! Most of the women I service simply wanted to feel beautiful and valued. They want their hair to be healthy & vibrant.

Many clients never knew what products to use to maintain their hair at home. They were always asking me what I would recommend between visits.

I would ponder this question repeatedly. “Do I began learning more about what goes into making High Quality Hair Care Products?” For many years, I felt it was just out of my reach financially. I put the question in the “Unattainable” box.

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

Wow, the biggest lesson I am still learning is not to be afraid of failing. I joined a mentoring group which has truly been and still is helping me today. Many times in life especially when you are building something the greatest fear is always failing. Being afraid of making mistakes.

In my Leadership Training, this is the 1st principal they debunk… It is Powerful to fail at something. You are in a learning season when you fail at a task, a vision or even a project. The failure does not define you as a loser it defines you as an overcomer if you learn to stand up, and face the issue. Learn from the failure, and begin to rebuild with the knowledge gained during the time of “Failure”.

I have also learned if I am waiting for perfection, I have already lost the battle. Many times, we are wasting time with second-guessing ourselves and looking for everything to work like the vision in our head. It is not always going to work that way. Instead of second-guessing and overthinking things we should pray about what you want, make a plan, then execute the plan. Make sure that you continue moving forward and never ever STOP. I believe if I am in motion I am making progress.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Pivoting-Re-branding-Re-building is something every business owner needs to do easily. We can never be struck on something that is not working. If your vision is not meeting the needs of your audience then you are not filling the gap that is missing.

Being willing to pivot and connect yourself with others to help you see yourself and your business from the eyes of the consumer is necessary.
I have partnered with other Brand Builders, Business Coaches and a Faith Coach who is helping “hone in on my why” and keep driving me to the front and encouraging me to never lose sight of my business profile and my values.

I had several product that were not moving off the shelves as fast as other products. But I didn’t want to change my vision, until my mentor asked a questions about why am I wasting time force feeding people something they are not asking for… You must seek to understand what the consumer is asking for and modify YOUR agenda to meet their needs. I did not have the time or the money to keep losing so I started to re-frame my products. I started studying my analytics on what was my highest selling product and ran reports so it made it very easy to understand what wasn’t working and what was working. I then turned my energy to those items and now I am going full force to keep my selling ratios high.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.idshaircare.com
• Instagram: @ids_haircare
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/idshaircare
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/charlene-williams-55920943

Image Credits
Charlene Williams Bonnie Coleman Keshana Small Stacy Exum Shenika Phillips