We recently connected with Cierre Lanae and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cierre, thanks for joining us today. Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?

I always had a passion for hair at a very young age. My mom taught me how to do loc maintenance. My very first loc client was handed down to me from my mom, in 2010. That client was my cousin, Dr. Ryan Marques Harrison. I was very nervous to style his locs because I didn’t have much experience with loc styles, only with loc maintenance. I’ll have to admit, he was pretty nervous too lol. He was able to let his guard down and trust me with styling. It turned out better than I was expecting it to. He actually still have photos of the very first time I did his locs!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Many people know me as Cierre Lanae. I am a loctician located in Baltimore MD. I’ve started my business with braiding before I transitioned into locs. I have been a loctician for about 9 years. I launched my own loc gel line, edge control and rose water. All are available for purchase online at www.lanaelocs.com. I love attracting clients who need loc restoration. I love to see their reaction to the finished product! I provide loc extensions, starter locs, instant locs, wicks, loc retwist, loc restoration, loc reattachment, and loc styling. What sets me apart from others is my strong work ethic. Literally, I could have my baby in a carrier connected to me while I style my clients locs! That is how passionate I am with my business. I am most proud of my ambition. I say this because when I was pregnant with my daughter, I went through so much. During the entire pregnancy I was literally sick as a dog but I still managed to service my clients. There were times where I had to reschedule due to my sickness and complications, but I did not let that stop me. After giving birth I literally had a fast recovery. I was hesitant at first to get back into servicing my clients so fast, but I took a step out on faith and God has literally been showing out!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

The way I built my audience on social media was through a posting schedule. I would schedule my posts for certain times of the day where the traffic on the sites would be used the most. By doing this it generated more traffic to my social media page and increase my followers.

My advice for those who are just starting to build their social media presence is to post, post, post. Even if you only get 1 like, still post! I learned that people are always watching your social media. Also another word of advice is to watch the way you vent on social media! This could easily kill your brand!

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele is through social media! I have had so many clients that I’ve serviced tell me that they searched on instagram for locticians in the area and my profile would be the first one to pop up in the search. They would check out my work, my work speaks for itself, and they would book me! It’s been simply amazing!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lanaelocs.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/cierrelanae

Image Credits
Photographer: The Lab Baltimore Model: Shannon