We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daeja Woodard a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Daeja, appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents did so many things right when it came to exposing me to different people and walks of life as it pertains to careers. I get my grit and work ethic from my mom- she’s easily one of the hardest working people I know. She will work around the clock in her real estate business until she sees the results she desires for her clients. She has been that way for as long as I can remember even before she was an entrepreneur.

My dad is Mr. Figure It Out and the CEO of execution. He can decide with ease that he wants to learn something, build something, or teach himself a new skill and simply does it. It usually takes him a few hours of internet research to get the gist of something before he attempts to do something and he makes everything look good. I genuinely cannot recall a time where he’s ever failed at something, not because he got everything perfect all the time but because he can never accept defeat, so even on occasions where he’s working on something and it doesn’t end the way he wants, he keeps going at it until he can succeed.

Collectively, my parents exposed me to going to get what I want. It was never a matter of deciding what you want, all we have to do is decide how we want to go about obtaining it, whether it be an education, a goal, a business endeavor- it’s all possible for me, and once I really understood that, nothing was off limits to me

Daeja, 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?

I first embarked on my cosmetology journey at the age of 16 when I as a junior in high school. At the start of my junior year, I also started cosmetology school. During this time, I also picked up a part-time job at a barbershop, all, I wanted to do was immerse myself in the industry in every way I could.

Today, almost a decade later, I am the proud owner of The HD Experience, where I cater to women who seek to embrace and celebrate their natural hair. My clients love my work because I take hair care and service to another level. One of the main aspects of my business that set me apart is my level of dedication to my business and myself.It is what drives me and allows me to show up and execute at the level that I do each and every day for my clients. As a result, they get the best of me consistenty- always. Providing services to people can be extremely transactional in the beauty industry but for my clients it much more significant than that, we connect, relate, and better each other and so many invaluable ways.

My path to success has not been devoid of challenges on any level. I have had tp overcome numerous personal, professional, and mental hurdles to get to where I am and it absolutely does not happen without sacrifice. Like many entrepreneurs, the road is never truly linear, there are quite a few detours that add a little extra sparkle to my story. For starters, I went to cosmetology school twice, because the first program that I accumulated over 1000 hours (for a license that requires 1500 hours) was not accredited. That experience was extremely discouraging to me at the time but fortunately did not stop me.

One of the things I am most proud of is my ability to bet on myself. In this industry, there are a million ways to operate. No one is ever going to be looking over or after you, so you have to constantly get clear on what you want, why you want it, and decide that you are going to make it happen relentlessly. There are no true measures of success, just results or the lack thereof,

I want everyone to know that you can quite literally have whatever you want in this world, but you absolutely have to be willing to sacrifice for it and put in the work to get there. If you’re anything like me, you’ll look for every sign in the world to give youb permission to do something that you already know you have the desire to do. You don’t need permission- your desires are enough reason to embark on anything. But let this be your sign to do it, start, end, pivot, etc!

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Oh my goodness, absolutely. Books, podcasts, interviews, etc are extremely important to me because they are how I receive so much incredible information! Books allow me to get int he minds of people I have never even stepped into rooms with. Here are 5 from my top favorites, I try to reference or reread them intentionally and frequently. I keep a running list in my phone for this reason: The 12 Week Year (Brian P Morgan)
The 4 Agreements (Don Miguel Ruiz)
Outwitting the Devil (Napolean Hill)
The Mountain Is You (Brianna Wiest)
Everyday Magic (Mattie James)

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

One of the biggest lessons I’ve had to learn is to trust myself.

Starting out in this industry so young, it’s so easy to take on the opinions of other people. Asking and consulting about what to do in certain situations and looking to others for “answers” or the “right” thing to do was my biggest downfall. In entrepreneurship, there are a million different routes to go but you have to keep yourself, vision, and goals at the forefront. And of course remember that you know yourself, your tolerance, and your desires- so don’t outsource your decisions or look for validation.

Contact Info:

• Website: thehdexperience.as.me
• Instagram: @TheHDExperience
• Facebook: The HD Experience
• Other: TikeTok: TheHDExpHair

Image Credits
Darren Miller Photography