We recently connected with Danika Durden and have shared our conversation below.

Danika, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

How did I come up with the idea of selling hair? I’ve always been interested in beauty, everything beauty this includes hair, nails, makeup, getting dressed up. As a kid I wanted to be a model and of course that didn’t happen but I still love the whole industry of beauty/fashion. In the beginning of 2019 I did what most would call the “Big Chop” I cut all of my hair off to nothing. I cut off my long hair to a guys low cut. During the hair growth process I started to miss my hair and my need for change allowed me to explore hair extensions. I was purchasing hair extensions left and right and spending so much money for what I considered horrible hair. The quality of the extensions just didn’t please me in the least bit. The hair was overpriced and wouldn’t last one install. Hair is an investment and if you want it to last a long time you would have to spend the money but by no means did I want to spend the money on trash. So after purchasing a few bad “batches” of hair I started to research “Who has good hair? Where do certain celebrities get their hair from? How much does quality extensions cost? Where to get great quality extensions?” The list goes on and finally I purchased a vendors list from a popular instagram influencer and that was the start of my business idea. If I can find great hair at a reasonable price I could help so many people achieve their hair goals even if its temporary.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Hello everyone, hopefully new customers. My name is Danika, I am the owner of Bleu Avenue. Bleu Avenue is a brand that I started in 2019 because I wanted to share my love of beauty/fashion/trends with the world. Many people suffer from natural hair loss, some sort of disorder or disease that causes hair loss or just simply like to change their hairstyle more often like myself. I am in the business of beauty enhancers. I like to make people feel good through hair. Changing your hair daily/weekly is liberating. Sometimes cutting hair makes one feel empowered by letting go of old trauma (i.e dead hair). That is where my story began. I cut all of my hair off as a release of stress and old trauma whatever that might have been at the time and shortly after felt I needed to change my hairstyle. Only thing was I couldn’t, I didn’t have any hair to change. So I decided to purchase some hair, add it to my head and put it to the test for myself of course and that first purchased sparked an idea of what became my hair business. Since starting to be a retailer for hair I added mink eyelashes to my line and now the products I provide are raw Indian hair extensions as well as mink eyelash strips. Eventually, I want to be able to house an entire salon where someone would be able to come in purchase hair, get it installed, get their makeup done and even be dressed for an event. I want to be the reason many women smile.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been promotions. I feel when you consistently promote your business people can’t help but to notice. Find your targeted audience and feed into their interest. Promote, promote, promote and promote some more even if you think no one is paying attention. Don’t be discouraged by the lack of traffic, the lack of sales within the first few months, the lack likes on your social handles continue to promote. Stay up to date with your promo, always make new flyers for discounts, special occasions, or even existing customers. Existing customers like to feel appreciated, after all they do pay for your business to maintain so every now and again give them a special offer. That small incentive will make them want to come and encourage them to share what they like about your business with others and before you know it you’ll have new customers because of word of mouth.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think what helped me build my reputation within my market is knowing people. I speak highly of myself and my brand and the right ear might be listening at the right moment. Sometimes it’s not what you know but, who you know. I am a woman and I like to get dressed, do my makeup and do my hair. For those reasons alone I can relate to other women. Women who like to do the same so even if we don’t know one another personally we can relate to our similar interest what just might be our daily necessities. Something as simple as eating out for lunch can attract a new customers who see’s your hair and wants to know who did it or where did you purchase it. It’s all about using yourself to network and going back to my previous statement, promote. In any field of business treat your customers right and they will be long time customers and great promoters for your brand. I’ve done business with brands like Color Stains 333 and Yeaux Mama and their customer service is excellent. So much so to where I speak highly of their brands in normal conversation which will cause someone to ask where can I go look at their merchandise then boom a new customer for them. I regularly attend webinars from brands in my fields to help keep my interest, learn new things, network differently. I purchase a vendors list every 6 months with new hair and eyelash vendors to make sure I am getting the best quality products for my consumers. My reputation is all I have so I do my best to provide the best customer service as well as products so when my brand is mentioned in conversation nothing but things follow.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bleu.avenue/