We were lucky to catch up with DaShawn Fleming recently and have shared our conversation below.

DaShawn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

Much like bartender’s, cosmetologists and other professionals in the beauty industry constantly have cash flowing in and out of their hands. This forces many of us to believe that “it’s our money and I can spend it now!” But in fact it’s not our money and the moment that we begin to spend the money in our hand without accounting for it through the business, we begin to lack profitability. For years this was how I operated until I was introduced to the book Profit First by Mike Michalowicz. In this book Michalowicz prompts readers to first direct all income into one account (income account) and then distribute them into four different accounts (Tax, Profit, Owner’s Pay, Operating Expenses) which are allocated for different things within the business. In essence the biggest challenge in my industry is lack of financial literacy and understanding of business finances. Many of us go from beauty school to owning and operating our own business without the proper tools. My industry would be more profitable if we stopped spending money as soon as we received it, but also ensure that we are living within our means, buying only necessary tools and products for our services, while also paying ourselves.

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

DaShawn Fleming is a licensed cosmetologist with over a decade of specialized training and experience. A native of PG County, Maryland, Shawn knew as a little girl that the beauty industry was her calling. She would often say that after college, she would attend cosmetology school, however that goal manifested much sooner than that. DaShawn was able to graduate with both a HS diploma and cosmetology license through the Technical Academy Program at Bladensburg High School.

Since graduating from cosmetology school, DaShawn has advanced from a hair/salon assistant to the owner of D. Renee’ Hair Artistry. She is committed to continuously furthering her education and strives to attend at least one training, seminar, or conference a month; ensuring that she stays abreast of new industry trends, techniques, and products to suit her clients’ needs.

She prides herself in superb professionalism, customer service, and healthy haircare regimens for in-salon and at-home hair maintenance.

Located in Lanham, MD, DaShawn specializes in healthy hair care and offers natural hair services- silk presses, blowouts, color; protective styles- extensions, custom units, feedin braids, and other styling options.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

When I was a child, I always did my friends and people in the neighborhood’s hair. This prompted me to say that I would go to hair school after I finished college, but I was able to do that much sooner. I completed a cosmetology program during my last two years of high school and graduated with my cosmetology license.When I went to college I did hair in my dorm in between classes and on the weekends. I tried with everything in me to get a job at the mall, but no one would hire me, so doing hair was my only source of income for the entire four years. After I graduated college, I was committed to getting a job in the media industry, but was unable to secure my dream job. I did however find a full time job that I believed was something that it wasn’t. I stayed at that job for a little under 2 years. The entire time I was doing hair on the side. One particular weekend (4th of July) I made more than I did in 2 weeks at my full-time job. From that point on I had decided that I needed to resign. In September of that year, I put my two weeks in and have been a full-time cosmetologist ever since.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

My most effective strategy is word of mouth and having a visually pleasing instagram feed. These two strategies actually go hand in hand because even with word of mouth, potential clients want to see your work. Having a good portfolio to back up your referrals is key.

Contact Info:

• Website: dreneehair.com
• Instagram: @dreneehair
• Facebook: @dreneehair

Image Credits
Rodger Polk Photography (in salon DaShawn w/ model) Suaves Image (DaShawn cutting pink hair model) Damon Fleming (Pink hair model)