We recently connected with Ester Yuabova and have shared our conversation below.

Ester, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Who is your hero and why? What lessons have you learned from them and how have they influenced your journey?

My personal hero is my mom. As Jewish immigrants from a predominantly Muslim and conservative country of Uzbekistan, women were raised to be soft, subservient and quiet. Not my mama. She is unapologetically fierce, independent and bold. She exemplified from a young age that no matter the circumstance, with unyielding hard work and diligence, no goal is unattainable. I grew up watching my mother work 3 jobs, as well as a full time nursing student with 2 small children and no English language. She acquired degree after degree and became a professor and then a doctor of nursing and eventually opened her own practice. Marina Yuabova taught me how to feel the fear, and do it anyway. My personal hero is my mom. As Jewish immigrants from a predominantly Muslim and conservative country of Uzbekistan, women were raised to be soft, subservient and quiet. Not my mama. She is unapologetically fierce, independent and bold. She exemplified from a young age that no matter the circumstance, with unyielding hard work and diligence, no goal is unattainable. I grew up watching my mother work 3 jobs, as well as a full time nursing student with 2 small children and no English language. She acquired degree after degree and became a professor and then a doctor of nursing and eventually opened her own practice. Marina Yuabova showed me that it was ok to feel the fear, and gave me courage do it anyway.

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?

My origin story is unique. I possess a formal education (BA, MA, CASAC) in clinical psychology, specifically substance abuse and addiction. I always saw myself as someone helping people, but never saw myself veering off in such a different direction such as hair.

In 2016 I was working as a substance abuse specialist for the government, I took a masterclass to learn how to do Hollywood waves on myself because I couldn’t find a stylist who was able to do them for me. This led to a small side hustle doing special occasion hair for family and friends on the weekends in an effort to pay my loans. In 2018 I was pregnant with my first child and I made the decision to leave my job for the government and focus my time on my new baby and something that would fulfill my overwhelming desire to pursue creativity.

The moment I finished my first ever hair extension installation, and saw the expression on the clients face, her boost in confidence, the gleam in her eyes; from full head of hair! I was sold.

I have made it my mission and my purpose to help women build confidence and feel beautiful, and In the process, I am feeding my artistic soul.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media can feel overwhelming when you don’t know where or how to start. I have found that I have built a nurturing community by showing up for my following. I have opened myself up to my vulnerabilities, my challenges, interests, and simply just being human.

If you are waiting for the right equipment or the right time or the right content in order to begin posting, DON’T! We all started from nothing and, social media only gets easier the more you post. Just post! If it doesn’t feel right, you can always delete it

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

I provide a luxury beauty service, which means that every single client that walks out of my salon is my walking business card. I make sure that I am proud of every transformation, and this way, my clients reccomended me to their friends and family and even strangers/passerby’s on the street.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://g.co/kgs/EKuvwv
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hairbyester/?hl=en

Image Credits
@magnatphotography @sarahborukhov @vandyphotography @rebecaphotography