We were lucky to catch up with Frances Wright recently and have shared our conversation below.

Frances, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

The Biggest risk I took was becoming a storefront business owner of Styled Just Wight Hair Salon. This was the most significant risk to date for me, being a single parent to my two young daughters was scary, many thoughts and questions ran through my mind… is this the right move? Will I be able to manage a business and my home? will I lose my business? Will I make money? Will anyone want to work with me? Is this the right time? Am I qualified for this? and so many more questions.

But I choose to move forward and start my first Hairsalon. It took 6 months for me to get the building up and running and pass Building Inspection.
During those 6 months I faced many challenges, I went through 3 different plumbers because the first two didn’t know what they were doing and stated that they were licensed but later find out they only did work around their family and friends’ homes nothing on the scale of what I need to have done. I needed new pipes installed, shampoo bowls set up… everything.
Then there was the Electrical because I was upgrading the salon from a Check Cashing store to a Hair Salon I wanted new wiring, add-in electrical outlets, and upgrade some of the breaker amps. I needed someone who know what they were doing. I hired one company who stated that they could do everything and have to compete in 3 days it took him 3 weeks and I just fired him because he would work for a little and then leave or he wouldn’t show up for a few days. I then called another Company and they came I provided everything I needed and got the job done in two days.

In between all of the confusion and frustration money was running low and out, sometimes there were days through all of the demolition work I didn’t have money for the next project or thing that needed to be done so I would go and just sweep, or sit and think about how beautiful it was all going to be in the end, and then there were days when I would sit and think “did I bite off more than I can chew.”
But I kept going because there was no reason to turn back, I had made it this far and there was no way God was going to leave me.
And so November 2017 everything was complete, all I had to do now was pass the Inspection with the County, The first inspection I missed and had to reschedule, then on the second inspection I was told that I had to open up the ceiling, remove drywall that was previously there by other tenant and a few other things and then reschedule a third inspection, mind these appointments are not set up immediately you had to wait to get on the schedule. This went on for about 2-3 weeks
Then on December 6 I finally got the “Ok” to obtain my Business Occupancy License and ran down to the County Building.
I have now been in business for 5 Success years. If I had to do it all over again I probably would, I learned so much that could never be taken from me and I made a few connections along the way. I believe that when you have to put in the work, you will appreciate it and will not let anything or anyone come and tear it down or take it from you. There has been many more risk, opportunity, obstacles, and lesson that has been learned along the way and I’m very grateful that I had to strength to endure.

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?

I am a native of Orlando, Florida, I found a love for hair when I was about 11 years old, I always had a passion for the hair industry the way you make hair look and do what you wanted it to do, and I loved the atmosphere of the salon. I didn’t fully know that I could create a career in the hair industry until I became a young adult. I went back to school in 2009 to obtain my Cosmetology License.

I have been a License Cosmetologist for 12 years and have always dreamed of owning my own business, I own and operate a 9-chair salon. I specialize in Healthy Haircare, I also provide Luxury Hair extensions, and I have created my own Haircare Product line “Constant Haircare” where my biggest seller is my Liquid Gold Scalp oil. This oil was formulated to help dry and itching scalp and hair growth.

I am a Hairstylist who believes in healthy hair and believes that everyone can have healthy hair if they choose. I will never just provide a Client with a service that would later affect the health of their hair. I am known for bringing hair back to life… When you walk out the door you are my brand as I am yours so your hair must speak excellence. You can take a look for yourself by taking a peek at the Instagram Page @Frankiethestylist, make sure you click the “Follow” tab.

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 had to unlearn was because I have an idea or a thought for someone doesn’t mean they have to take it. A lot of times I have felt like if I told someone something or gave them an idea that they had to use it. I’m the type of person who wants to see everyone around me win no matter what.
So when I would share ideas or give them my thoughts about what they should do and if they didn’t do it, I would get offended or upset because they didn’t do it. But what I had to come to the understanding of was that they may not be prepared for what I provided, they may not be in a place to do it or they just may not want to do it, and I had to be okay with that.
So what I had to unlearn is that the best type of Leader is one who leads and allows their team to follow and not try to control what they do. Unlearning this has allowed to me connect more, Learn from them, and provide me with Peace.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Managing a team is hard and comes with a lot of pressure. I’ve had my good days and not-so-good days, I’ve had my best teammates, and I’ve had a few that just didn’t fit. But I had to figure out how to manage a team without being a “Boss” I had to let the term “Family” go and learn to first just be a team. I was trying to make something happen that should have allowed it to happen on its own. Once I let go of the term “family” go and allow the team to build itself without it being forced everything falls right to place.
I also had to come to know that no matter what I was looked at differently so I couldn’t do, say, or act in the way that I wanted to at all. I must remain Professional at all times. Its been hard at times but the respect level that I receive from my team is worthy.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.constanthaircare.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/frankiethestylist
• Linkedin: linktr.ee/frankie_wright
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCkrB6sSZEq1OlAny-Olggwg