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

Hi Galisia, thanks for joining us today. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

I show my customers I appreciate them in EVERY appointment and with every item that I hand create for them. While the hair braiding market can be super saturated year around, I have found from my clients that I stand out because I show up authentically at all times, whether it’s on social media, public meet ups, or during hair appointments. Many braiders tend to take more than one appointment per day, mainly because it’s more money; but I opt to ONLY take one appointment per day. I give each client my full time and attention, free of distractions and with availability to answer any questions or give any explanations that will help their time with me go smoother. I always plan in my head that it will be a full day service, even if per the timing it won’t. This intentional attention to my client’s comfort levels and ultimate satisfaction with their service has kept my reviews flowing for years and the money grows organically because they always come back just based on the experience but also because my work is always top tier.
The same thing goes for when I’m providing my hand knitted blankets. I dedicate my full time and attention to making each one, carefully, with love, in a clean peaceful space. I truly believe people can feel the energy that goes into creating each one.

Galisia, 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 started braiding hair in my dorm room in 2003. A friend of mine needed help working through her late night appointments, so she showed me her technique one time, and I’ve been braiding ever since. Over the years, as life, motherhood, and working in corporate America got more busy, juggling all the things started to affect me mentally. Couple these with a serious bout of post partum depression in 2017, I was diagnosed with anxiety/panic disorder. I found over time the only times I wasn’t having panic attacks or blacking out was when I would braid hair or do any kind of tedious work in the form of crafting with my hands. I started beading and hand knitting blankets while I was still offering my braid services. I mostly treated the braids like a side hustle because I never really thought about taking it full time because I was so content with the pay from my corproate job. However, over the years while I was still making great money, my mental health was declining. Ultimately in 2023 I decided to step away from corporate on a leap of faith to braid full time. With the help and advice of my awesome team of drs, the break turned out to be the best thing I ever did for myself. In just a few short months I gained so much mental clarity, understanding of myself, was able to really put my focus towards maximizing in my braid and blanket business and made more money in those months than I had collectively in recent years from braiding. Seeing my income exceed my corporate income, all while getting to be home more with my children and just enjoy the true FREEDOM gave me a peace that even today I’m still trying to wrap my head around.

I specialize in healthy hair/protective braid styles that are sure to grow your hair. I prefer to do extra small extra long braids. The smaller the braid, the longer the install, the more focused I become. It just makes me so happy. A big percentage of my clients suffer from some form of hair or scalp issue like Alopecia. It has been the greatest reward seeing the happiness that these clients have when they leave my chair. Some of them cry. Many of them stay in constant communication and ALL of them come back multiple times. They’ve been told no by others or just have lost hope for being able to wear anything but wigs to cover up the places that they’re insecure about. My goal is to restore that confidence. Make them feel loved and help them love their hair no matter the condition. I keep it simple. I have boundaries but I skip all of long lists of rules that some braiders have. My clients have a feel for me and my personality before they book so all the extra isn’t necessary…for me. I’m doing what I truly love, what I know is a God given talent that allows me to remain in a service posture, while also providing for my household and build lasting friendships. When I braid or knit blankets, my mind, heart, body are soooo at peace. I can’t explain it. Something just comes over me and I become so in tune with what I’m doing. I post to social media…mostly Tik Tok just to share my work and it almost always goes viral and my calendar always gets super booked with an overflow of requests. My intent is never to go viral, instead to just let those who may be hiding in the shadows for whatever reason know that’s I SEE THEM and they can be comfortable with me. Even if they never book, just feel safe expressing your hair concern or even just to ask me questions without feeling obligated to book. AUTHENTICITY IS KEY. I try to take every client, but I’m upfront about what I can or can’t do or if I can work with their hair, and the great thing about it is there’s never any lack and I still get to balance time for myself and my children while enjoying this total freedom that has found me.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I could answer every question about my journey but my answer to this one encompasses many of the others so I’ll start here. Anyone who has ever spoken to me on anything serious will always tell you that I encourage authenticity, just showing up as yourself from the beginning and allowing space to learn. I truly believe we all have something to offer each other or the world, no matter how big or small and I show up as the same person whether I’m on social media or in person. Once you know or get the basics, social media can and will help you thrive. It does not take much at all. A little intention and consistency goes a long way. I don’t really have myself on a posting schedule. I just make sure that I at least pop in consistently. This doesn’t even have to be every day. I post when I feel compelled to post, when it feels natural and not forced and ultimately when I feel like I have something positive to offer. I also respond to every comment as time permits. This matters because past, present and prospective clients get to see that I am responsive. They also get even more of a feel for who I am by how I respond. I didn’t originally have a niche and my social media at one point was mostly me cooking. I posted one braid video in 2023 with myself as the voice over and it went viral within hours. My business blew up over night. I was already known but always showing up in my own voice, my genuine personality, my real work, my real clients in the comments is what has driven me forward super fast. While I offer all kinds of braids, now that I know what the majority like to see from me, I give special attention to those posts, while still sprinkling my other braid work along the way. All of these things intertwined have built my reputation and consistently brings me clientele. I became the braider/service provider that I desired to have when I was once sitting in someone’s chair (I taught myself to braid my own hair and have been doing so for the past 8 years or so) or when I’ve purchased products from people. It’s a very simple formula that keeps me at peace and allows others to have better experiences than they may have had with others.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I pivoted in 2023 and decided to resign from my corporate job to run my braid and blankets businesses full time. This is a decision that was somewhat forced but also came with some very intentional thought from myself. As I mentioned earlier, I was diagnosed with panic disorder which stemmed from just the constant hustle and bustle demands of corporate America alongside motherhood and just life. Don’t get me wrong, I lovvvve working and corporate has provided me a lot of stability and knowledge growth over the years. But I reached the point where it was not conducive to my health because it did not work well with the things that were priority in my life. It’s always God, my kids and my family first. Health/mental health so often takes a backseat to even these things. It wasn’t until I started experiencing blackouts while driving to work or full blown panics only when I was in office that I realized a change needed to be made. I didn’t even know what that change should be, and again I had never considered braiding full time. With such a drastic decline with my health I had to decide what was best for me. I needed the time away from work because work was making me sick. I struggled with this revelation because of course money, bills, and overall stability are always a factor. And for me corporate equaled stability…even though I had become most mentally unstable in this environment. After working with my team of Drs and ruling out any other factors, I took a leave of absence. Literally within 2 weeks my blood pressure normalized, my migraines decreased, I felt happier and for the first time in a long time I felt like I could breathe again. Due to my Tik tok posts going viral people started asking how they could book with me. This is where the pivot began. My intention was to return to work after 6 weeks. While I was off I listened to what my followers were wanting. I never had a booking site prior to April 2023. All of my clientele was word of mouth only. In these off months I started leaning into could I actually braid full time. I always enjoyed braiding so much because I didn’t have any obligations attached to it. My bills being paid weren’t dependent upon me having a fully booked calendar, but now that I had gotten a taste of that FREEDOM and I felt well more and more each day, I knew I didn’t want to return to corporate. I taught myself how to put my booking site together and within 2 days of making it public in April 2023, my calendar was fully booked out for 2 months. Honestly, fear kept me from thinking of my business as anything more than a side hustle for all those years and I’m so grateful for the reality check. Unfortunately it came due to the mental health issues, but I truly believe God will move you when you’re too stubborn or stuck to move yourself. My leave of absence was extended to 12 weeks and I took this time to really set my social media presence and just post my work. Again, it wasn’t even everyday, but when I did post I made sure to make it count by just showing up as my true self….not focusing on trends or trying to follow anybodys blueprint but my own. When I returned to work in September I resigned and started running my business full time from there. It has been the best and most rewarding decision I ever made for myself and is rewarding beyond words when it comes to the happiness I am able to bring my clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://braidedbygalisia.glossgenius.com/services
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braidedbygalisia/profilecard/?igsh=MXV0bTRpMWxzajNmNg==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1Dvzh88ZbM/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Other: Tik tok

  https://www.tiktok.com/@gewelz_thediamond?_t=ZT-8sfVZSeqimw&_r=1