We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Heidi Akpaette a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Heidi, thanks for joining us today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?
The first way I really expanded my business was by investing in advertising. My husband encouraged me to take the risk, and so I spent actual money for the first time to get my name out there! The initial step helped to double my business. From there, the growth started to be exponential because of referrals and reviews I collected. The second biggest way I was able to grow my business was joining networking groups. I was so nervous to do this! But attending, and eventially joining, networking communities has been the best way I’ve grown my business. I’ve developed long lasting relationships that help me grow as a business owner and has helped to scale my business.
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’ve always loved to do hair, and started with dolls and barbies. I expanded my skills on my kid sister while she begrudingly played “salon” with me. Moving into highschool , I was the go-to person for proms and homecoming dances for updos. When my friends started getting married during and after college, I found myself doing updos for everyone. This developed into a fun side hobby as I continued pursuing other things-personal training, coaching, teaching….
I decided to pursue my dream of going to cosmetology school when I was 25. I worked in salons for awhile and continued to do wedding hair on the side. I’m a person who loves to do as many things as possible, and so of course I couldn’t just work in a salon. I became a birth doula, worked in non-profits, and kept my hands in as many things as I could. After I got married, my husband asked me “If you could do just one thing, what would it be?” Without a second thought I said “wedding hair!” With that realization, he asked me how I could make it into full time work, and that’s when we decided to invest in that as a real business.
I started out by myself and just collaborated with other artists as needed, but eventually I needed makeup artists and more hairstylists to help out with wedding parties. I grew my team slowly and learned as I went! It’s been an awesome ride, and 18 years after doing my first wedding I still love doing wedding hair just as much!!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to learn to count on my community. In the beginning of my business, I felt pretty alone and isolated. I didn’t know who I could reach out to with questions, and I felt like there was more of a competition than collaboration. Over time, I learned that I can create my own community and seek out ones that already exist! I was able to find an amazing network of other wedding vendors that support me, and I also created my own community of other bridal hairstylists to learn from and lean on.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
When I was pregnant with my first child, I realized I needed to have other stylists on my team to keep my business going. I was so nervous to hire people and start a team. I pushed through all of my anxieties and just got started with one person. It’s been a lesson in doing things that feel uncomfortable at the time, but pay off in big ways. Now I just had my third child and I have an amazing team that continues to serve brides while I’m on maternity leave.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.139hairbyheidi.com
- Instagram: @139hairbyheidi
- Facebook: facebook.com/139hairbyheidi
- Linkedin: 139hairbyheidi
- Twitter: 139hairbyheidi
- Youtube: youtube.com/theupdocollective
- Yelp: yelp.com/139hairbyheidi
- Other: https://the-updo-collective.teachable.com/
Image Credits
Rachel Lahlum Photography