We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Janora Davenport. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Janora below.

Janora , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

So I’ll specifically start with my first client that I gained in Atlanta when I decided to start back braiding and servicing clients, this was the day that it was all confirmed for me, I made the right decision. So I decided to get back to my passion and do what I love, which is hair. Brief intermission for a huge thank you to my child’s father for encouraging me to take a leap of faith and get to this place. So in 2019, I decided to step out on faith, quit all 3 of my jobs, end my online courses for obtaining my master’s degree, and find a salon to rent a booth and braid full time. I had NO clientele, but I was struggling with 3 jobs and I knew that there had to be more. So one day, I had a conversation with my now son’s father about how I was unhappy with my work life and I wanted more. He asked me what was it that I wanted to do, and I said HAIR! I wanted to do hair, it’s what I love, it’s my passion, it brings me peace and joy. His next question was, what are you waiting for? I responded with “the right time” and he followed with “it’ll never be the right time, you have to just do it”. So I decided within like a week, I’m going to start salon searching in Atlanta and also post on IG and Facebook that I am going home to MS and will be taking clients for appointments. Before I left to travel, I found two salons that were of my interest and I would make a decision when I returned. I traveled to MS and I had 5 clients to book with me before arriving. Once I got there 2 cancelled, 3 were serviced. I was able to get content, and before I even left MS, I received an inquiry for my first Atlanta client. Now, this client, was a surprise to me, and she didn’t even know I was in awe of her ministry. Nonetheless, she booked her appointment for boho butt length braids, but the date she wanted was before I moved into the salon, so I serviced her out of my apartment. So she came to her appointment and spent ALL day with me for this style, and it was a great successful day of braiding. After I finished, she loved her hair and she spoke these words to me and over me, “I hope that you are ready, because you are getting ready to walk into your overflow”. The next week I moved into my new salon booth space. The first week, I had about 2-3 clients, the second week was a little slower. By week 3, I was overflowing with clients, booked and busy, mind blowing and in total disbelief that the words she spoke over me, were manifesting right before my eyes. The day she spoke it to me, I was full of joy and high expectations from God, and still, til this day, I hear those words every time I experience a high, and many lows in my career as a business owner and hair stylist. No matter how many seasons I’ve experienced along this journey, I have definitely walked into overflow. She was confirmation that God heard me when I prayed. I had ZERO clientele, and knew little to no one to even gain clients. Where I started, how I started and who I started with, is always my reminder that I’m right where I’m suppose to be. That first client encounter was divine for me, and very special and I gained a very special relationship from that day forward by way of my first client.

Janora , 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?

Hi, my name is Janora Davenport and I am the CEO and Founder of Nori Beauty. I am a small town country girl from Mantee, MS who always knew my dreams and visions were much bigger than where I come from. I found my way into the beauty industry by way of hustling as a college girl at THEE Jackson State University. I sold extensions and serviced the girls on campus with styles such as braids, sew-ins, roller wraps, you name it. This was a planted seed for what is now Nori Beauty. Nori Beauty is a pioneering hair care brand specializing in protective styles for men and women, natural hair care, scalp care, and extensions. We are dedicated to providing education with eco-friendly hair care products that promote overall wellness and environmental health. We offer professional braid training courses to individuals who seek to enhance their skills with healthy techniques and we are expanding our reach with online training as well as in person trainings. We are bridging the gap with educating our consumers and clients on how to take care of their hair and maintain styles while away from the salon with best practices and product knowledge. I am extremely proud to have gained more knowledge and understanding with obtaining my cosmetology license to better service my clients and community. I want everyone who comes in contact with Nori Beauty to know that we CARE. We care about our consumer’s natural hair, scalp care and wellness by providing products that are safe, nourishing, and free from harmful chemicals. We aim to serve a diverse community of women and families with products that cater to various hair types and needs.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I took my personal page that had about 5k followers when I started working in the first salon and turned it into my business page, which has now grown to 18.4 k followers authentically. The first salon I worked in always promoted us to help us gain more clients and followings and this in return helped me grow my following. Of course, over the time social media, specifically IG, has changed so much. As social media began to evolve, I knew I had to as well in order to keep up with today’s trends and the new algorithm. My clientele grew and so did my social media audience as I engaged with aligned content and connected with my audience through effective messaging. I studied the different algorithms and trends and became more confident in posting and editing and being my authentic self. If I had to give any advice, it would be stay true to who you are, build your platform authentically and pray over every platform you have and make God the head of it all. Take breaks when you feel the need to step away from social media, don’t let it overwhelm you because what’s meant for you will not pass you by and no matter what, everything will always work in your favor. The breaks are necessary. And lastly, stay consistent, stay intentional, and stay teachable. You want to show up and show up with intention so that your audience can connect with you authentically.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn “hustling”. For a long time, I had a strong hustle mentality, but was calling myself an entrepreneur. I wasn’t operating like a business owner, I was operating like a hustler. I knew how to make money, I knew how to work hard and hustle long hours, but I did not have the adequate systems in place. I was not positioning myself to build a team. I had no set hours of operation. I was working on clients sun up to sun down. Last year, 2023, I invested in a class and it showed me how unaligned, unprepared, and unorganized I was. This class revealed everything I needed to see that was ugly to prepare me for everything I was desiring and asking for in my life as a business owner. This class was such a great investment while it also showed the things that were in my personal life, whether it be habits, people, places, or even mindset that needed to be released so that I could position myself for more. Today, I am almost completely done with the mentality of “hustling”. I will never operate like that again.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.noribeauty.org
• Instagram: norihair_x | noribeauty_x
• Other: tik tok: whoisnori_x

Image Credits

Instagram : adonisdphotos