We were lucky to catch up with Jazmine Allen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jazmine , appreciate you joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

One thing I pride myself on is the ability to give my clients a positive experience despite the negative reputation the beauty industry is known for. Unfortunately, in recent years, clients receiving beauty services that should be a positive boost to their self-esteem have turned into cringeworthy experiences. My goal is to make every appointment not only an enhancement to their beauty but a deposit of peace, relaxation, and self-care. I make my salon a safe space for women who are already battling the world; they shouldn’t have to battle their hairstylists as well. I think sometimes people forget that when you look good, you feel good, and you show up in the world better. My goal is to use beauty services as an avenue to facilitate that process. In return, I’ve built trust with clients that expand beyond a decade. Providing clients with consistency, great customer service, and an overall great experience ultimately has been the foundation for success in building my brand after so many years. I now use my beauty industry experience, good and bad, from salon assistant to salon owner, to coach others in the field on obtaining this same success. I think that the more educated beauty professionals in regard to the client experience make all the difference in our industry reputation and a positive increase in human interaction. I’m so thankful that I’m able to make a difference for all clients and beauty professionals through coaching and digital products.

Jazmine , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Jazmine, mostly known as Jazztheestylist, a luxury hairstylist, salon owner, beauty pro coach, and CEO of the brand Elysian Glam Extensions. I’ve had a great passion for hairstyling and beauty from a very young age. I would tag along with my older cousin, a licensed cosmetologist, to the salon every day, and it was from there I fell in love. She would do my hair, and the nail tech would polish my nails. I remember just enjoying the process of getting pretty. I grew to love the smell of hairspray and acrylic, but more importantly, the salon culture and its uplifting effect. I knew the beauty industry was my career, and around 11 years old, I started my journey into it.

After obtaining my 1500 cosmetology hours in high school, I began as a salon assistant, as I was only 17 and unable to take the state board test. Being a salon assistant in a popular location with seasoned professionals created a strong foundation to begin my beauty business. I was able to learn so much and gain a sense of responsibility, client care, product knowledge, and discipline. I turned 18 seven months later, passed my state board, and I’m now a licensed cosmetologist of twelve years.

I’ve provided a great and safe beauty experience for clients from when I was only renting a booth to salon ownership. My beauty niche is sew-ins and wig installs, in which I provide luxury hair extensions from my brand, Elysian Glam. While I specialize in hair extensions and healthy hair, I also connect clients with makeup artists and nail technicians who work in my salon and share the same values. The strategies I used to build my beauty business afforded me work with several celebrities and influencers, magazine publications, awards & recognition, paid partnerships, influencer perks, and more! I use my industry experience to offer hands-on technique classes and digital resources such as ebooks, worksheets, and a community for beauty professionals looking to grow their brands that are in need of direction.

I always try to be mindful of how I would feel to be on the opposite end of an experience and implement that into my business and interactions. This means I’m always trying to give my best. I’m most proud that having a successful business has allowed me to give to others, whether it be education or sponsoring charity events. I truly work hard to make a positive difference through my passion turned business.

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

I built my audience on social media by actually utilizing it! I don’t think people realize its power to connect people to your product or service. I would post on social media daily using hashtags, SEO, and my family and friends to create engagement. I had trained my loved ones to know when I posted my work to comment and share to increase my reach. I would advertise free services, and things I knew would make a potential client interested. and The beauty of social media is the ability to see the trends. That information helped me stay current with my offerings. My advice would be to use social media as the tool it is! The best part is that is free! Show up, be consistent, and be authentic. Keep in mind that likes and followers don’t determine value. If your post only gets three likes but results in a sale or booking of a service, that’s a win. Keep posting, and you’ll reach your audience.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

The biggest challenge was to survive the near-death experience of COVID-19 as a business entirely funded by close human interaction. In the beauty industry, as a service provider, if you’re not working, you’re not making money. Unfortunately doing hair and makeup etc, doesn’t fall in the work-from-home category. As the number of people allowed to interact with each other grew smaller, the rendering of beauty services was banned in the county my salon was in. Salons offering services would be fined and possibly lose their operating license if caught servicing clients. My personal income and business income failed to exist. However, bills for the home and the salon were due. My landlord did not offer any relief when it came to monthly rent. I chose to bear the weight of the business without charging my booth renters rent, as I knew they could not work and wouldn’t be able to afford it. What was expected to be a temporary delay continued for months and became very expensive. Half of my booth renters quit as they had to get regular jobs to afford to live. This financial storm almost sunk my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thebeautybehindthebrand.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/Jazztheestylist
• Facebook: Facebook.com/TheBeautyBehindtheBrand
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/jazztheestylist