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

Alright, Kanisha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s talk about social media – do you manage your own or do you have someone or a company that handles it for you? Why did you make the choice you did?

I manage my own social media for my business, and at this point I think there should be a separate specialized form of therapy for folks like me in this position. I would be the first in line to sign up, and I would be in my sessions TWICE a week, if I could.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I started Tutus & Tennis Shoes as a brick and mortar salon in the midwest. I really thought I was creating a cute, fun place for Black girls to get spa-like services in a city that did not have one. I thought I was finally bringing my past salon experience, creativity from working in staging, and teaching skills all to one place to shine the brightest.

I did that, but apparently there was a bigger dream that needed to come to life as well. Adoptive and foster parents brought their littles in from all across the city and from neighboring states even. I listened to loving parents tell me about their needs, and desires while I parted, braided, and beaded. I watched children grow into loving a shampoo session under hanging butterflies and flowers.

After a while I realized the families needed more than I could provide in periodic appointments. That is the seed that grew into the tree Tutus & Tennis Shoes is turning into. Tutus is reaching parents outside of the US, not just out of that zip code! Parents world wide are learning to shampoo, detangle, moisturize, braid, AND uplift, affirm, deeply connect with, protect and support their Black children. It is truly a beautiful manifestation!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

You would think since I teach hair care and specialize in teaching foster and adoptive parents, things online would be rainbows, and unicorns with manes of cotton candy. That is the furthest from reality! First of all, the adoption and fostering community is full of hurt, trauma, pain, and dishonesty. To top it all off, the kids are caught in the middle and they feel the brunt of all the adult’s decisions.

I came into this community under the impression that I was bringing hair care education to parents who desperately need and want it. I did not expect the racism, stubbornness, and sheer willful ignorance some non-Black parents of Black children could have, and the internets fervor in supporting them in it. I never thought that content creation for this niche would have me up at nights, or in a bad mood some days. I never thought that I would have to spend so much time and money explaining that hair care is apart of hygiene and should be valued as such.

I spend a lot of time creating aesthetically pleasing, purely educational content. Most of this labor intense content gets limited views and even less interactions. On the contrary, if I say something uplifting equality or Black people, or calling out what is wrong in the adoption and foster community, people will come out the woodworks to say I am wrong. and I am racist. They criticize things about me that have nothing to do with the posts they are commenting on. They share it to their pages with captions inviting more criticism. The most frustrating part of it all, they will redirect the positive attention, comments, likes, shares, and saves to white adoptive parents with mega monetized accounts who are exploiting their children instead. So, what was once simply hair care education quickly becomes a fight for what is right, moral, just, and the best environment for the Black children caught in the center of all this.

I often feel like I want to quit, but if I did who would speak up when the kids can’t advocate for themselves. Who would tell the parents who have never met a Black person before adopting their Black child, that their child’s hair care IS important? Their hair care is tied to their culture, confidence, family, and so much more than just a preference. If I can’t take the hours spent making content nobody pays attention to, and the grueling words of strangers, then who can? Ultimately, it is paying off as well. Some parents may be silent or slow to admit they are learning and taking in the content to make positive changes in their homes. So, one by one, I am making a difference and that makes every struggle worth it!

How did you build your audience on social media?

I read and listen to so many publications about social media and how to build your audience. I have tried all the tricks from the strategic hashtags to even seven second Reels. The two things I have found to be more successful than all the rest are: 1. Knowing your ideal customer.
Take the time to create that avatar. Study your customer. Know what they like and don’t like, where they shop, how they shop, what they watch, etc. Then create posts talking directly to them.
2. Be authentically you. You can’t attract who you want if you don’t know who that is, and if you are not showing them who you are. Being yourself ensures you are unique, you are interesting, you are trustworthy, and you are the perfect business owner for the people who like what you are offering. People who find you while you are being authentic are able to rock with you for the long haul. They will form a loyalty to your business, even if there are 50 others offering the exact same thing because they are connected to who and what you have shown them of yourself.

Contact Info:

• Website: tutustennisshoes.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tutus_tennis_shoes/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tutustennisshoes
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TutusHairCare
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TutusTennisShoesLLC

Image Credits
Capture Queen