We recently connected with Keiona Allen-syms and have shared our conversation below.
Keiona, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
I remember like it was yesterday, I was working at my previous job and I was trying to come up with a concept that not only would embody my brand but make it personable for my every day life. I know I needed something that would ring a bell and also something that wasn’t just one sided for one particular item i would curate over time. Eventually I came up with Keiona’s Kreation’s I made a logo for it and everything with two K’s back to back like the Chanel sign but it didn’t stick for me, I knew for a fact I wanted it to include my nickname and with that birthed L.BBeauty.
Keiona, 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?
My name is Keiona but I go by ‘Lola’ by many, I’m originally from New York but I’m located in Baltimore, Md. I started a few years ago just watching a bunch of Youtube videos because I wanted to learn how to do my hair on my own. I had people I looked to as friends do my hair but my visions never came to life how i wanted so the more i practiced on myself the more i fell inlove with wigs and coloring. Eventually I turned it into a business and my units were a stone cold mess (haha) but i kept going anyway because I had a gift with coloring which brought me attention. I would work my regular retail job, go home and work on a wig every single day until it became a ritual for me. I would look at what was in trend and replicate exactly what they were doing with ease and by the time i knew i had it down pact i was telling my new clients to just send me reference pictures and i would make it exactly how they would want it from that alone. I love making closure units since it’s less maintenance, you can literally put them on in the morning and take them off at night without having to wake up super early and do your hair every single day. Alot of women just see things on Instagram and want that type of hairline look but cant do the upkeep of them which in turn wastes money if you buy wigs all of the time. I always give my honest opinion on what a customer should get if its a closure or a frontal because I would want someone to be honest with me instead of just taking my money for the sake of making money. I’m always striving to do better because the hair industry never stops it’s always evolving and I love seeing other people feel great about themselves.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Last year around March 2021 my life came to a complete stop business wise, I wasn’t able to take any orders for months which in turn made my business slow down completely. It was the hardest thing to have to go through because right before then i was bringing in multiple orders a month. I eventually ended up getting a job after coming to the conclusion that i would work full time on my own accord so you can only imagine how that felt for me, but i started loving the field that i was in but it wasn’t the same because i always felt unfulfilled. I realized that once i took care of my personal life I would come back and bring my business back to life re branded and that’s exactly what i’m doing because in this world you only get one life, I never want to waste it not doing something that i don’t truly love.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
For years I’ve been selling my wig units through my Instagram page/email, its been able to keep my relationship with my customers more personal, they can talk to me as much as they can which makes everything so much easier to make sure their purchase exactly what they dreamed of.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lbbeauty.us/
- Instagram: @L.BBeauty
- Facebook: L.B. Beauty
- Youtube: LolaBlunty
Image Credits
IG: RachardWolf IG: JordynLucas