Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kendyl Jacobson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Kendyl, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I’ve always been someone who has been a Jack of all Trades. I was a straight A student, Junior Olympic competitive gymnast, involved in every extracurricular activity you can think of, and a self-proclaimed beautician with a profound love for the arts (reading, writing, and painting specifically). Similar to most creatives, the traditional education system consistently influenced me to believe that I needed to find a 9-5 job to work 25+ years from and retire. I spent high school, undergrad and my early twenties trying to fit into this mold. While I was brave enough to explore entrepreneurship as a hairstylist and personal trainer in high school and college, I was still scared to completely walk away from the corporate life people expected from me. In the process of opening my gymnastics and fitness center in 2020, my childhood sweetheart and I rekindled our relationship. My, now, husband was extremely supportive with my every move while opening the gym. What he didn’t realize was that his support was fueling the fire I hid deep within me – the confidence to chase my real dreams. The pandemic allowed me the opportunity to close my gym and that chapter of my life. My husband took over all the financial responsibilities and encouraged me to take all the time I needed to decide what I wanted to do, if anything at all. My inner child took over my mind completely and I got back into every hobby that the reality and traumas of life took from me. Two of the things I really got back into were reading and hairstyling. My newfound free time allotted me the space to dig deep into who I was as a person, my strengths and weaknesses. I began social media influencing with the niche of beauty and mental health awareness – specifically for sexual assault survivors, like myself. I fell in love with making black women feel seen and heard, all while allowing myself the time and space to heal and dream. I finally felt like I was living in my true purpose. Being able to do the things I enjoyed full time, paired with my education, past experiences, and God’s grace I have grown into a Licensed Cosmetologist and owner of KARESSED Hair Co. and author of “You Survived, Now Live!” a 30-day guide to encourage women to heal from past traumas and live freely in your present. I have been blessed to live a fulfilling life fueled and funded by my deepest passions and I encourage other women to do the same, while making them feel beautiful, confident and worthy!

Kendyl, 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?

Being a hairstylist is in my blood! My great-grandmother, Emma Nicholson, owned a hair salon in Zachary, Louisiana long before I was even thought of. Although my grandmother and mother did not pursue professional careers in the beauty industry, they were sure to pass their skills down each generation. I grew up with every Barbie and Bratz mannequin you could imagine, spending hours perfecting each technique. One weekend, when I was 9 years old, my mom went out of town. I was heading to a friends house and called to ask my mom if I could try to re-do my hair. She encouraged it, and I re-created the pig tails, braids and Barretts that she usually kept me in. My friend’s mom was so impressed, she called my mom to tell her how good of a job I did. From that point on, my mom allowed me to maintain my own hair. This allowed me to create a loving and nurturing relationship with my hair at a very young age. Over the years, my hair has been a major form of expression for me. The ability to show my mood or personality through the art of hairstyling is very important to me. As I began influencing in 2020, I realized that many black women struggled to have a positive relationship with their natural hair. While I loved styling of all kinds, I created my business out of the desire to help black women feel the same level of love and connection to their natural hair as I have to mine. For black women, our hair is the crown we wear proudly and I take pride in providing services and products to make black women feel confident about their crown both inside and out. My writing, is another sacred peace to this puzzle. While my mother and grandmother didn’t follow the hair industry professionally, they both took their talents to the field of education. Reading and writing is another media of art that allows me an emotional outlet from the physical world. Upon entering, what I knew would be, my forever relationship, it was important to me to heal from my past sexual trauma. I owed myself the right to take my power back and enjoy intimacy to its fullest potential. I bought more self-help books and journals than I am willing to admit, and I simply could not find all that I needed in one place. I got back into journaling myself, and worked through my pain in those pages. As a part of my healing, I created a resource for other women and femmes to do the same. This is when “You SURVIVED, Now LIVE!” was born. This 30 day guide takes you through the 3 phases of Acknowledging Past Traumas, Forgiving Yourself and Others while maintaining healthy boundaries, and Manifesting the life you desire and deserve! Being a hairstylist, life coach and author allow me to use all my talents to guide as many black women to a happy, confident, and beautiful lifestyle as I can while waking up everyday and basking in my creativity. What makes me different than anyone else is that I am the intersection between inner and outer beauty! I realize that the two go hand in hand and I have utilized my talents and passions to provide products and services that enhance them both!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn the fear of success. It’s easy to admit that we are nervous to fail, but we do not always acknowledge the worries that come with notoriety. I would often hold myself back from opportunities because I “didn’t feel prepared for them” or “I didn’t have everything I needed” because I was afraid that if I got everything I asked for, I wouldn’t be able to handle it. A great example for me is posting on instagram. I used to be so nervous that if something went viral, I had to have everything perfectly in place to handle the influx of views. Whether it was a perfect website, space for new clients, responding immediately, etc. Once I removed the fear of handling my success, I began going with the flow and success flowed in much easier.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

One of my favorite marketing practices was a Galentine’s Day promotion I just did. I am very creative and sometimes ideas come to me in my dreams. I stepped outside of my comfort zone, worked with what I had and did my best to bring the vision I had to life. I was worried that it would be a waste of time, get no views or not convert to sales and I almost didn’t post it. Well, it ended up being a huge success not just on social media but this has been my highest earning month since I started doing hair full time. It encouraged me to continue stepping outside of any box that society tries to place us in and not to be afraid to stick a middle finger up to the trends and do my own thing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.karessedhairco.as.me
• Instagram: @karessedhairco / @kendylvix
• Facebook: Kendyl V. Jacobson
• Twitter: @kendylvix

Image Credits
Headshots & Engagement photos taken by Kourtni Graves with Photos by KPG @photosbykpg