We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Keyona Holley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Keyona, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

All as a young kid, I’ve always been into lashes . I started wearing lashes as a freshman in high school and often received compliments on the certain style lashes I would wear. I then became so addicted to wearing lashes I would rarely take them off. Going through high school I built a small platform on instagram by taking picture daily. As I entered my senior year in high school I really wanted to work for myself. I realized my passion for lashes and the love I had for lashes and I started watching YouTube videos on how to do individual minks. I needed a little more boost so I took a small 1:1 class with a family friend and from there I blossomed. My lash business has grown so much throughout the year I have been doing lashes and I continue to see nothing but growth .

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I got the name “Blinkedbycaramel” because all through high school I was often called caramel due to the complexion of my skin color being a lighter brown. I honestly fell in love with the name . I carried on with me through to my business . My business started in July of 2021. I started off very slow only having 1 client a week. Times were really thought but I never lost faith because what comes with faith , comes greatness . Sure on , my client took a really big leap when I did my first back to school bring a friend Sale. That sale really expanded my clientele by word of mouth .

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Funding my business was fairly easy for me . I’ve always had a typical “9-5” job on the side . So when it came to funding my business I had an extra support system being that I was still employed . That help me get little start up things such as my lash bed and lash essentials. As i grew, then came things such as business cards and extra things to put me out there .

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

A lesson I can say I had to unlearn was being comfortable. In life we are usually taught to do things that makes us comfortable, however I feel like it’s very necessary at times to step out your comfort zone because you never know what it may lead you to. If we are being completely honest I never seen me providing a service to many different ladies due to my lack of social skills I had coming up . However me jumping out there has helped me so much with just my communication skills.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://app.squarespacescheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=23460151
• Instagram: Blinkedbycaramel
• Other: I also provide online lash courses My link to my Shopify to purchase Www.Blinkedbycaramel.myshopify.com