We were lucky to catch up with Lakischia Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lakischia, thanks for joining us today. Taking care of customers isn’t just good business – it is often one of the main reasons folks went into business in the first place. So, we’d love to get a conversation going around how to best help clients feel appreciated – maybe you can share something you’ve done or seen someone do that’s been really effective at helping a customer feel valued?

It is our mission at WHO DAT BarberShop to unite philanthropy with the Barber Industry.  We embody the value of “To Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Required”. We gladly support  the community that supports Us. We provide free meals, free haircuts, school supplies,  Christmas toys, and free mentoring among other essentials to our community. We provide  free tuxedos during prom season. We provide youth with a safe space to feel supported  from crime ridden neighborhoods. We have fed our homeless and supported our veterans  in many ways. During the pandemic WDBS provided free haircuts to healthcare heroes and  assisted to feed over 140 healthcare heroes. We have partnered with larger organizations in  order increase our community footprint. Currently, WHO DAT BarberShop Inc is launching a  Read With Me Book Club. This program is a new addition to our philanthropic efforts to  support the New Orleans Community. This book club will be dedicated to enhancing  childhood literacy by encouraging reading to our youth. 

Showing our customers and community we appreciate them is at the core of WHO DAT  BarberShop. But the event that my heart admires the most is our Annual Christmas Toy  Giveaway. All the toys are brand new provided by the barbers of WDBS, our clients and me.  I love to see the smiles on children’s faces after they receive their gifts. The children have  an option to choose which gift they prefer. To see them picking through the box of open  toys looking for the perfect one and coming out with an “ooohhh I always wanted one of  these” is priceless. All remaining toys are donated to Children’s Hospital New Orleans so  that more children can feel the joy of others caring for them. 

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?

WHO DAT BarberShop was opened in 2009, helping to revitalize the New Orleans East  community post Hurricane Katrina. The city was destroyed by this massive storm and  needed businesses to help revitalize their community. Although WHO DAT BarberShop was 

opened 4 years post hurricane Katrina, the area remained devastated, businesses not  opened and people without jobs. At that time, I was an LPN pursuing a higher degree in  Nursing as an RN. I was inspired to start a new business to focus on college as a Registered  Nurse without having to work the typical 9 to 5 job for income. Opening this business  allowed me to help my community by giving young men a platform to provide quality  barbering services. It also allowed me to support my family as a single parent. Most Barber  Shops are owned by barbers, and it is a predominately male industry. As the owner, I am  not a barber nor cosmetologist but, I braided my business senses with my love for helping  others. I quickly incorporated philanthropy in our mission and actively give back to our  community through countless events and outreach. 

WHO DAT BarberShop, Inc provides haircuts, facial care, beard grooming, dreads/locs care  and style-enhancing services to the New Orleans East Community. After opening its doors in  2009, the shop has serviced over 5,000 men, women and children in the Gulf Coast region.  WHO DAT is a 1.200 sq. ft, personal grooming parlor. Perfectly sized to house up to 6  barbers, the shop is a hub for community and charity activities. But we are not your typical  barber shop. We have a website for appointments, the latest WDBS events and our branded  t-shirt sales. We have incorporated philanthropy in our mission and actively give back to our  community through countless events and outreach. We also offer business advertising to  our clients via an in-house advertising television. This income steam is used to fund our  philanthropy projects. We have also impressed our community footprint by partnering with  larger organizations to increase our impact on a larger scale. 

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

This Pandemic had been challenging for us because we had to learn new ways of doing  business as a barbershop. We know we could not cut hair online, so we had to find new  ways to access, maintain and grow our client base and income while our doors were closed.  Increasing our online presence with our new website, utilizing personal funds to save our  business, continuing to give back to our community while we were at 0 income were all  great challenges for WHO DAT BarberShop, but we answered the call for us to do better. I  now appreciate the Pandemic as a time for growth and much needed change. We are now  pivoting WDBS into the technology industry with a mobile app platform for the barber and  beauty industry. We then plan to launch a male grooming product line. This will lead to  expansion of our current Amazon Store and ecommerce sales. This will ensure the  expansion of our business from service based only to instore and online sales.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.whodatbarbershop.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whodatbarbershop
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whodatbarbershops
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin/in/LakischiaS
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/whodatbarbrshop
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO9ac3Ea69BkwpvjwJuVQPg