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

Lasaraha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Hello I am Lasaraha Bell the owner of Laviv Hair Artistry and of Laviv Virgin Hair Boutique and I have been a business owner for over 8 years now and a salon owner here in Ruskin, Fl for over a year now. So the story behind why I do what I do and why it’s so meaningful to me? Well this story is one that is simple to me but maybe unique to so many other’s so back in 2017 I launched Laviv Virgin Hair Boutique which is a raw hair extension hair line. When I started this business I was in a place in my life where I was trying to overcome the pain of losing a loved one you see I had just lost my only sister to breast cancer December of 2016 and during that time my Job as a social worker designee in a nursing home had just been dissolved so at the time I was on bereavement leave and remember saying to my husband I don’t want to work for any one anymore I feel like I am supposed to be doing more to help people. So my husband said ok well you don’t have to he said we will be fine I got us covered but he said if you no longer want to work in the social work/medical field anymore what is it that you want to do and I told him at the time I didn’t know but what I do know is I want to continue to help people and I want to do something that I know if my sister was here we would do together so he said well Booboo(his nickname for me) Pray on it and see what God tells you and I did just that and what I got was to start a hair business. I know you are wondering a hair business how is that tied to helping people in a impactful way as well as being tied to me and my sister well let me tell you so when I came up with the idea to start a hair business I was praying and asked God to give me a sign of what I should be doing and what came to mind was one of the last funny encounters I had with my sister before she passed I had went to visit her cause she had been asking for me and to help my mom with taking care of her after a couple of weeks it was time for me to leave and as I was leaving I was wearing this nice wig and as I was walking out the door my sister was like I like that wig and I said you like this wig and then I said you want it she was like yeah I want it I can wear it when I go to chemo, so I snatched it off my head and gave it to her and she put on her beautiful bald head and we laughed so hard as I walked out the door. So remembering that time reminded me of how giving my sister that wig made her feel good in the midst of her pain. So I said if I could make my sister happy with that small gesture imagine how many others I can make happy with reasonable and good quality wigs/extensions. So as my mother would always tell me and my sister “If You Look Your Best You Will Feel Your Best” (my business moto) so that was the beginning of my mission which was to sell quality hair for a reasonable price but not just sell hair but also to create a platform that I would be able to help others so I not only donate wig units every year to cancer patients and those who suffer from hair loss disease although I have only been able to donate 4-5 every year one of my missions is to donate hundreds to thousands of wig units a year I know if my sister was alive she would be doing this with me another mission dear to me as I said is to use my platform to help others aspiring stylist to build a business so I opened my Salon Laviv Hair Artistry. to have a space for those who are new to the field to build their portfolio and one day to start their own business. So yes there is more to be done but I will get there. My goal with God’s will is to make a difference in the world with one client/customer at a time.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

For who may not have read about me before I’m originally from New York my family and I were a military family my husband served in the Army for over 10years now retired veteran we moved here to Tampa/Ruskin a year and half ago from Alabama. I became a business professional in the beauty industry after my sister passed away from breast cancer in 2017 with only $250 to start with I sell wig units, extensions such as bundles, tape ins,k tip extensions and clip ins as well and I am a Licensed Master Cosmetologist. what sets my hair business/Salon apart from others is that I love what I do not just because it is a lucrative business but I love what I do because I am able to give joy to others by helping them Feel their best by helping them look their best and I am able to be an inspiration to other aspiring beauty professionals by giving them a platform to grow and allowing them to see that you can be successful off of just an idea and little to no money and most importantly Faith in God that what may seem impossible is very much so possible.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’m so grateful to be where I am today even though there is more for me to do I am grateful to be in the space I am right now because I remember there was a time where I had a hard time remembering my “WHY” I want to say it was maybe my 2nd year working for myself and of course business was slow but thriving and I was feeling overwhelmed because I couldn’t understand why business was so slow when I provide a service and product that so many people I knew needed and they also knew I provided I felt so defeated because I was like well if I can’t get the support of those I knew how will those I don’t know be willing to take a chance on me I also felt defeated because i was always supporting people I knew businesses so I was becoming discouraged I started questioning if I was putting out the right content and etc.. so I took some time and started to rebrand a bit as I started to look into rebranding I couldn’t really find much I needed to change so I then said I’m going to take sometime and regroup and then that’s when it came to me I was forgetting my “WHY” the very reason I started my business and it wasn’t to just be a service to the people I knew but to be a service to everyone so I stepped out of my comfort zone and started networking and going to networking events where I knew no one and would you know my business picked up and fast too.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

What I think helped me build my reputation in the beauty industry I think was me telling my story.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lavivhairartistry.booksy.com/a/
• Instagram: Laviv_VirginHair_boutiquellc
• Facebook: Laviv Virgin Hair Boutique

Image Credits

Shurontae Lee