We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Latasha Nelson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Latasha below.
Latasha, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
To serve the community that has built their back on the sense of sisterhood ad belonging by providing services that has always brought us together. To nurture the human spirit, one sister at a time.
I wouldn’t have been able to start my business without my community, without Black women. It was my mother and my sister that strongly advocated for me to start because of my “magic hands”. It was the Black women at my university that decided to trust me, another student on campus, with their braids in which I was able to teach them how to take care of their natural hair underneath. I’ve witnessed these very women fall in love with themselves in every which way because their hair was a symbol of intentionality. The salon has always been a safe space for Black women and doing our hair by each other, for each other has always been a way we show up for one another. It is important for me to create that feeling while someone is in my space.
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 was the marketing director in a Black association club at my university so I made a lot of connections to the Black students in the city considering there were about 3 schools in the area. I had noticed there was a lack of Black hairstylist in the city because so many students would travel back to the GTA to get their hair done which wasn’t too frequent. I always had my hair done since I was able to do it myself and people began to ask. I was my own self advertiser by accident.
I had a lot of knowledge about natural hair so that was my primary focus; however, many students on the campuses wore their hair in braids so I offered braiding services to then also teach others about their natural hair which led to people trusting me more based on my knowledge and the fact their hair was growing. Plus, I was another student in the area so I was more convenient for those that preferred to do their hair more often.
I am most proud of myself in the way I’m able to pivot. i am able to see a problem and figure out a way to solve it whether it was offering braiding services to a demographic that preferred braids or providing quality hair to a demographic that is looking for long-lasting bundles that match their natural hair well.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
There was no plan B. This needed to work because I didn’t have a backup plan. Since I was in high school, my overall plan was to be in the hair industry whether it was selling hair or selling products or being a natural hairstylist.
I took co-op during university and I didnt enjoy it. So finding a job after I graduated wasnt appealing to me. On top of that, the pandemic happened right after I graduated so I hd to depend on my skill and talent to make me some money during an unfortunate time. I’ve been able to grow the business more and more each year.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The best source of new clients for me is referrals and social media. Referrals/Word of mouth has always been my number one source because real people are sharing their real life experience from the their interactions with our social media account to their booking experience to them being in the chair. It’s being. authentically shared to other people and based on their experience, others get more then what appears on our social media account.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.curlsforcrowns.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curlsforcrowns
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/curlsforcrowns
Image Credits
Coopz Fenton – @coopzx