We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mariah Valencia. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mariah below.
Mariah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you share a story that illustrates an important or relevant lesson you learned in school
Hi everyone who’s is reading I’m so thankful today to say that I have completed all my test and hours for cosmetology school at Hollywood Institute of Beauty Careers. I had started about a year ago and five months. I was behind five months because I always had so much to do with being a full time mother and working during the mornings at an adult day care with patients with disabilities named, Gold Coast Loving Care. Which my partners family and I run. Attending to cosmetology school really prepared me for the real world in the hair and beauty industry and still is continuing to. I learned a lot from my mistakes that I’ve done during school and practicing at home. It can be a simple mistake that when your dealing with multiple clients you forget to set a timer, or the correct time a color or lighter is placed in the hair. One time I was on practicing on my manikin in school (thank god it was a manikin) I did micro highlights, I placed it in the dryer which is optional. Then BOOM! we had a client walked in for a blow dry and flat iron so I decided to take it. Not remembering I had my manikin in the dryer still, about an hour later i finished the school client, then finally I realized it was still in the dryer, immediately I knew it was gonna be over processed and was. I had done this mistake before attending cosmetology school by not doing the right formulations like using a high volume peroxide. This time I was even more disappointed because it was simply not putting my timer on to remind me. I thought wow Mariah really? But from that point on till now I always set my timer so I can never make that mistake again especially when using lighteners. My friends said “you should of told me”. I was like okay I’m definitely setting that timer on! It’s a tool you need when doing a color service. It’s very important you remember all the steps and tools you need, it can be one simple thing that will make a huge difference. With all my clients I use a timer when doing color services because I will never forget that experience! Clients love doing colors for so many reasons and making sure your clients leave happy and the hair is healthy is the most important.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Beautyybyriah is my dream since a very young girl. I grew the passion for it over the years I had many support especially my family and friends. People used to give me stuff to work with like boxes full with extensions they used to use, to letting me bleach and color their hair and also cutting their hair at the age of 9. I think that’s what sets me apart from everyone else, Beautyybyriah is my business that I’m very confident in and proud of. I do it all by myself I stand of long periods of time a day doing dread locks, hair treatments, hair extensions, advanced hair cutting, hair coloring, braids, perms, relaxers and children’s hair as well. I’m also starting to offer basic manicures, pedicures, and facials. I use great quality products for my clients because I genuinely care for my client’s health and beauty concerns first and foremost it’s my passion!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Going to school and getting educated is something that I think real business owners achieve. A lot of people don’t have licenses in the beauty industry especially the “top” stylists you see out here. Getting an actual license for being a cosmetologist is hard work and takes dedication especially when you have a family to take care of and support. A lot of people have underestimated me. The people who didn’t I appreciate so much and they truly kept me going forward especially my clients! When I think about all the work and late nights I put into my education makes me emotional because I almost would think I couldn’t make it. With the support of God, teachers ,classmates and family I did it ! I’m now very close to taking my state board and I’m pretty confident that I will pass it! I never quit and I won’t quit now.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I always like to stay true to myself about my business I don’t take any short cuts whats so ever. I see a lot of owners buying ads, likes, followers. I think word of mouth is the best way to get the word out about businesses. I always meet new people and tell them about what services I offer. So far it’s gotten me plenty of very loyal clients along the way. I think this generation is very stuck on the social media platform which is good but I think keeping in contact with the real world out social media is better, important and genuine.
Contact Info:
- Website: Beautyybyriah.com
- Instagram: @Beautyybyriah
Image Credits
All images taken by BEAUTYYBYRIAH the business owner.