We recently connected with Martina Thomas and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Martina , thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

Going from Idea to Execution to me was more of trying to prove a point. I have been in the Cosmetology industry for over 15 years. Hair has been apart of my life since before high school. But the idea of becoming a natural hair care specialist turned Loctician came about when I needed someone to keep the maintenance on my hair. The person was good at what she does but was never reliable! I wanted to be that person to make a difference for others. So I made up in my mind I would jump back into the hair industry. I took a few classes, did a lot of research, then boom! Created Bae Locks LLC to be that safe space, reliable person others can rely on to get their natural tresses maintained. It was more of acting out of anger, the anger fueled my passion to be a better person. I didn’t want other men or women to see what it was like to be denied access to quality services people pay good money for.

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 started in Cosmetology school back in 2010 as soon as I got out of the army! I have always had a passion for hair, it was my side hustle in high school. As a military spouse we had moved to Ft Bragg, NC where it started at Miller Motte College. I did not finish but then had to relocate off to Hawaii. In Hawaii picked up the clippers, started barbering. Graduated and got my first job in the industry at Super Cuts. Yet again our time in Hawaii ended and was off to Texas. Every state had its own requirements of what needed to be done. I said no more school and just deal with natural hair care. I seen how many women would always say their hair never grows or they are bald around their edges due to wigs and braids. I felt it was my passion to educate people about their hair, to invest in their own crown to have luxurious locks. The first name I had for my business was Coily Creations. It has now transferred to Bae Locks LLC. I like to say I set myself apart by using all the different teachings, from different schooling even different cultures from the various moves over the USA. I would say I mostly proud of overcoming my fear of being on my own. I love to educate people about hair. I wake up thinking about new services I can provide to create or strengthen hair to keep the healthy look popular. I consider myself to be Bae the Bougie Loctician because I have services that others do not offer…. I offer hair/lock steaming- a way of hydrating your hair. I have another service where I offer Herbal detoxes that uses essential oils to enhance the experience. I want all my clients to know I really do care for the well being of their hair. I research all the time of ways to make each experience better!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I started Bae Locks while I was working for Target in the Distribution Center, moved up fast. I wasn’t even there a full 6 months before becoming a trainer. While working there I used my 9-5 paycheck to purchase goods. It took me some time to purchase things but mostly used Affirm, and afterpay to assist with large purchases that I could not pay flat out! I literally started this business off of affirm and afterpay! I do not use them anymore but I sure was proud that I had them as a resource to help fund my dream.

How did you build your audience on social media?

When I was building my brand I never wanted to use pictures. Sounds crazy right, people can steal pictures and pass them off as their own. When I had appointments I would record myself, do a before, then after and add pictures on the end creating reels. I wanted people to see me on the other side of the phone actually doing the work. I do not want to leave any doubt that I did not do the work and stealing photos. The more appointments I had the more content I had, creating a dead for my services. The rest became history to me. Advise for those who are just starting out, “consistency”! Even if you do not have content reshape that same work but rebrand it in a different view point. today might be a video, tomorrow can be a slide show of different view points.

Contact Info:

• Website: Baelocks.com
• Instagram: bae.locksllc
• Facebook: Bae Locks LLC
• Other: Tik Tok – bae.locks

Image Credits
Haley Emory