We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mercedes Cherelle a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mercedes , thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

My name is Mercedes Cherelle. I’m a master cosmetologist specializing in healthy hair. Not only am I a cosmetologist I am an author of a book called, “More to Natural Hair Than Just an Afro”. I also do a natural hair health and beauty expo once a year “Saecher Natural Hair Health and Beauty Expo” located in Rockford, Illinois. Every year that I put this natural hair health and beauty expo together I am taking a risk. I do it for the love of the Caribbean culture and natural hair and also promoting self-love and appreciation to women and children no matter what. Shape, size, skin complexion or hair texture you have. The risk that I am taking is the responsibility of ensuring that this event runs the way that it should. I also take a risk financially because I cover the financial responsibility myself. as an entrepreneur it can sometimes be difficult finding sponsorship for events like this. I dedicate my time starting at the beginning of the year until the event date arrives, which is anywhere between the month of July and August. Not only do I take a risk with my finances, I take a risk in my time. I spend a lot of time away from my children creating costumes, planning, meetings, marketing and rehearsals. But when everything pulls together and the event is over, I know that it’s well worth it.

Mercedes , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got into the Beauty industry at the age of 13. I spent a lot of time throughout my high school years in the hair salon on the weekends. I also come from a long line of family members that are in the beauty industry. My grandmother spent a lot of time at the hair shows modeling. My uncle had the first black owned beauty supply store in the Rockford community and created a hair care line called Kiti Kiti. Not only did I spend a lot of time in the hair salon. I also spent a lot of time at the beauty supply store as a child. So I guess you could say that it’s in my blood. I became passionate about promoting self-love and natural hair after my daughter came home from school and no longer loved her natural hair texture and her culture. Since then, I have dedicated my time to ensure that I bring Caribbean culture and natural hair awareness to the Rockford community.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson that I had to unlearn was believing that the moment you start a business, you will accomplish your goal. I learned throughout the years that consistency is what causes a business to be successful. There’s no such thing as becoming successful overnight when you are entrepreneur it takes Long days, sleepless nights and not giving up.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

When I decided to become an entrepreneur I started my business while working two jobs. I worked at a corporate salon, my salon, and a hotel as a receptionist. I did that for about a year until I felt financially stable enough to let the corporate salon and the receptionist job going still be able to provide for my family.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Mercedes_Cherelle
• Facebook: Mercedes Cherelle
• Youtube: Mercedes Cherelle

Image Credits
Photos taken by: JMC Strategic Consulting