We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michaelle Boisreau a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Michaelle, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?
My first client happened to work for an agency that staffed nurses at my job back in 2017. I was working as a CNA at the time so I had no interest in pursuing the beauty industry at the time. Her name was Jennifer and she seen my hair done at the time so she came over to ask who did my hair. I told her I did it myself and she was shocked. She insisted that I do hers and at the time I was very skeptical because I didn’t feel confident in my work to have someone pay me. Long story short she became the push I needed to start this journey.
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Michaelle, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I remember being a little girl back in Haiti always mimicking my mom as she did other peoples hair. She studied cosmetology and I remember wanting to do everything she did. From the age of 6-12 I came to the U.S where it was just me and my dad. The countless mornings we spent in the mirror going back and forth about my hair. “Thats not how mommy does it” I would say to him. I got my first relaxer at 8 years old and no one could tell me anything at the point because I was able to do my own hair. Once my family realized the talent i had, I was braiding all of their hair. Although I had this great talent I always leaned towards being a Lawyer because I felt as if that was the one career that i was interested in that would make my parents proud of me. They worked so hard to get me here so my only goal was to make them happy. When that did work out I thought maybe nursing school would be it since i was already working in healthcare. Long story short I didn’t get accepted to the nursing program and didn’t want to waste another year. A good friend of mine pushed me to consider cosmetology school because she seen how much I loved making people beautiful. In 2020 I went to tour a school and my gut told me to go through with it and that was the best decision to date.
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We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I am a strong believer in everything happening for a reason. Back in 2022 I had the worst salon experience working for someone and I knew I never wanted to/ allow someone make me feel like that again. I took that experience as God telling me to trust his plans for me. I started working from home not even sure if i would have enough clientele to make it through. 6 months into working from home I began noticing how many new faces and inquiries I started receiving. I felt that needed a bigger space because I was servicing so many people at the time. I found a space to rent that suited my needs and it has gone up from there. That moment that happened to me made me feel small and defeated but iam grateful for those moments because it led me to believe in myself and I know that what is meant for me will be for me.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Believe it or not, word of mouth will always be the best strategy to build clientele. With that being said you have to be consistent with customer service because when you keep your clients happy they will always be your walking promoters. I treat my clients how i would want to be treated and put my all into my craft. I want other people to see the work i’ve done and say “wow who did your hair?” Other than that instagram has been my go to. Hashtags make it easy for people to find you and it’s a great place to demonstrate your work.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Allthingz_beauty_
- Facebook: All Thingz Beauty by Mica
- Other: Lemon8 & tik tok Allthingz_beauty_