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

Hi Olivia, thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I believe what is takes to be successful is the guts to go after what you love in life. Success isn’t just about money or fame, it’s about waking up each day doing what you love knowing that you are making a difference in the world & it lights you up. I’ve always looked at success as if I needed someone to validate me or my work. Until I realized so many people around me weren’t waking up doing things they loved. They were complaining, miserable and just making ends me & that’s when I knew to me I was successful!

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.

Hi Everyone my name is Olivia Reed, I am a Licensed Cosmetologist soon to be Licensed Barber in the state of Maryland. And I created my brand Own It Haircare. Behind my brand is a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Since I was a little girl I always wanted to get into the hair industry however I wasn’t supported by my parents for the career path of my choice, so I decided to follow what my parents wanted me to do. I went into medical school trying to please everyone but myself until I had a realization THIS IS MY LIFE. I left medical school enrolled into beauty school and my life got brighter. I spent 10 months learning what I love through a lot of trail & error but I was determined. I wanted to know everything from locs and braids to weaves and color. I was happy here, after I graduated cosmetology school I went straight into my first salon home Sassy Divah Platinum where I would take my skills and actually make money off of them. Talk about scary. Nobody talks about the journey of becoming a great cosmologist but I will. I always told myself “you have to go through the bad to get to the good” meaning you will have MORE bad clients in the beginning but as you progress your skills get sharper, cleaner and more precise. And all of that ties into my brand name Own It Haircare is about OWING WHO YOU ARE! Flaws, Beauty, Past, Life. When you look in the mirror I want you to Own It! Feel sexy, confident, powerful, on top of the world! Because at the end of the day once you Own who you are the world can’t tell you who you are!

I mostly work with clients that have braids that they can keep in anywhere from 1 month to 3 months and I enjoy lighting the load of my clients. When dealing with everything in life like children, work, relationships being able to provide a service I know will take a task off my client list I’m all for it! I know that I am set apart from other’s in my industry because I do it from the HEART! If I could do anything in the world for FREE I would do hair. The money is amazing however serving my clients is even more amazing!

I just recently created a day called “ Worth It Wednesday’s “ where I choose a person randomly and do their hair for free, a nice shampoo & style will lighten up anybody days, so I am just a woman servicing the beautiful woman & men that I can. And I love every moment of it ❤️

Have you ever had to pivot?

Learning when to pivot as a Entrepreneur is very important. I wrote a blog one day talking about quitting & how quitting is seen as a negative but I look at it as a positive the quote I made was “Quitting can save your time, talent & mind”. And the reason being is sometimes you are at the wrong place at the wrong time. In my early years of being a licensed cosmetologist I worked at a salon called Sassy Divah Platinum, I didn’t fit in. I was surrounded by talented, beautiful entrepreneurs but it wasn’t my season. I had to pivot, I left only to return back 3 years later with a fresh set of eyes, a new perspective on myself and my team & a winning mindset for all of us. However if I stayed I wouldn’t have learned the valuable lesson needed for me to return stronger, better & ready!

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

Unlearn & Relearn are probably one of my favorite things to do. In this industry of hair you need a growth mindset, you must stay a student & always be ready to unlearn and relearn. The lessons I had to unlearn was failure. If I didn’t complete a style the way I thought it should have been, I would go into complete failure mode. I would feel as if I was in the wrong industry or that I would never measure up. But as I grew in my career I learned that all of that is part of the process, I am passionate about what I do, so I am my biggest critic. But that is how i learn, i pick apart what i can do better & with each client I strive to be better than before.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ownithaircare.as.me/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/ownithaircare_?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/osofabuloushairandlashes?mibextid=kFxxJD
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ownithaircare?_t=8hk0Of9Lc7S&_r=1