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

Paige , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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?

For a long time starting a business was just an idea. This was never really some thing I thought that I could do between my school schedule and my other day to day responsibilities. The summer before my second year of college I decided that it was time to take a chance on myself but I was still scared to go all in. By nature, I’m a perfectionist, so when my business was in the planning stages, I was very particular and specific about the methods I was using for marketing and to brand myself. For about two weeks. I focused specifically on planning my logo, policies, prices, and scheduling. After doing this, it was easier to set up my social media accounts and other methods of advertising.
When I first started Locs By Paige,LLC , I made handmade loc kits that I sold on my Etsy shop. These kits came with handmade locs, installation materials, and a full install and take down tutorials.
After about a month of having my Etsy shop, I hadn’t gotten any sales, but I would still watch my profile insights every single day to see how many people were viewing my profile or how many people had my products in there carts, but I still wasn’t satisfied with the progress that I was making. after finally getting my first sale I was hopeful, but I still was not getting as much traffic or recognition as I hoped.
It took me some time to realize that it was a fear of being judged, and a fear of rejection that was hindering me from building my brand.
I knew I had to get over my fear of rejection, but I still wasn’t ready to put myself out there until a few weeks later I became a little more comfortable with my abilities and decided to begin taking clients on my college campus. Because of the location of my campus , I had to be strategic about my planning and execution. In that area, there was a shortage of the stores that sell the the supplies that I needed to effectively service my clients. After a little bit of trial and error, I was able to settle into a routine to make sure that I was always prepared for my clients. Before I knew it, I was able to take clients to the point where I was booked soon after I announced that I was taking clients.

Paige , 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?

Locs By Paige, LLC is for black women by black women. I specialize in faux locs and twisting services including soft locs, butterfly locs, mini locs, boho locs, passion twists, kinky twists and more ! Growing up, I I would watch my mom do my hair and my cousins hair, even though she wasn’t a hairstylist and it was always so fascinating to me. Because I wanted to be like her, I used to watch her and see if I could learn tips and trick from her which allowed me to do my own hair for years. She is the reason I had such an interest in hair.
When the faux loc trend his social media, I fell in love instantly. I was always doing my own hair but I never thought that these were styles that I could do on someone else. Every time I did a loc style in my hair I would have someone asking me who did my hair or if I could give them the information on the stylist. I was always hesitant to respond and say that I did my own hair because I didn’t want anyone asking me to do theirs.

Within a few weeks of taking the clients, I became known as “the girl that does locs” which I was actually very happy about. I was always talking about my business or trying to give somebody a business card so it was easy for people to always associate me with my brand. With a few more weeks of practice, I was able to really perfect my craft, and get faster than the average loc stylist. This helped to separate me from the other stylists in the surrounding areas. because of this, I was able to get client referrals because my previous clients were telling their friends that my work was fast, neat. and reasonably priced.

How did you build your audience on social media?

As I was living on a college campus and catering to college students, utilizing social media was very important. I had to be strategic with the accounts that I was following, the posts that I was liking and the continent I was posting. When I first started my Instagram account for Locs By Paige, I felt like my account would never grow. It wasn’t until I began posting regularly and utilizing reels, hashtags, and post promotions that I saw growth. I also have a great support system. I also have a great support system and they share my posts any chance they get, which helped me build my social media audience significantly. To anyone who is just starting to build a social media presence, make sure to stay consistent. It is easy to watch what people are doing around you, but you have to be mindful of the fact that your journey is your own and your progress will never be the same as anyone else’s. It is also important to be mindful of the type of content that you are uploading based on your audience.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

When I first started, I was aware that there were a lot of people offering the same services as me so I was faced with the issue of how could I make myself stand out. When I stopped worrying about what others are doing around me, and focus solely on myself, it was easier to build a reputation. I made sure that all of my posts looked professional, and that my backdrop allowed my account to look cohesive. I also focused on customer service and maintaining customer relationships, because I wanted to be known as the stylist that clients like to book with. Because of all of this, I didn’t have to work too hard to build and maintain a reputation. I began to reach a point where my work with speaking for itself and I was receiving a lot of positive reviews and customer referrals.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://locsbypaige.as.me/schedule.php
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/_locsbypaige?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=