We were lucky to catch up with Patricia “REIGN” Reign recently and have shared our conversation below.

Patricia “REIGN”, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you get your first job in the field that you practice in today?

This is going to be super interesting to describe, so how I got into the beauty industry is different than how I got into this job if that makes sense. So, I came into the beauty industry as a hair stylist to be honest, I started off doing my own hair in the mirror, I learned how to braid from a relative and I then started to take clients in my mother’s living room, braiding other children’s hair for money. This is actually how I bought my first cell phone. At this time I was in middle school, I tried to enroll in a program that would have paid for me to become a cosmetologist but due to my age, I did not qualify for the program because the program would take me longer because I was a high school student. So then I fell in love with nails and was able to get into a program, but my parents agreed to pay for this since it was a shorter program. From there once I got licensed, I drove around with my Mom to find salons to work in or I would use the Yellow Pages to try to locate places that would hire a 16-year-old manicurist. After several searches, I was able to find my first nail salon to work in, and from there I continued to personally and professionally. Once I graduated high school, I went off to college at Florida A&M University, where I would go on to build a name and clientele among my peers while going to school. I turned my dorm room into a mini salon, and eventually, I outgrew that setting and found a salon to work in, over time I continued investing in my craft while in college. I thought this would be temporary and that I’d go on to law school and nails would always be something I’d do on the side. But, after working in salons/spas, managing the nail departments in many salons, and then going off to become an educator.

I am so happy my first job was essentially learning how to work for myself and for that experience, I am forever grateful because I would not be the entrepreneur I am today without these experiences. When I look back now, I’d have to say my goals and aspirations, honestly were very simple understand who you are and what you’re dong, remain a student, and just focus on improving. A very simple aspiration it may seem but very hard to stay the course.

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 entered the beauty industry at an extremely young age, as many young girls I took an interest to doing my own hair, and doing the hair of other relatives. My mom noticed this and she nurtured this by making sure I was able to learn how to braid hair. Then fast forward a few years, my Mom decides to go to beauty school and obtain an manicuring/pedicuring license and when she was in nail school she had a nail station at the house with a ton of things, and apparently I was always in her nail kit attempting to do my own nails. She noticed this as well, I insisted that I wanted to go to beauty school at the time I was just 9yrs young, My mom tells me, I need to wait until I’m 16yrs young because that is the league age that limit one can obtain their beauty license. Well, as you know children rarely forget promises adults make, so on my 16th birthday I brought it up again (now how did I remember this, I have no idea). So, my parents obliged and a few months go by and we enroll me into nail school at the young age of 16, I attended high school during the day and nail school at night from 6pm-10pm, I would carpool with my next door neighbor who happened to be going to the same school but for massage therapy.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Other than training and knowledge the other thing I believe is the most helpful for succeeding in any field not just the beauty and wellness space is community. We often hear the saying “It takes a village to raise a child” but no one ever talks about how you also need a village as an adult and most certainly in any business endeavors. I know how vital it is to have the right people around you in order to pour positivity and perspective into you when you’re having those down moments through the journey. a positive community of people who are aware of how important it is to have the right people rooting for you along the way. This can be in the form of mentors, relatives, colleagues, or business partners either way you need a healthy and positive community of folks and their roles will vary in your life because everyone’s strengths are different.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

If I had to say one thing that helped me build my reputation in the market, it would be caring. Care about the experience people have when they interact with me, my team, and the brand—caring about how we treat our team so they can exude that same energy towards our clients. Many people tend to focus on the customer experience in the business. Still, I believe you have to care about everyone who interacts with the brand because it reflects the type of services we provide. For example, the name of my company is Traveling Aura, and I love that people say things such as, that the name is very fitting to the company and I believe that has only been achieved through the simple act of caring and taking a genuine interest in our conversations and interactions whether it’s a client or a team member.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.travelingaura.com
• Instagram: _radiantreign
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TravelingAura/
• Linkedin: https://bit.ly/3yaPtM9
• Twitter: travelingaura
• Youtube: https://bit.ly/3Vrl06g
• Yelp: N/A
• Soundcloud: N/A

Image Credits

image credit: Reign