We were lucky to catch up with Shakita Jordan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Shakita, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
I have always taken risk growing up. It was my way of teaching myself growth and pushing for my full potential. The one risk that really stands out is when I quit my full time retail management job at DSW and decided to go to hair school to get my cosmetologist license. I wanted to be a hair stylist since I was a kid. I would sit in my room for hours and hours braiding my dolls hair and would never get bored. when I graduated high school I knew I wanted to go to hair school and open my own salon but my mother didn’t think hairstylist made enough money to afford decent living so she sent me to Delaware state university. I stayed there for 2 years and came right back home. It wasn’t the path I saw for myself , for my life and I wasn’t applying myself like I should have. I went to work at DSW as an operational manager living pay check to pay check working 40-45 hours a week. it was good money but it just wasn’t enough to provide for my family and myself. I was 31 years old, single mother with 2 kids at this time. I needed financial stability. One day I woke up and decided to go with my heart and my passion. I resigned from my full time management job and enrolled myself into Paul Mitchell Cosmetology school as a full time student. I was so scared, I didn’t know how I was going to maintain financially but I knew what I wanted my end goal to be. I graduated from Paul Mitchell a year later and was offered a Full time hairstylist position at Drybar Hair Salon. It was the happiest moment of my life. I was able to do something I was passionate about everyday and was making a substantial amount of money for me and my family.
Shakita, 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?
My name is Shakita but everyone calls me Kita. I am a licensed Cosmetologist in the Washington D.C, Maryland and Virginia area. I have a hair Salon located in Clinton, MD. I specialize in natural healthy hair care for children and adults. You can google my brand “Kreative Kanvas. Many people ask how I came up with my brand name and it’s going to be a aha!! moment once you get it lol. I offer many services but my most popular styles are braids, cornrows, loc extentions and sleek ponytails. My personal favorite would be braids or cornrows because I can open my mind and be creative with the partings by adding different shapes and braid sizes. My clients love bringing me inspirational pictures of braids they have seen on social media and I will tweak it to make it my own creative design. Something that fits the client and their personality because my clients do not play about their hair. It’s their crown, its their canvas. its what holds their confidence together and they trust me and my creativity to make them feel at their best. My very first client didn’t know how they wanted to style their hair, they just knew they didnt want to look how they came into my salon. I offer wash and blow dry with every service. sanitation is very important when it comes to healthy hair and scalp so that’s what we did first. afterwards I just stared at her head for about 10 minutes contemplating on what to do with this blank canvas in front of me. something just clicked and I just started parting and braiding. Notice ive been using the words creative and canvas a lot lol. One day I decided that’s what I want to call my brand Creative Canvas but with K’s because everyone calls me Kita. Kreative Kanvas has been around for 5 years now and I couldn’t be more happier with the success it has achieved thus far. You can find me on Instagram @ KreativeKanvasLLC. I have tons of pictures and videos of all my Kanvas’ thus far. You can also visit my Website www.Kreativekanvas.org. The love and support Kreative Kanvas receives is a blessing and I will forever be grateful. I always think to myself “I’m so glad I took that risk”. My clientele has skyrocketed over the past 3 years. I am always welcoming new clients . I would like to say to my future Kanvas’ if you are looking for someone to care for your Kanvas in a Kreative and healthy way come see me.
How’d you meet your business partner?
I don’t currently have a cofounder or business partner. Kreative Kanvas is a one man show but I do share my salon space with my best friend of over 15 years. I know, crazy right! She is also a natural hairstylist. Her name is Tamekia but everyone knows her as Toye. You can find her on Instagram as well @ hairbytoyel.l.c. She specializes in locs, I think it’s the love of her own locs that pushed her to be so talented at the skill however. she also does braids and cornrows. We have been working together for 5 years now. The way we met is actually really funny. She use to date my brother back when we were in high school. i called my brother one day just to talk and he told me he was on the phone with his girlfriend. I said girlfriend, Oh no!! call me on three-way. lol I forgot how we got each others number but we started calling each other everyday. When we discovered we both had a passion for hair we stuck together like glue. We always said when got older we were going to get a hair salon together and here we are. Although we have our own separate businesses we still help and support each other 100%.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
This is a very touching topic for me but this moment who I am today. I was in year 2 of running my hair salon. My clientele was increasing, I had just rented my first salon suite. Everything was going so good until this one day I will never forget. The day my mother told me she had cancer. My whole world was crushed. The doctors told us we only had 1 year left with her which turned into 8 months. During those 8 months I was canceling clients left and right to be there for my mother. Taking her to doctors appointments or just staying home to care for her. I had to make a hard decision, focus on my business that I just created, my only source of income or pray that ‘Kreative Kanvas could bounce back and I go and focus on my mothers health. I stepped away from my business for about a year. ‘Thankful for my friends and their support, they were there for me sun up to sun down encouraging me and praying for me every step of the way. The day I decided to start taking clients again is the day I told myself I was going to do everything my mother would be proud of me for. It’s been two years since I lost my mother and I have grown and learned so much about myself and my strength. I’m able to smile everyday and thank god for the amount of time I had with my mother. Love you Always PrettyLady. 
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kreativekanvas.org
- Instagram: @KreativeKanvasL:Lc