We were lucky to catch up with Shakiyla Harris-James recently and have shared our conversation below.

Shakiyla , appreciate you joining us today. Any thoughts around creating more inclusive workplaces?

The beauty industry can be a bit of struggle when it comes to inclusivity. Salons from the beginning of time have been accommodating to one or the other. Myself as a business owner and stylist, I have created a space where this is not a thing.

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

I come from a very corporate background, but always had a love for hair! I grew up in Portland, Oregon’s oldest, standing hair salon, and it set the standard of what black beauty was for me.

My career as VP of Operations for a retail company afforded me the opportunity to invest in a passion product; selling extensions, titled Goddess Fever. That turned into a brick and mortar. I loved it so much that I ran to hair school!

From hair school I hit the ground running by building a brand with love and passion for healthy hair, and making women feel good, as well as teaching them how to take care of their crowns.

My business is built around growing and maintaining healthy hair, while also being able to wear some great extensions. The extensions and the installation is a step above, and a luxury experience.

The business has grown even more since 2019, when covid hit the world. We were all stuck in the house and clients weren’t able to be serviced. So I created a product line that clients could use to maintain their salon hair; FRESHHEIR!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

As a business owner there’s always up’s and downs, and overtime you learn to manage and balance what comes with them. In 2014, my very first store was all wrong.

The location, the lack of marketing all the way down to how I staffed. I relied heavily on how successful I was with my e-commerce and felt as though the same success would happen with the store. But I jumped into it too fast.

While I didn’t take a loss, I only broke even. But I did view it as a loss, a loss that was a lesson. The biggest lesson was to be prepared, do what makes sense. So I didn’t give up.

In 2016 I opened my second location and it was a huge success. Not only was it profitable, but it was fun. I took what I learned from the first location, invested heavily into branding. In 2018 I made the hard decision to close because after hair school I wanted to elevate the brand . I needed to do this in a different area, and it was the best decision ever.

I always knew what I wanted for my brand but it took a few tries to get to where I am now. If you believe you have to stick with it. Try different things, invest, hire others, delegate, start over, add to, subtract! Whatever you have to do, do it and don’t give up.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As mentioned before my brand is based first on healthy hair. New clients come to me to begin their healthy hair and growth journey. I pride myself on how beautiful my clients hair is, so when Covid-19 graced us with its presence it set my clients back.

I had clients begging me to come and see them, so I had to think what could I offer or suggest to them? That is how FreshHeir was created.

A full line from shampoo, conditioner, to heat protectant and oils. All that helps you maintain your salon look, and protect your hair.

My clients love the product and as a small business have restocked a dozen times in less than a year.

With any business you must be able to pivot, and be uncomfortable at times, because it breeds new ideas, and ultimately success.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shakiylaharris.com
• Instagram: @sharris_hair