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

Alright, Tamara thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Innovation comes in all shapes, sizes and across all industries, so we’d love to hear about something you’ve done that you feel was particularly innovative.

The most innovative thing I’ve done in my career is the creation of my own hair growth serum. I created this oil to help not only females but males that may be suffering with hairloss as well. My hair growth oil helps to strengthen the hair, protects the hair from heat damage, stimulates hair growth and it hydrates the hair and prevents frizz. HOPE hair growth oil has been found to stimulate new hair growth and is currently being used to treat many clients that suffer with androgenetic alopecia. It is very simple to use with just a few drops in your problem areas and massage it into your hair and scalp 2-3 times a week. If a customer/ client is totally bald you can use it 5 days a week. I highly recommend shampooing your hair once a week to prevent clogging of hair follicles which could stunt hair growth. Most clients are noticing hair growth in as little as 8 days.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am Tamara Johnson – Carter, internationally known as TamaraJ. I am known for my keen skillset in the Hair industry. I have been a professional hair stylist for more than 20+ years. My passion is people and helping them to look. good and feel better. I am a hair extension specialist who specializes in all hair extensions services such as traditional sew installations, tape in extensions and micro links. I am also a certified hair loss specialist for about the last 12+ years. I found a unique passion for hair loss when I realized that many of my clients was dealing with hair loss due to age, medicine and or health challenges. Once I discovered the great need, I decided to be the change agent and become certified in hair loss. As my faith would have it, just 1 year ago (August 2021) I launched my very own hair growth serum that was inspired by the almighty. The name of my hair growth serum is HOPE which affectionately stands for Healing, Outreach, Perseverance and Excellent. Those 4 adjectives perfectly describes how I try to live my personal life. I think what sets me apart from other stylist in my current area is the simple fact, I am a traveling stylist who has been fortunate to work with some elite celebrity clientele which include but not limited to NeNe Leakes, Lisa Raye, Jekalyn Carr, Katt Williams and Elise Neal just to name a few.

I am most proud of how I started from the bottom and worked my way to my current success level I possess today. I have experienced many days of crying endless tears for the thought of not knowing how I would pay bills the next month. There were many times I wanted to just throw in the towel but I was encouraged to just hold on. Working as a full time entrepreneur is definitely not for the weak. It is filled with many challenges. Sometimes you may find yourself wondering, “can I fulfill all of my client/customer desires and wants, will they refer someone to me, will they make another appointment’. But I must say it is so rewarding to stand back and look at what I have accomplished by not throwing in the towel and and keeping my faith in the almighty. Today I am the proud owner of of “The Total Woman Experience” full service salon with my daughter as my business partner. I have an online boutique that carries classy yet affordable clothing for the everyday woman called “Pearls for The Girls”. I am the sole owner of the Hope Hair Growth Serum which can be purchased at www.TheTamaraJ.com. And I am currently working on my own tshirt line (Pray, Plan and Prepare).

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

What has been the best source of new clients for me are REFERRALS! My entire clientele base has successfully been established from of word of mouth since about 2014. I have a huge following on social media which entails 5000 followers on FaceBook (TamaraJ) and about 25,000 on Instagram (TamaraJHair). A prime benefit to my advantage is that I am the hairstylist to the the #1 News Anchor for our local new station WREG Channel 3 (Stephanie Scurlock) also the stylist to the evening chief news reporter for that same news station (Bria Jones). I have also created custom hair units for New Anchors on other local new stations as well. So my work is seen nationally on a daily basis.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

In the year of 2005, I was a struggling college student with 3 kids and had been married for 10 years. I tried to re-enter the corporate work force to try to help ends meet at home but to no avail, I was let go. I had never been terminated from a job in my life until that time. That was my hi point of motivation. I took out a student loan and purchased some used salon equipment from a yard sale I found in our local commercial appeal newspaper. I made an appointment with the seller to look at the equipment and immediately fell in love. I did not have the money on my first visit but I explained to her that I was a college student awaiting funds to hit my account. I was a total stranger to this woman but she trusted me and held everything for me for more than a month. My total cost was like $1200. I rented u haul when my funds hit my account and the rest is history. I have been thriving every since, Initially I set up a salon in my home. I turned my eat in kitchen area to a salon and I started posting my skills on Craigslist! And that is how the story began.

Contact Info:

• Website: ww.w.TheTamaraJ.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com>tamara…TamaraJohnson (@tamarajhair)
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TamaraJohnson
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com>tamara-j…TamaraJohnson

Image Credits
photographer: Sedrick Askew / Clyde Sims / TamaraJ