We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Vee Gibbs. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Vee below.

Vee, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about your team building process? How did you recruit and train your team and knowing what you know now would you have done anything differently?

No, my business did not have any other employees, besides myself from day one. I moved to Georgia after Hurricane Katrina I knew maybe 2 people here. I moved here with my 1 year old, my sister and her 4 children. We lived in an Extended Stay hotel in Alpharetta for a few months until we were blessed with apartments in the Athens area by Community connections which is a company that offers services thru the Red Cross. I decided to go back to cosmetology school after moving g to the area to keep busy and from there I started meeting people in the area, making them potential clients or client referrals. My training was very traditional but it was the way I was using the internet, word of mouth, and offering free services to gain exposure was truly unconventional to me! Of course I would have used my platform to work with many different companies and took my craft national…

Vee, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am, Vee Gibbs, a natural haircare stylist from Louisiana whom was displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to Georgia. I had taken cosmetology as an elective course in high school never even considering it as a career. I graduated high school and left for the military. I served 9 years as an all wheel vehicle mechanic. In the process of recertification to a truck driver and recieving orders to be deployed, I found out I was 3 months pregnant with my daughter. I decided to ETS out of the service. 1 year and 6 months later I lost everything in the hurricane and was relocated to Georgia. I made the best decision for me and my daughter at the time which was completing my cosmetology schooling. My skills and experience as a kitchen beautician helped me bloom into the stylist I am today. I offer natural hair care services that most overlook. I give my clients lessons in how to care for their hair in between their appointments with me. I have been working hard to ensure my clientele is able to keep their haircare in a healthy state in my absence…

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

I learned I was a heart patient after passing out a few times in the salon. I thought I would lose my clientele & salon suite from being placed on bedrest for almost 90 days.
But by the grace of God, I was able to work out a payment arrangement with my landlord, and my clients understood that life happens.
Secondly, after the pandemic, rolled thur my home it stuck with me the longest.I was out more than I was working in 2021-22. I was blessed with an SBA Loan to assist me with paying the salon bills. Yet I was evolved in a head on collision soon after returning to work full-time with long hauler Covid-19.
I was out of work yet again, this time with broken ribs and ruptured disc in my back. I eventually had to have 2 spinal surgeries in May 2023…
Now at this point in my career, I am working sitting on a stool to service my clients and I will not give up because the customer service I provide is relevant to my customers!

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

Being able to move and work as long as I used to do in the past shows my resilience over the years. I miss my clients when I am out becsuse of illnesses.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Designsbynature1
• Facebook: Vee Gibbs
• Twitter: @dbn_vee
• Other: [email protected] 504-913-0601 mobile 138 Park Ave Ste.208B Winder, GA 30680

Image Credits
Brittany Collins Medina Moon