We recently connected with Whitney Stuart and have shared our conversation below.

Whitney, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

My hero is my grandmother. She’s such a sweet lady. She always has great wisdom waiting for me with her kind words. She helps me when I need her ear to listen and she always calls right on time. She’s my hero because she is a woman who is real and has a relationship with God.

When I told my grandmother at the age of seven I wanted to be a hairstylist; she told me I would change it, 18 years later I’m still a hairstylist and my grandmother supports me to the fullest. She’s one of my biggest supporters with any business or vacation venture I may have.

The main lesson I have learned from my grandmother is love is the greatest commandment of them all. Always show and move with and in Love.

Whitney, 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 Whitney Stuart a licensed cosmetologist of 18 years and counting. I knew at the age of seven I wanted to be a hairstylist. My mom use to take us to the hair salon at a young age and I would want to stay there. I loved how all the women left happy and feeling good. I wanted to do that for women.

I also was once an owner of a brick and mortar salon for three years and that was very challenging. The discipline with finances and the upkeep overall was a bit much for one person.

I do believe the love and passion I have for the beauty industry is what kept me going. I really love to see women happy.

As far as products, I use a variety of professional products but I do also have my all natural regrowth hair serum, and it works. This serum can be used on your scalp for trouble areas but also for dry scalp and to add moisture and shine to your hair shaft. You can get the serum exclusively at Exclusive Impressions. I also love to specialize in haircuts and hair extensions. The main focus for me is heathy hair and hair care. I believe hair is the crown you never take off so let’s take care of it, no one wants a lifeless crown.

I started in the travel industry about a year ago because travel is a passion of mine as well. Now I have two in one because I encourage my clients to take vacations. We need that to relax and decompress.

Exclusive Impressions is brand and I love that I stand on its name. Come and get Exclusively Impressed at Exclusive Impressions.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Let’s talk about the pandemic. I just had become an owner of a brick and mortar salon in 2017. A dream come true. I wanted to open my own salon by the age of 30 and I did and it was successful. Then comes the pandemic 3 years later and I had to make a huge decision. The world was shut down so there was no traffic for in person services. I had to become creative and sale products, hair, do live series, you name it. However when returning I had to make the decision to stay open and follow my dream as a salon owner or to shut down. I decided to pivot, shut down and move into a salon suite space. This decision played a major part in my mental and physical health as I have been diabetic type 1 since age 7. Another story for another day. Since then I have worked alongside great stylist, created my own hair regrowth serum and started a live series “Let me teach you how to Love Your Hair”. I can say the pivot has produced more out of me than I knew I had in me. It’s just the beginning again.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I remember I was posting like crazy and I was found by a well known public speaker. I don’t have a huge following however my followers are authentic; never paid for. I would give the recommendations to be real, relatable and authentic. Use hashtags, people search hashtags all day and they will find you. Be engaging and show some of yourself. Social media is to network so you never know who is watching. Post in your stories, they get a lot of views.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: exclusive_impressions
• Facebook: Exclusive Impressions Hair Studio
• Youtube: @exclusiveimpressions
• Yelp: Exclusive Impressions Hair Studio