I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs so I’ve always have a drive to be my own boss from a young girl. My grandfather owned a dry cleaners & laundromat business and my mother worked for the family business. I also worked there during summer at a young age and developed management and entrepreneurial skills. So I’ve always had a “spark” for business. I have 2 sisters and we all have a passion for beauty. I made up plans at the age of 17 (15 years ago) that I wanted to own a salon with my sisters. Each of us specialize in something different but collectively, we form a great beauty salon team. From then to now, I never gave up on those initial plans that we made. It has always been in motion in my mind. I started my makeup artistry 10 years ago and everything begin manifesting physically since then.
What were the biggest initial hurdles to building your business and how did you overcome them?
The biggest hurdle for me has been capital/ funding. Of course like many, I have BIG dreams and it costs a lot of money to give your clients the vision you have in your mind. I mentally battled with that a little bit but I was able to overcome that by doing the best I could with what I had. For the past 10 years, I had friends that would probably think that I was “cheap” but instead of partying or shopping, I had to use all of my extra money to make steps towards my goals. There was no financial cushion, no parents to fall back on, no savings to fall back on - I put all of my “savings” into my business idea and goals. I just had to realize that I wanted something bigger and some temporary pleasures had to be sacrificed for the greater good.
Did you ever deal with contention from your family and friends concerning your entrepreneurial pursuits? How did you handle it? What would you do differently in hindsight?
I grew up in Nassau, Bahamas and I decided to relocate to the Turks & Caicos Islands, which is the birth place of my maternal grandparents. I must say that my parents have always been supportive of whatever decisions I made. My friends have also been supportive even though they couldn’t understand why I had to leave my home country to do it. I just saw that there was more of a need in Turks & Caicos Islands for what I had to offer, than where I actually was in my birthplace. I remained focused on my vision and blocked out any negative energy regarding my plans.
What would you say was the single most influential factor in your business success?
The most influential factor is knowing that we are not only operating in our passion but it is our gift from God. Our motto is, “Keen Imagination, Signature Style” and that is what my team delivers to our clients with every type of artistry that is provided. Before our clients leave, we make sure that they feel the best that they have ever felt and then they are able to see how beautiful they truly are.
What do you know today that you wish you would have known when you first got started as an entrepreneur?
I wish I had not focused so much on what I didn’t have in the beginning because it was a lot of time wasted. This is hard to do when there are a lot of things that come as a financial priority however, the key is to stay determined and push yourself beyond normal thinking.
What advice would you give to an upcoming entrepreneur locally and internationally?
Dream BIG but make attainable and realistic goals based on your current situation. Your current situation will not remain the same as you continue to make strides towards your goal. It is also important to stay focused and not to tell everyone about your plans. We creators and visionaries, tend to get excited when we think about something and know that the idea can work and we want to share in that excitement. However, we forget that some people do not have the same mindset, and will unintentionally discourage you because he or she are unable to conceive the kinds of thoughts that you do. Nevertheless, stay positive, stay consistent, stay humble, stay focused and stay determined to achieve your goals and visions. It doesn’t matter where you start but you will end up further than you can imagine.
