We Are Hair of Alameda

🎨 🍷 ART & WINE FESTIVAL

4th of July parade!
My feet are tired!

Story time/Part 5
This is the raw truth about owning a business. I had no schooling or background in running a business so I made many costly mistakes along the way. I began my business when I was 23 years old (I had 2 partners that were younger). We were clueless but somehow managed to keep our business afloat for 10 years in Oakland before going on our separate ways.
Moving to Alameda into a much larger space was terrifying and extremely a financially expensive venture. Not only was there a salon to manage, there was also a connecting coffee bar to manage.
Over the years, I felt like I had to become the captain of the ship. There were several times when my crew abandoned ship (quit and moved on to other salons) and left me with a skeletal crew to continue with business. It was times like this I wanted to abort ship and throw in the towel. I’ve cried many of times. But I picked myself up, dust myself off and started all over again.
Challenge after challenge kept me on my toes-
I was pregnant during my first year of business in Alameda. I worked almost 12 hours a day and worked up to the day my son was born. I took only 4 weeks off for maternity leave because I had a new business to run.
Years down the line, I had to take time off for family health issues and care giving.
Then the pandemic hit, we were shut down on and off for close to a year. Eventually we were allowed to work outdoors during the pandemic but then we couldn’t when the wildfires made it too smoky.
Oh and let’s not forget the time I broke my elbows(yes, both 🤣)and a few years later broke my foot!
Yes, I often felt like I was in a game of dodgeball and I kept getting smacked in the face.
Well I’m still standing 👍🏽(knock on wood).
I have to be so thankful that Steven came along to help me manage the salon for 25 years. (Book keeping, repairs, shoulder to cry on-)RIP Steven ❤️
All in all, I just keep on keeping on-