Unique Cuts & Massage

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“It was September 18th of ‘08 when I walked out of prison. It was a blessing, but I had nothing. My husband left me while I was there and I only had enough money to buy me some toothpaste and a toothbrush. When I walked out, God let me know ‘You don't trust man. You don't put your faith in man, you put your faith in me’. That hit me like a ton of bricks, and so I stopped putting faith in man and gave all my faith to God, that he was gonna show me the way. I left prison and went to go live with my grandparents because I had nowhere else to go.

I was there for six months and then started looking for a more permanent place to stay. Eight months later, I found my location on Court Street. It was God’s doing because I found a place to restart my business and a place to live because there was an apartment on top of the shop. So me and my children moved there and I started the business downstairs.

Six months after opening that, I was blessed with another shop, not even looking for it! A man came in, he was like ‘Don’t you want another shop?’ I was like ‘No’. He asked for a meeting, and I met with him. We talked and he asked what I could afford for it, and he says, ‘Well, can you afford $900 a month?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not’. And mind you, after I opened I had been out a year, I'm steadily trying to build. And I say, ‘Well, $500?’ He says ‘$600’. I said, ‘Well, okay, I can do that’. And then he said, ‘Well meet me at the bank so I can give you your key’.

So that's how I got shop number two.

Shop number three was downtown.

I was working at the psychological place in town. I was doing some counseling as a life coach. I came out of work one day, and there was a sign outside of the building that said ‘For Rent’. I looked in the window, I was like, ‘I need another shop’. And a guy came out. The owner of the building, actually. He was like, ‘You can see it right now!’ So I stepped in the building. It was so huge, it was like a block long and I was like, ‘Wow!’

I told him my situation. I'm like, ‘Well if you do a background check, you won't rent to me. I'm a felon’. And he was like, ‘Oh, no problem! Everyone does something’. We just chit chatted and I was like, ‘How much do you want?’ He said, ‘$400 a month’. I’m like, ‘Why not?’

My initial plan was to never move out from my grandparents and never to get another shop. I'm just gonna rent and just save. I was even planning on moving. But that was my plan, it wasn't God's plan. It wasn't meant for me to go anywhere. God has to be where he wants me to be. Because every time I try to move or try to do something different, it doesn't work.

I only have the shop on Court Street now, but the experience taught me to get in tune and in line with your higher power and listen to God. You have to pay attention because sometimes things happen in our life for a reason. Sometimes God wants us to be still. With me being incarcerated, that was my time to be still and learning to listen.

It was a lesson learned, but I don't want to go back.”

- Brandy Hines Jackson, Unique Cuts & Massage

“It was September 18th of ‘08 when I walked out of prison. It was a blessing, but I had nothing. My husband left me while I was there and I only had enough money to buy me some toothpaste and a toothbrush. When I walked out, God let me know ‘You don't trust man. You don't put your faith in man, you put your faith in me’. That hit me like a ton of bricks, and so I stopped putting faith in man and gave all my faith to God, that he was gonna show me the way. I left prison and went to go live with my grandparents because I had nowhere else to go.

I was there for six months and then started looking for a more permanent place to stay. Eight months later, I found my location on Court Street. It was God’s doing because I found a place to restart my business and a place to live because there was an apartment on top of the shop. So me and my children moved there and I started the business downstairs.

Six months after opening that, I was blessed with another shop, not even looking for it! A man came in, he was like ‘Don’t you want another shop?’ I was like ‘No’. He asked for a meeting, and I met with him. We talked and he asked what I could afford for it, and he says, ‘Well, can you afford $900 a month?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not’. And mind you, after I opened I had been out a year, I'm steadily trying to build. And I say, ‘Well, $500?’ He says ‘$600’. I said, ‘Well, okay, I can do that’. And then he said, ‘Well meet me at the bank so I can give you your key’.

So that's how I got shop number two.

Shop number three was downtown.

I was working at the psychological place in town. I was doing some counseling as a life coach. I came out of work one day, and there was a sign outside of the building that said ‘For Rent’. I looked in the window, I was like, ‘I need another shop’. And a guy came out. The owner of the building, actually. He was like, ‘You can see it right now!’ So I stepped in the building. It was so huge, it was like a block long and I was like, ‘Wow!’

I told him my situation. I'm like, ‘Well if you do a background check, you won't rent to me. I'm a felon’. And he was like, ‘Oh, no problem! Everyone does something’. We just chit chatted and I was like, ‘How much do you want?’ He said, ‘$400 a month’. I’m like, ‘Why not?’

My initial plan was to never move out from my grandparents and never to get another shop. I'm just gonna rent and just save. I was even planning on moving. But that was my plan, it wasn't God's plan. It wasn't meant for me to go anywhere. God has to be where he wants me to be. Because every time I try to move or try to do something different, it doesn't work.

I only have the shop on Court Street now, but the experience taught me to get in tune and in line with your higher power and listen to God. You have to pay attention because sometimes things happen in our life for a reason. Sometimes God wants us to be still. With me being incarcerated, that was my time to be still and learning to listen.

It was a lesson learned, but I don't want to go back.”

- Brandy Hines Jackson, Unique Cuts & Massage