Today we’d like to introduce you to Akeila Ward.
Hi Akeila, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory
Growing up, I was always surrounded but hair in some sort of way. My grandmother is the one who brought hair braiding into the family (she learned form a woman named Evelyn Griffin). She passed it down to my mother, who then pass it down to me. Every weekend I would look under my door to see if the living room light was on and if it was, I would get up an watch my mother braid hair no matter what time of morning it was! Little did I know I was preparing myself for the future. As a young teenager, everyone would tell me, “Keila, you need to quit your job and just braid because you’re good at it” but I never listened. Now when I look back, I realize that I should have. So instead of beating myself up I started practicing to make up for lost time that I’d missed.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I started consistently doing hair in January of 2019. For the most part, I had lots of support. Even though I was just really starting out, people would still let me practice on them, which made the process of me getting better go smoothly. The spring of 2020 was when I was at my worst and things pretty much took a turn. I returned home from school because of Covid-19 and I lost all of the little clientele that I had grew. I went about two months without anybody booking a single appointment. But I didn’t give up, especially not then because I knew I wanted to become something so much bigger. So with the help and guidance of my friends, family, and most of all my Mother and Sterling C., we figured that I should start doing thing differently. My mom would help me open up to being more creative with my hairstyles while Sterling would give me tips on how to become more active on social media (I.e promoting myself). Soon my followers started to grow. This tiny, but major obstacle taught me to never give up because even though there might be a block in the road, there are bigger things waiting on the other side.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in braiding and I’m most known for my Small Medium Knotless Braids, but I do other styles too. Some may know me for my Butterfly Locs and others because of Feedin Braids. The main thing that I am most proud of is that I’ve created my own parting system so that no matter how thick, short, thin or long the client hair is, it will always come out the same. This sets me apart from others because I will always have clean lines and nice braids. Consistency is key.
Can you talk about how you think about risk?
As of right now, I have not taken any major risk. But when it comes to taking them, I will always go for it. Risk taking is one of the many things that will set you aside from others. Whether you fail or succeed and least you’ll be able to say “I did that.”
Pricing:
- Medium Large Knotless Braids @185
- Small Knotless Braids @$245
- Small Extra Full Knotless @280
- Butterfly Locs starting at @175
Contact Info:
- Email: amw0831@icloud.com
- Website: https://keystyless.as.me/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/key.styless/
