Today we’d like to introduce you to Miiaye Brown.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Miiaye. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
“My story,” well, it’s a bit cliché… little black girl raised by a single mother that had a child at the age of 15 etc. Having a child at such a young age, I figured that I had to have some type of stable career for my child; therefore, I rested my mind on cosmetology. Why not, I like doing my mothers hair and I’m pretty good at doing mine, I can set my own hours and most importantly… I can be a mom. I obtained a cosmetology scholarship at an alternative school called OEC. Unfortunately, the school I received a scholarship from was in the opposite direction of my mother’s job so I was back to square one. “What do I do now”! My mom did some research and found another Cosmetology school for me to go to but I had to get a student loan. I felt like that totally defeated the whole purpose of me trying to get a scholarship I DIDN’T WANT STUDENT LOANS! I applied to Lacarm Beauty College, got in but I was totally unfocused.
A friend of mine told me about a salon that would hire me without a license, I’ll do 50/50 commission and I can intern under the shop owners license (which means she would send my hours in to the state board so I can eventually take my test). I jumped at this opportunity (or so I thought). I was bombing at this new salon, bringing in $600 to $700 weekly, which in all actuality I was bringing in $1200 to $1300 weekly since it was a 50/50 based commission. As soon as I wanted to go to booth rental for $150 a week, the salon owner said no. Of course not, that means she wouldn’t get her $700 cut. Now I was back to square one again. “Humph, I can go anywhere,” or so I thought but was turned down by all the salons I applied for… I needed to have a license, UGHHH! I tried many entrepreneur ideas that came to mind but none seem to develop fully.
During this time, I was in a serious relationship with a young man that was “In The Streets.” Since I had time on my hands, I started going with him to do his street work and found it to be more appealing to me than sitting in a salon all day, plus I was in love with someone that had all of my love, attention and energy. Cosmetology can wait, I ended up living a life of crime.
Ten years later, three federal sentences, a $25,000 restitution fee, a respected street name, being be traded by that lovely man above, and street worth of $1,000,000,000 in three different states… I was tired of a life of crime. I felt that I had more in me to offer and sitting behind those walls wasn’t going to get me where I needed to be. When I was incarcerated, I remembered reading a magazine with Beyoncé on the front page displaying fake undetected lashes. OMG, the B has on fake lashes and you can’t tell! I MUST learn this technique!
As soon as Lash Extensions were introduced to Georgia, I immediately did my research for a class. I ended up finding a $500 class. I asked my then-boyfriend for the money and signed up. Little did I know, there was at least 300 other girls thinking the same way. I took the class but found out that there was a lot more to lashing than what this lash tech offered. I Did more research, found a well-known lash technician/educator in the United Kingdom who’s been lashing and teaching for over 20 years with great reviews. I took her class and learned everything there was to learn about lashing. I started lashing in my home, charging $50 per lash service now. I’m a well-known Lash Technician/Educator. I couldn’t stop at just lashing; remember, I knew it was more of me to offer to the world.
Growing up with so many life obstacles, I realized that I wanted to help women to learn to love themselves, not depend on men for security and to manifest what they dreamed into reality. I noticed that a lot of lash extension classes weren’t really hands-on therefore I designed an accredited, hands-on lash extension training workshop with games and lashing activities to help new lash techs learn the lash extension application as well as remember the different lashing terms, Scientifics of lashing and procedures… all in one day.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
This was definitely not a smooth road, especially with being a single mother of two, the number of incarcerations, dead-end relationships, no business knowledge and little education. I had to really educate myself on so many levels of life, love, relationships and business. Also, trying to teach my children to live a “straight” life while mine was so crocked was challenging.
I now have a number of certifications, licenses, a member of three different lashing organizations and nominated to be one of the top salons in Stockbridge, Georgia. Not to mention, my daughter is now a real estate agent and lash technician and my son is a major music artist signed to the well-known rapper Future and his Freebandz label.
Make Me Mink Lashes – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Make Me Mink Lashes is a Beauty spa that offers lash extensions, lash supplies, brows and wax services. On the flip side of Make Me Mink Lashes, we also sell high-end quality Mink and Indian Hair extensions, wigs, HD lace front closures and frontals. Make Me Mink is known for providing top-quality service, hair extensions and specialize in natural lash health.
Make Me Mink, also thrives off of helping teens and young women find their niche in life by offering a free experience of being a part of the Make Me Mink’s intern lash training team. These young ladies have the joy of helping out with lash training workshops all over the world as well as learn how to become an entrepreneur themselves. These young ladies are also given a $500 scholarship to any training school / course of their choosing. I implemented this because I want to help young and mature women to achieve their goals themselves and not compromise their life to get to the next level…like I did.
I’m most proud of Make Me Mink because we connect with our clients and customers on a personal level to learn their wants as well as their needs and to be able to provide what they are looking for in a salon… QUALITY STABILITY, CONSISTENCY and TRUST. The thing that sets us apart from the rest is that we actually do care about your natural lashes. We’ll help maintain, grow and educate you on how to keep your natural lashes healthy all while your lash extensions stay POPPING!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success requires maximum effort. It is self-gratification knowing you did your best in achieving your desired visions and goals. Success for me is overcoming my past faults and acquiring new thoughts and attributes to achieve my desired life.
Pricing:
- Basic Lash Extension Sets start at $100
- Brow wax $15 and up
- Hair Extensions $65 and up
Contact Info:
- Address: Fairview Rd.
Stockbridge Georgia 30281 - Website: www.makememinklashes.com
- Phone: 404-287-6822
- Email: info@makememinklashes.com
- Instagram: Make Me Mink Lashes
- Facebook: Make Me Mink Lashes
- Yelp: Make Me Mink Lashes
- Other: Linkeden: Make Me Mink Lashes
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