Exploring Life & Business with Ricka Graves of LashedbyKi

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ricka Graves.

Hi Ricka, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today. 
Today, I would like to begin with saying thank you for having me back to speak with you. As your readers may remember the story about how the business Strands Beauty and Barber Salon (Strands Salon Atl) came about, I will recap the for the new audiences. I am not the typical hair salon business owner. It was never my aspiration or profession. Although I was brought up in the Beauty Industry, my career path actually entailed healthcare, holistic medicine, and a little business acumen from my Real Estate experience when Strands Beauty and Barber initially came into being. I am now the Creator & Co-founder of Strands Salon Atl, Co-Author of a phenomenal anthology series called 20 Beautiful Women- Vol4., and founding Principal Broker of SKII Realty & Property Preservation.

Strands Salon Atl Est 2010, became the home for hundreds of people to accommodate their hair care needs and was fortunate to be featured in a few films and magazines before closing in 2022. In this life, we cannot always control what is happening around us, but we MUST make sure it doesn’t happen to us. You cannot let your environment decide who are to become when the goodness in you is greater! The property was sold and the owners had no choice but to close the plaza, and there is nothing there for now where the bustling plaza once stood.

People often ask me what is next. Will I be reopening? To be honest, I am still working on me. Resting. Healing. Growing. Emotional exhaustion is real. Sometimes we need to recoup, sit with ourselves and take the inventory of what is there and what is next. That is a big job within itself and is definitely is my primary focus at this time. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity and countless memories with the many people that were able to make a living from its establishment during that time.

To my surprise, while all of the unexpected changes in were happening our world around me, it is my children that decided to take the Strands Beauty & Barber Salon legacy to the next level. My girls have ventured off in various areas of the Beauty skincare industry since then and I am looking forward to seeing where it takes them. The youngest interned with a prominent Permanent Makeup Artist/Mogul and began instructing classes nationally. As a result she is now pursuing her degree while making cameo appearances and Modeling some with talented artists. What an exciting time to see others you have inspired give their dreams a try.

My eldest daughter, Kiara, who was only 13 at the time we opened, is now branching out BIG in the Beauty Industry. She worked as an assistant in the Strands salon growing up. On the weekends during the school year and every summer, she was our shampoo girl. I remember she paid for her own sweet sixteen party bus! Lol

In high school, Kiara started styling her friend’s hair, and I thought it was just something she would do for a while. She went off to college doing lashes, then one day, she called and said, “Mom, I’m doing so well, I think I want to go into business for myself”.

Kiara is now an Esthetician/ Lash Instructor and small business owner. She has built a phenomenal business with clientele from Georgia to Texas. The LashedbyKi brand has become her staple, with celebrity clients such as Summer Walker, Dej Loaf, The Clermont Twins and more. Kiara has taught classes to other young women looking to become beauty industry professionals in across the country as well; although the Strands Beauty and Barber Salon business has come and gone, I am proudly passing the baton to her!

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?
Challenges, in my opinion, are just a part of character development. Although they may differ in each individual’s personal life, I truly believe that they are customized to our own needs according to the divine purpose for our being. What may seem like a hardship to one may be a welcomed experience to another on the outside looking in and vice versa. When the Salon business began, I was a 28-year-old married woman. A Mother of four. My children were 13, 8, 6, and the baby was only 6 weeks old when we opened the doors. The bright idea to start a family business, came to pass out of desperation to build a solid foundation for my family. My ex husband at the time was recovering from a near fatal incident while trying to acclimate him self back into society after confinement. It is very difficult to stay breast of the changes in the world while being part of it everyday much less when a person is returning to a new normal after a difficulty. I think more considering can be done to support your those people that are striving to be a meaningful daily life and could use a helping hand.

Literally, I came up with this plan to open a small business while I actually in the process of returning back to college to upgrade my nursing license to a BSN. My background was in healthcare, and I had experience working in the Intensive Care Units of some of Atlanta’s most prominent trauma centers. Knowing first hand the pressures of looking for gainful employment in the competitive marketplace and I decided to create one for him instead.

So, after brainstorming, together my husband, my mother, and I, he insisted that it must be a “Beauty& Barber Shop” and I used this those market research skills to find the most economical way to start what became a decade-long standing pillar in one of Atlanta’s now thriving inner-city communities.

Unfortunately, my significant other was back in prison before opening day. I was faced with a dilemma to either complete school and let the building go or leave school behind and take the risk opening this business without him. Overwhelming is an understatement! In the end, I decided to go with the flow, switch paths, and make the best out of what was happening. Strands Beauty and Barber Salon opened with one barber / one stylist, my mother and me. As they say, the rest it history!

For me, the most challenging circumstances have been around family dynamics. As an adult, I now realize that those things contributed to my desire to have what I conceived to be a better home life than what I experienced as a child with alcoholism and domestic abuse in the home. It resulted in me having to overcome new challenges that I created as a result of trying to find solutions to old problems without enough life experience to understand the magnitude of what that truly entailed.

This is what I mean by coming into this life and picking up where others leave off. It is there that the breakthroughs and new paths are born. As a society the tough conversations we need with ourselves and the sweeping things under the rug is a challenge that I have made myself get accustomed to facing other we have the same issues generations later.

Life’s personal journey taught me that it truly will take a village to properly raise even one child. It also taught me that the members of a village must also be vetted as not every adult has necessarily grown into a person that is suitable to mold the next. Age doesn’t always equate to Wisdom. Wisdom is developed by choice, through the pains of overcoming personal challenges, and coming out of them A BETTER version of you than you were when they began. Only time will truly tell you the how’s ,who, and what to do in the meantime and this has probably been the biggest challenge for my life’s journey thus far.

Personally, I found a village on my personal journey and they were able to show me new ways to find those answers and solutions together. It trickled down to a lot of self reflection in silence, accountability, forgiveness, love, and courage. I became a tree hugger, nature lover, and wounded warrior.

It is a habit that can apply to any challenging situation. Finding purpose in struggles and making the best out of whatever is available is how we can move obstacles out of the way. It is easier said in hindsight than done in real-time. Sometimes, when there are too many rough times or no one around to give proper guidance, struggles become the master teacher.

No matter who we are, I think that a challenge is built into our lives with the purpose of making life worth living. They build appreciation for what may have been taken for granted otherwise.

As we close out the month of June, I would be remiss to not take the opportunity to mention that this month is Men’s Mental Health Awareness and it was also World Narcissism Awareness Day on June 1st this year. I think as a society we can be more hands on in taking care of all of our health needs especially mentally and the overall wellness program of the Men in our lives is imperative to that as well. We have stimagtized mental health struggles to the point where we often feel ashamed for having them as if they are not a normal possibility to come across at some period of our lifetime. Men are too often expected to not express emotions, work through difficult situations without a proper outlet for the things they may need support with. It is creating more stress to ignore the issues than if we were to take time to hash them out as they arise. Our mental health is just a important as it physical health and are in fact tied together. Stressors in our thinking can eventually manifest as physical ailments which is why proper diet, exercise, rest, and healing has to be incorporated regularly. Science says the brain is an organ that operates as a muscle. Well I don’t know about you, but I have had workout routines that ripped ligaments, sprained joints, and wore me down. The solution is rest, ice, and eventually returning to the workout. Applying these to my mental help has been a tremendous help for me and I hope to encourage others to employ it. Sometimes, many times more often than we care to admit, life is overwhelming and professional help to make a good plan is like that ice pack we grab on the muscle aches. As I have found my version of therapy to be in the spiritual community that I discovered along my life, the help of things like meditation, journaling, and yes tree hugging became my mental fortitude and my village. I want to stress that Narcissism Awareness could use it’s own month, lol. It has become a cliché term and meme created trend throwing the term around loosely yet as so many traits that we think are normal, passed down even, can actually be considered harmful. The professionals who that address this monstrous issue are the most underpaid and overlooked in my personal opinion. Learning about the signs, symptoms and remedies for Narcissistic Abuse have truly helped me to find the mental strength to trust myself and move forward with life inspite of anything that could have been too much to bear otherwise. Please, if you have questions or need to be healthier than you have been mentally, do not hesitate to reach out to others, seek professional help  until you find your village. No one is above the challenges of life and now that we know that it is a normal conversation to have, let’s try to be make our Mental Healthcare like a routine checkin with self.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
LashedbyKi , my daughter’s business, now has two locations servicing the Buckhead, Atlanta, GA, and Med Center, Houston, TX, areas. I like to think of my Kiara’s skill set as an art. She has always been very creative and expressive through some art form- from ballet, drama, drawing and now I am amazed at the customizable looks that she can create  to fit her client’s personal style. She is most recognized from her volume lash extension sets as I recall the first time a client flew to Atlanta for her lash appointment with my daughter!

Believe it or not, like the Strands Beauty and Barber Salon, the lash extension tradition began in our family with my mother. Apparently, she started wearing them back in late 1960s. According to dolvlashes.com , As far back as the late 1880s, research has found records of lash extensions being worn and patented in 1902 by Karl Nessler (Germany) and Anne Taylor in 1911 (Canada). Today, there are a plethora or variations from lash strips like these patents to the individual lash extension installed strand by strand like the application that LashedbyKi specializes in today.  Our lives are like a canvas, and I am glad that she has found a way to share it her creativity by enhancing the beauty of others.

For lash extension and skincare services, you can find availability via the LashedbyKi website.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up.
We may have talked about my favorite pastimes growing up before. My most favorite childhood memories were definitely the trips to the beach with my father. It is definitely the most cherished moment and I would have to say my favorite tree is a close second. Let’s revisit the tree hugging once more. I enjoy talking about it because it makes people laugh yet as simple as it sounds, I truly a lot from those moments too. When I was little I began hugging this tree in the yard while learning to ride my bike for the first time. I was so excited that I jumped off and hugged the tree,lol. It felt like I had actually been hugged back though and that’s how my tree hugs became a favorite childhood memory.

Pricing:

• Classic Style Lash Set $100
• Volume Lash Set starts at $140
• 1-on-1 Lash Tech Training – Starter $550
• 1-on-1 Lash Tech Training- Master Class $750
• Facials start at $75

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lbkcosmetics.as.me/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/LashedbyKi
• Twitter: x.com/empressofatlana
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/iamempressricka