Meet Denise James of Sékure Beauty

Today we’d like to introduce you to Denise James

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve loved nails since I was in elementary school, and it wasn’t until I went to high school that I knew I wanted to open a nail salon. I decided to go to college for Business Administration with hopes of it benefiting me when it came time to get my salon, but later changed my major to Criminal Justice.While in college, I went to nail school and obtained my nail license because I still knew I wanted to do nails. I went most of my young adult years working corporate jobs; working in the jail as a correctional officer, became a Police Officer, and later moved to Maryland to work for Department of Defense. I put my dream of wanting a nail salon to the side because I became distracted with working in the corporate world, forgetting what my heart truly desired. I knew it all along though, because the dream of wanting to have my own business never died inside of me. One day while living in Maryland, I decided to go for it. My first salon experience was working in a hair salon as the nail technician and business grew from there. I knew Baltimore, Maryland did not feel like home to me, so I decided to move back to Atlanta, but this time as a full-time entrepreneur.

I rented a U-Haul, packed it up and drove from Maryland to Atlanta by myself. All of my clientele was in Maryland so it took some time to build clientele in Atlanta, but it did help that I had friends and people who knew that I did nails in Atlanta already. I did nails out of the house temporarily, but I knew I needed a different space to attract more people. So I moved into these brand new salon suites I found on Instagram called Reveal Salon Suites. While working on growing my clientele, I traveled back and forth from Atlanta to Baltimore for a year and a half to service my Baltimore clients one week out of every month. I was taking about 35 clients in a week. Tired was an understatement, but I had to make it work. It wasn’t until I realized in order to grow my clientele in Atlanta, I needed to be consistent and available for them, so I stopped going to Baltimore and gave all my focus to Atlanta. It was a leap of faith that I had to take. I was only specializing in acrylic nails at the time and wanted to learn the Russian Manicure technique so that I could reach a broader clientele. The Russian Manicure is a very clean and detailed gel overlay manicure, so it has attracted clients who enjoy a more natural nail look. Once I added that service, I have been booked and busy with a waiting list of over 100 people, servicing women ages 21-50+ , all different races and backgrounds, working in different fields, and several different celebrities .

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?
Overall, it has been a smooth road because God has a way of working things out for the greater good. The part that hasn’t been smooth was only my personal anxiety of thinking what if it doesn’t work out. When I moved to Atlanta, it was a shock to me because I was so use to being busy working in Baltimore that when I moved to Atlanta with barely any clientele, I wasn’t use to having free time on my schedule. It made me feel like I wasn’t doing enough, but I had to tell myself to be patient and keep working. Honestly, the slow moments in that season allowed me to work on other things within my business that I needed to prepare for.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The name Sékure Beauty came to me one day because I wanted my client’s, and anyone associated with my business to be secure with who they are. It means to be unapologetically yourself. Nails are an expression of art, and I hope everyone chooses to be who they truly are and do the things their heart desires so that they can live abundantly. Beauty services are important to us as people, because when you look good, you feel good.My clients show me that every day when they leave my salon and feel good about how they look and their mood improves from the experience they have being at Sékure Beauty; whether it is from the conversation we had or the nail design they received that day.

I provide Acrylic and Russian Manicure nail services. It is not easy to find nail technicians in the city to do the Russian Manicure and I’m proud to say I am one of the best to do it, and in high demand.

I’m proud that when I hear feedback from clients, or potential clients, they find me and want to come Sékure Beauty because the nails I do are classy and clean but still artistic and trendy. I pride myself on providing an efficient service as well, so that clients don’t feel like they must be at the nail salon all day. Once my clients start coming to me, they rarely ever leave and that is confirmation for me that I am providing quality service.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Risk taking when owning a business is the only way you can grow. Nothing is guaranteed, but you’ll never know until you take the risk. My first biggest risk was leaving corporate America, and my second risk was moving from one state to another without a clientele. It was a risk having to get a salon suite in the midst of growing a clientele in Atlanta and solely relying on clientele in Baltimore to pay the bills. All of those risks brought me to where I am today. There will be several more risks I will have to take in the future as well. Believing in yourself, your passion for what you’re doing, and the journey is what gets you through those moments of risk taking. If you never took risks you would forever stay in a comfort zone that won’t allow your business to grow or even yourself to grow as an individual.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sekurebeauty.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sekurebeauty/