Today we’d like to introduce you to Jalisha Gilliam.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jalisha. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My mother was blessed to have four girls and one son. So, my sisters and I began playing in each other’s hair doing ponytail styles and since I was so much of a “girly girl” I loved with my Barbie dolls and other doll babies. I was surrounded by femininity. When I matured more, my sisters start exposing me to try other things, like braids; which gradually led me to get better. As a young teenager, I was ecstatic that older people were paying me to style their hair. This was encouraging me to take my braids to another entrepreneurship. This is the building blocks to how I got started and hit it led me to where I am today. Psychologist say that to understand a person, one must consider their childhood environment and influences.
My family encouraged me to have a positive ego, however, yet stay humble and understand varying types of personalities and characteristics. Surrounding myself with so many beautiful strong women has impacted me in an area of beauty and business. Once customers felt amazing when their hair was complete, it gave me a sense of pride and delight that my work matter and people are impressed with what I’m doing. Feeling beautiful has a euphoric feeling for both the client and beautician. The artwork and the artist have formed a sense of enlightenment. I knew as early as a pre-teen I wanted to become an open butterfly with an eye for beauty.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
My father instructed me in love and discipline that if I wanted to really set my goals for doing hair, that I do the very finest in all aspects of cosmetology. His motto to me was to provide the client with whatever they ask, be the best and deliver. The road to success is not smooth, nor has it ever been, it has valley experience and filled with either worries and uncertainties. If anyone ever said the road to success was easy, I do not think they are being candid. I had my handsome son at a young age and it caused a set of obstacles in my final year of high school. I had to be responsible and focused since I was a new mother. I could not participate in my senior year activities and partying or hanging out with friends. Responsibility took the forefront and it made me want to give up and give in to the common stereotype.
However, my son gave me a sense of inspiration and drive. I was not the first teenage single parent, nor will I be the last. I had to give my son a great example of how to persevere and be. I enrolled in cosmology school and kept learning, growing, and pushing. Then when I reached my finals, the unthinkable happened; my father died. I felt numb, cold, and dazed-my rock was gone. The one who gave me so much inspiration and instilled a sense of doing quality work and having strong work ethic was gone, and he didn’t get the chance to see his baby girl graduate. What a tragedy. So, I persisted even more and turned my loss into a story, my hurt into humility.
In 2019, I wrote a memoir titled A Listless Daughter. The Phoenix always rises from the ashes. Loss is never easy, and it creates a hole within your soul, but in order to endure, one must tap into God and have a strong spiritual inner strength and determination. The memoir yielded earnings and I then focused on my passion for hair. Almost as if my father was still aiding me even though was physically absent. The great poet laureate, Langston Hughes once wrote; life for me ain’t been no crystal stairs… but I’ve been climbing, reaching, and turning corners. Each of us will have our valley experiences and struggles in life, but the climb and victory is worth it all. This is important because when individuals see success, they believe that is easily obtained. For example, we see the medals, cameras flashing, television interviews, corporate endorsements, however, we do not see the sweat, tears, and agony and gory that proceeded their success. Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company and business magnate, said, when everything seems to be going against you, remember an airplane takes off against the wind – not with it.
Please tell us about JBrandBeauti.
Being well-rounded is especially important to me, not doing minimal styles but simply doing it all. My father instructed that wisdom. Styling hair is a therapeutic gesture. Clients open up about their life journey; whether they are bad or good; the emotions, current experiences, and even exchanging ideas and having a sense of compassionate camaraderie. When I braid, it takes more time; but I get to learn more about them at that moment. They have entrusted me with their hair care needs which I am enormously grateful to my clients for. I am very dedicated, and I communicate and interact with everyone. Interacting and engaging is what I have a panache for. I have an extroverted personality that makes me connect with individuals seem harmonious. JBrandBeauti desires to tell Atlanta that cosmetology does not have a cookie-cutter approach, beauty has no boundaries nor limits. Beauti is simply in the eyes of the beholder.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
No one really wants to start over in real life, but in their hearts they would, and their mind wouldn’t allow it. For me, I wouldn’t because it took for me not to do what I was told; in order for me to fully understand the logistics of the situation. No person is an island unto themselves. We are all inextricably linked and need one another. It’s imperative to make your dreams and thoughts a reality; no matter the struggles.
Pricing:
- A Listless Daughter (hard cover) $18.99
- A Listless Daughter (paperback) $14.99
- Knotless Braids $200
- Braided Ponytails $125
Contact Info:
- Address: 2260 Marietta Blvd Building 308 Suite 305
Atlanta, GA 30318 - Website: jalishabeauti.as.me
- Phone: 404-441-1076
- Email: jgilliam25@outlook.com
- Instagram: @jbrandbeauti @jalisha_book
- Facebook: Jalisha Beauti Business
Image Credit:
DeAngelo Franklin
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