Today we’d like to introduce you to Kera “Kae Doll” James.
Kera, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
This goes way back to when I was 17 years old. I remember watching a good friend of mine do hair at her home as a side hustle. I was so intrigued by what she was doing. I remember telling myself “I can do that”. So that’s when I started practicing on myself—doing different quick weaves, sew-ins, hair color, cuts. You name it, I tried it. I even would do my friends hair for free just for extra practice. I was always into the beauty industry, the makeup, the hair, etc. It was one of the ways I was able to express my creativity. Then, I dabbled into makeup. I thought it was pretty interesting what you could create with just your face as the canvas. I remember one year, a stylist asked me had I ever worn lashes. I hadn’t, I was terrified into trying it because I never had anything other than glasses near my eyes. We started with individual clusters. It wasn’t even a training moment but I picked up on that skill so quick and bomb ! I was than addicted to lashes. That added to all the other services to my side hustle. Few years later, I enrolled into Empire Beauty School. While going through school I was than introduced to Lash Extension training. I was skeptical about investing into that course because I’d just lost my job and didn’t have much to work with. I honestly, I almost gave up on it all but something told me, “just go for it girl”. So I took the last $475 I had and invested in lash extension training—best decision I’d ever made. I started my business. At the time, Empire had never had a student that was certified to do lash extension so I was asked to do a show and tell on my skill for my entire class one day. I was so nervous, but training and sharing the knowledge I had on the skill was like second nature. It boosted my confidence level extremely high. So I kept working, kept studying, practiced on my mannequin when I didn’t have any clients. I did whatever I had to do because I knew that I would successfully be a business owner and I wasn’t going to let that passion die. Fast forward, three years later, here I am now, heading right into the direction I pray for daily. The skill level is top-notch. I am now able to train others with the same dying passion as I had/have. I can share my testimony and story on how I got this far and able to produce amazing work on returning and new clients. It’s all like a dream come true right before my eyes.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Defiantly has not been a smooth road whatsoever. I’d faced many challenges along the way. Financial issues being one of the biggest issues when it came to investing. I had to stop my education with the Empire for a while because I was so consumed with debt. Work at many different workplaces that I didn’t like at all just to make ends meet. It became so hard at one point, I just stopped with lashing, hair, make up. I’d let it all go. I use always to think that since I’d offered those services that people would flock to me, and that wasn’t the case at all. I wasn’t big on much promoting or being on social media, and I didn’t like talking to people much, so word of mouth wasn’t my thing either. I started feeling like the only thing I was good at was working a 9-5, but I wasn’t happy. My happiness came from my creativity. I didn’t have much of a support system when it came to encouraging my dreams, either. People around me often thought that what I was doing wasn’t going to take me far. After a while, you start to believe it. After years of struggling and unhappiness, I decided to get ME back. No matter what I was facing. No matter the challenges or the odds that we’re up against me. I got back into my happy place, and that was doing lashes. I started working at a salon suite in Metro Atlanta. I started networking with different people and listening to their stories and started again, practicing my craft. I did free lashes just to attract more traffic. I lost my home in the process, I was devastated, but I still kept working. I kept going. I knew that it had to work for me.
The Kae Doll Experience – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My business is predominately Eyelash Extension. I do offer other services such as brows and makeup, but my specialty is the lashes. I’m most proud of how far I’ve come from when I started. I was a wreck in the begin. I thought walking into the lash game would be so easy because it seems so simple but boy was I wrong. The process is so tedious and time consuming. It would take me forever just to get through one eye. I would get so discouraged because of the time it would take me. I kept going though. With consistency and faith. I got better and better with time. I am so proud to see my work from than until now. The growth is amazing. I know lash and have knowledge just as well as the professionals that’s been working with this longer than I have. I eat, breath and dream lash extensions. Lol
What sets me apart is ME. Simply me. I have an unique eye. I like things to be neat and clean but I like whispy and fun lashing too. I don’t use a lash guide or anything to create a set. I just base it right off the dome. All I need from my client is to tell me the style and length desired and I take care the rest. I like lashes to be natural looking but with a pop to them. Stand out. I changed my name from Kae Doll Minks to The Kae Doll Experience because it’s more than just lashing to me. How do you feel after you receive your lash set ? Would you recommend others ? Is this lash set the perfect set for you ? It’s all about the experience and the happiness of my client. The money is a huge bonus. That’s what sets me apart.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Me personally, your success is measured by how bad you want it. The late nights, the early morning, the risk you’re willing to take. All that tied together is what measures how successfully you’ll truly be. I’ve always been motivated by this saying, “6 months of consistent hard-work will put you one year ahead”. I admit, I struggled a lot in the beginning, I wanted to give up more times than you can count, and I discovered along the way that that’s okay. Just because I wanted to give up, I didn’t. I trusted God, even when I didn’t want too. I cried, I pouted, I became overly exhausted but that was all okay because I keep going. My passion for my business didn’t die because of hard times. It made me stronger, it made me want to continue to fight for this moment. It set me up in position to network and work with different people that could help put my business where it should be. Success is what you make it. It’s what you allow your experiences to teach you and how you grow from it. It’s all within. The outcome is what’s making the struggles of success so beautiful.
My criteria is just to keep pushing. Learn from whatever mistakes you made and just push forward. When one door closes, go around back, and if that doesn’t work, that does not mean it’s not meant for you, just another route you may have to take to get there. There are no rules or specific steps you have to follow. The only thing you’re responsible for is trusting God and walking in your divine steps. All the rest will fall into place. The only thing I’m looking out for is to ensure that I’m better than how I was the day before.
Pricing:
- CLASSIC LASHES $95
- EXTREME (2D) $115
- HYBRID LASHES $130
- VOLUME LASHES $160
- REFRESHER TRAINING $250
- LASH ONE ON ONE/GROUP $600
- VOLUME TRAINING $300
Contact Info:
- Website: kaedolllashes.as.me/
- Phone: 4707787398
- Email: kaedollminks@gmail.com
- Instagram: @kae.dollminks__
- Facebook: Kera James
Image Credit:
Kae Doll Minks
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