Today we’d like to introduce you to Shaneka Kneeland.
Hi Shaneka, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
My passion has always been doing hair! I love hair and everything about it. Also, how creative you can be. I started braiding hair in my mom’s dining room at the age of 14. I would do braids and updos for $20 bucks. A family member once told me that doing hair wasn’t a career and pushed me to change careers. I then signed up for vocational school at Crocket in Detroit and received my CNA license in 2006 but my passion was always doing hair. I’ve always enjoyed talking to people and helping women enhance their beauty. After I had my child in 2011, I decided to enroll in Michigan College of Beauty in Troy. Well, in 2012 my husband was assaulted. When I received the call, I was devastated. I started to think, my daughter is one year old, I’m in beauty school and my husband was fighting for his life. I took a leave from beauty school, and my mom helped me with my daughter. After a month, he started to heal, and I resumed beauty school. I graduated in 2014, late and after my class, but I did it! Took my state board test, worked in a salon for 2 years before starting my own business in 2016, and still standing strong with all my clients following from the previous salon. My old salon family didn’t want to see me leave but was happy that I started my own business and branding my name Sleek By ShaNek. Now, that same family member call to tell me how proud of me he is!
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?
It was definitely challenging! From taking a leave from beauty school to taking a leap of faith in opening my own business, it wasn’t easy. I look back at everything I’ve endured through those rough times and sometimes can’t believe I made it through. Some people think beauty school is only about doing hair, but it’s not. You meet other people who’s going through challenges and goals like yourself, and you create a bond; you become a family.
We’ve been impressed with Sleek By ShaNek, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Sleek By ShaNek is a brand. It’s my brand. My great uncle would call me Sha’Nek as a little girl, and it was a coincidence that friends in beauty school started calling me Sha’Nek first day of school. As I started perfecting my craft, they would always say my work was SLEEK, so in 2013, I came up with Sleek By ShaNek because I’m known for Short, Sleek Hairstyles. What sets me apart from other stylists, which I’m sure my clientele can vouch, is the fact that I listen. I listen to my clients; I talk to my clients to see what look they’re trying to achieve and discuss the options that fits best for them. Since being in this industry, I’d often hear women say the reason why some don’t go to beauty salons is because stylists don’t listen and just give them a style from a picture or a style that just didn’t fit them. Or how self-conscious they were to show a stylist a thin spot or mole that a previous stylist didn’t consider to cover when giving a haircut. So, I said to myself, I’ll be the stylist to listen and to take those things into consideration when cutting and styling them. In the African American-Black Hair community, people know that we’re known to spend too much time in the salons like a work shift, lol. Sitting around the salon from sunup to sundown just for a hair due. So, I mastered a rotation system which allow my clients to receive haircare services in 2 hrs. And my clients brag on Sleek By ShaNek having a nice, clean and relaxing environment getting “SLEEKED” in 2 hrs. and head to their next appointment or work on time!
In 2017, I launched my very own haircare line called So Sleek Luxury Haircare. I’ve designed a daily growth serum as well my own nighttime hair wraps to maintain my clients’ hairstyles in-between visits. During the pandemic, my product supplier shut down due to the COVID. I then had to search to find new suppliers for my essential oils, which is when I created my Stimulating Growth Serum. My clients love how it strengthens their hair. It can also be used as an oil treatment for people that suffer with scalp issues.
What do you think about happiness?
Seeing my clients’ faces after receiving a hair transformation is what makes me happy. It’s not about the money; it’s about the lives and confidence you’re elevating while doing it! I just enjoy it! I’ve had clients cry in my chair after being pleased with their new look. I’ve had a client tell me that she hid behind her long hair because she was told that a woman her size and full face couldn’t cut their hair. Well, that changed once she found me on Instagram, booked a consultation she felt confident and so amazed with her new haircut her she cried tears of joy and relief. We hugged, and she’s now a regular client of mine.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.so-sleek.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sleekbyshanek/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/Sleekbyshanek
- Other: https://evaunt.me/Hi1YDs/SleekBySha’Nek
