Today we’d like to introduce you to Aissa Ashford.
Hi Aissa, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My hair journey began when I was eight years old. I can still remember sitting in a dining chair in our kitchen while my mother styled my hair. One particular day, I decided that if I was getting my hair done, Barbie needed hers done too. As I watched my mother work, I began practicing on my doll. That was the first time I learned how to cornrow, although I had no idea then that this small moment would be the beginning of a lifelong passion.
About three years later, I spent a lot of time at my grandmother’s house. She had a well-organized basement filled with toys and video games where all the grandchildren could play. Being the second oldest, I did not always get first choice of the video games, so I often found myself rummaging through her toy bins looking for something else to do.
One day, I discovered a mannequin head.
I soon learned that it belonged to my mother, who had attempted to attend beauty school when I was a baby. I was fascinated. I immediately wanted to comb and style the mannequin’s hair, and that discovery marked the true beginning of my growth as a hairstylist.
From that point forward, hair became my creative outlet. I would rush home after school to experiment with styles on my own hair. Eventually, I even started breaking my mother’s rules by taking down the hairstyles she had given me just so I could recreate them myself. I practiced constantly.
Before long, I began asking friends if I could style their hair. My reputation as a talented young braider quickly grew. Alicia Keys was extremely popular at the time, and her intricate braided hairstyles inspired me to create freestyle designs of my own. By eighth grade, girls were coming to my house to have their hair styled. Two of my favorite styles were what I called the “3D Twist” and a braided Mohawk with flipped curls cascading down the center.
I continued practicing on that same mannequin until her hair became so thin that I eventually had to rely on friends and family as my models. My mother was excited that I knew how to braid and often asked me to braid my younger brother’s hair. At the time, however, I was quite heavy-handed. He would fuss throughout the entire service, and I would quickly lose patience. Looking back, even those experiences were teaching me lessons about technique, patience, and working with clients.
Eventually, I became responsible for styling my own hair completely. I braided, flat-twisted, curled, and even learned to apply my own relaxers. At first, I did them under my mother’s guidance, but eventually I became comfortable enough to do them independently.
My love for hair continued throughout my childhood until I finally became eligible to apply for my high school’s cosmetology program at the end of tenth grade. I was excited about the opportunity, but my circumstances were about to make the journey much more complicated.
Before applying to the program, I discovered that I was pregnant.
By the time my interview arrived, I was approximately eight or nine months pregnant. I could tell that my pregnancy created some concern for the program director. Still, I was determined. I made it clear that becoming a young mother was not going to stop me from pursuing this opportunity.
I was accepted.
That should have been the beginning of an exciting chapter, but my life outside of school was becoming increasingly difficult. My mother and I began clashing as I found myself making adult decisions at a very young age. Eventually, I no longer had support at home and moved into an all-girls homeless shelter. It was there that I eventually went into labor and gave birth to my son, who is now 17 years old.
Before my cosmetology program even began, I moved six times with my newborn baby while searching for a safe and comfortable place to call home. Eventually, my son’s father and I were accepted into an apartment complex, giving us some sense of stability. However, we were still teenagers trying to navigate responsibilities that many adults struggle to manage. He had already graduated from high school, while I was trying to complete my education, attend cosmetology school, work, and raise our child.
I successfully completed my junior year, but senior year brought some of my greatest challenges. I struggled to remain in school while working full-time, and my son’s father repeatedly found himself in trouble with the law. When he was eventually arrested, I went into survival mode.
I had a child depending on me. We needed somewhere to live, and the rent still had to be paid.
I made the painful decision to drop out of both high school and cosmetology so I could work more hours and support my son. I was devastated. Hair had been part of my identity for most of my life, and cosmetology school represented a future I desperately wanted. But at that moment, survival had to come first.
Ironically, stepping away from cosmetology led me to another area of the beauty industry.
Money was extremely tight, but I loved having my nails done. Since professional nail services were no longer something I could afford regularly, I began buying KISS nail kits and teaching myself how to apply acrylic nails. What started as something small that I could do for myself quickly became another creative passion.
Before I knew it, I was taking nail clients from home.
My creativity began showing through the artwork I created on my clients’ nails. However, I struggled with building a strong foundation that would make the enhancements last. Without formal education, I became discouraged. More than anything, the experience reminded me how much I wished I had been able to complete cosmetology school.
At the time, I did not realize there was an affordable path for me to return, so I decided to give traditional college a try. For approximately two years, I worked my way through community college and then a university. I was progressing academically, but I was not happy. I still did not know exactly what I wanted to do or who I wanted to become.
Eventually, I returned to taking nail clients. This time, my skills were significantly better, and I began building a clientele. Then I discovered something that changed everything: financial aid was available for cosmetology school.
I immediately decided to go back.
I enrolled at Douglas J Aveda Institute in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and completed its 1,500-hour cosmetology program while continuing to service clients along the way. During my education, my interest in nails began to fade as I rediscovered my first and most faithful love: hair.
After graduating, I knew I wanted to work for myself. Entrepreneurship offered something especially important to me as a mother—the possibility of creating a career while maintaining the flexibility to be present for my son.
I created a StyleSeat account, set up a salon space in my basement, and began taking clients. I was officially on my way, but talent alone was not enough to run a successful business. My time-management and booking skills needed improvement. As quickly as I gained clients, I sometimes lost them.
Those experiences taught me lessons that cosmetology school could not.
After plenty of trial and error, I decided that working in an established salon could help me gain the professional experience I needed. My first choice was Great Clips. It was not necessarily where I envisioned spending my entire career, but I understood that I needed to get my foot in the door, strengthen my skills, gain experience, and make money.
From there, I worked at Lady Jane’s and eventually moved into full-service salons. I continued exploring different environments, but one realization followed me everywhere: entrepreneurship was where I felt most aligned.
As I built my clientele, my personal life continued evolving as well. I married my husband shortly before graduating from cosmetology school, and we eventually purchased a home. I created another salon suite in our basement. By then, I also had two younger children, so working from home seemed like the perfect arrangement. It gave me flexibility and allowed me to remain close to my family.
However, I encountered another business challenge: marketing a home-based salon was difficult because I was uncomfortable publicly advertising my home address.
Once again, I returned to traditional salons. I worked at Great Clips, Lady Jane’s, and two additional full-service salons. This time, however, I approached employment differently. I had a strategy. I planned to spend at least two years working inside a salon, intentionally building my clientele, sharpening my technical skills, and preparing myself to eventually operate independently.
Nine months later, that plan unexpectedly ended when I was fired.
Suddenly, I had another decision to make.
I could search for another salon and repeat the cycle, or I could finally take the risk I had been preparing myself to take for years.
Opening my own suite terrified me. I did not know whether I had built a large enough clientele to follow me. I worried about taking on additional expenses and falling into debt. I questioned whether the timing was right.
After praying about the decision, I realized that fear was the biggest thing standing between me and the future I wanted.
At the end of July 2026, I opened my own salon suite.
It became one of the most rewarding decisions of my career. Since opening, I have successfully covered my suite expenses while generating additional income and maintaining the flexibility I always wanted as a mother. I can build my career while still attending my children’s events, participating in school functions, caring for my family, and being present for the moments that matter to me.
Today, my journey is expanding beyond the salon chair.
I am once again a full-time college student, completing my degree in Business Administration with a focus on marketing. Years of having to market myself as an independent beauty professional sparked an entirely new interest in me. I began to realize that marketing is not simply something I have to do to operate my business—it is something I genuinely enjoy and want to understand at a much deeper level.
My experiences have allowed me to see the beauty industry from several perspectives: as a child learning to braid, a self-taught nail artist, a cosmetology student, an employee, an independent stylist, a mother, a business owner, and now a marketing student.
My long-term vision is to bring all of those experiences together.
I would love the opportunity to work with a major beauty or consumer brand such as L’Oréal or Procter & Gamble, combining my firsthand knowledge of the beauty industry with my education in business and marketing. I can also envision myself building a firm that helps other beauty professionals transform their talents into sustainable businesses through branding, marketing, strategy, and entrepreneurship.
Another dream of mine is to become a platform artist. Having already participated in fashion and hair shows, I know how much I enjoy the artistry, education, creativity, and energy that come with sharing beauty on a larger stage.
When I look back, my career did not begin with a business plan, a salon, or even cosmetology school. It began with an eight-year-old girl sitting in a kitchen chair, watching her mother do hair while deciding that Barbie needed her hair braided too. It continued with a forgotten mannequin in my grandmother’s basement that gave me a place to practice until there was barely any hair left on its head.
The path from that mannequin to salon ownership was anything but straight. It included teenage motherhood, homelessness, dropping out of school, financial hardship, college, cosmetology school, employment, entrepreneurship, setbacks, marriage, motherhood, and countless moments when I had to start again.
But every chapter gave me something I needed for the next one.
Hair taught me creativity. Motherhood taught me responsibility. Hardship taught me resilience. Working in salons taught me professionalism. Entrepreneurship taught me courage. Owning a business taught me the importance of marketing. And returning to college is giving me the knowledge to turn everything I have learned through experience into something even greater.
I once believed that dropping out of cosmetology school meant I had lost my opportunity. Today, I understand that my journey was simply taking a different route.
I am no longer the little girl practicing on a mannequin in my grandmother’s basement, but I still carry her curiosity, creativity, and determination with me. Now, I have the experience to match them—and I am excited to see just how far they can take me.
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?
The path from that mannequin to salon ownership was anything but straight. It included teenage motherhood, homelessness, dropping out of school, financial hardship, college, cosmetology school, employment, entrepreneurship, setbacks, marriage, motherhood, and countless moments when I had to start again.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a licensed cosmetologist specializing in hair health, education, and creative styling. My approach to beauty goes beyond creating a beautiful finished look, I believe healthy hair should always be the foundation. I am known for educating my clients about their hair and helping them develop personalized hair care regimens that promote strength, health, retention, and continued growth.
Versatility and creativity are also important parts of my work. My experience allows me to perform a wide variety of services and styles while adapting to the individual needs, preferences, and hair goals of each client. I take particular pride in my knowledge, the neatness of my work, and my attention to detail when executing every style.
What truly sets me apart is the experience I provide behind the chair. I am highly attentive to customer service and believe every client deserves to feel heard, valued, educated, and cared for. I take the time to understand my clients’ concerns and goals rather than simply performing a service. By combining healthy hair education, creativity, technical precision, and exceptional customer care, my goal is to help clients not only look beautiful when they leave my chair, but also better understand how to maintain and care for their hair between appointments.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
YouTube helped me polish my abilities while also allowing me to showcase my work by having my very first commercial on this platform during cosmetology school. Tik Tok and facebook have helped me with exposure and my lookbook.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Issaoriginal1
- Facebook: aissa ashford
- Youtube: mind of a hairniac
