Today we’d like to introduce you to Ketmanee Whitlock.
Hi Ketmanee, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for sharing your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
My work in the beauty industry began in Southern California 18 years ago. In 2015 my husband and I decided to move to the mountains and settled in Johnson City, Tennessee. I was leaving a full clientele behind, moving to a smaller town where I knew no one. My West Coast clientele continued to be in my book of business for the next 3 1/2 years while I lived in Tennessee. That meant I traveled across the country (racking up those Delta miles) every six weeks to care for their hair. I employed two assistants, and we banged out so much hair in a week. This also allowed me to continue taking care of my family and have some time inbetween each West Coast trip to start building a clientele here in East Tennessee. After 32 trips back and forth, I decided to throw in the towel on the West Coast clientele and focus on Johnson City and the Tri-Cities area. Throughout my career, I have always had assistants working with me as I feel it’s important to help develop and grow new talent in our field. There is always a lot going on in the beauty industry. Between changing trends, the evolution of chemicals in formulation, efficiency, and new/exciting ways to work behind the chair. As a Beauty professional, if you don’t keep up with these trends and invest in your education, you will be behind the curve and no longer relevant. This is why I feel continuing education is the backbone of my industry.
In March 2020, I opened Edify Salon and Extension Bar. Since we opened, we have expanded two times, and I now have a solid team of six amazingly talented, creative, and open-minded staff. Edify Salon is a Dresscode Project salon that creates safer spaces for all humans to receive salon services. Our holistic salon space is dedicated to education, a focused work environment, and a productive and supportive team spirit that cares about our community and our planet. We are also a Green Circle salon, which means we recycle 95% of our salon waste.
As a earthbound human, it is essential to ensure that our actions throughout our lives are not harming others and that we leave this place better than we found it as we travel through our lives. As a beauty professional, I encourage all other salon owners to look into recycling programs because we go through a tremendous amount of waste. It’s filling up our landfills taking FOREVER to decompose and it’s doing our future generations more harm than good.
Our hands-on education platform is very different from most salons. We have a model call each year, and people apply to be one of our salon models. Our salon models work with us yearly in exchange for social media promotions. We choose our models based on the current needs of our team. Who is on my team, what does my team need to learn, and what textures or densities do my team need to learn about and practice on? After choosing our models, we dive headfirst into continuing education. You can look at the salon’s Instagram for examples of our education sessions, @edifysalon.
I have a huge passion for our local community. Without our local community, we would not exist, so our salon’s holistic aspect must also support our local environment. The salon shares wall space and shelving space for local artists to come and sell their art. We host various artists throughout the year in our salon. This is an excellent opportunity for more exposure for our local artists. By introducing our clientele to artists and hosting a space for creatives to sell, the salon helps promote and sell the art. With the commission we earn from it, we have a donation fund for our community. We have had the lovely opportunity to support our homeless community, foster children in the Tri-Cities area, food, pantries, and the LGBTQIA community.
I think everyone in their businesses can do something to improve this world, and year by year, that adds up tremendously. We start small and keep going. I love being in a community of outstanding entrepreneurs and local talent to explore. I love my little mountain town.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Well, we did open during a pandemic, lol! Due to our opening date, we were not eligible for government grants or business help, but that’s ok; we still made it! We were open for 21 days before the state shut us down for six weeks.
In all seriousness, though, the biggest struggle in the beauty industry is the toxic work environment. Our salon space encourages team collaboration, doing what’s best for the clients, not what’s best for the ego of any beauty provider. Our biggest struggle is having a new stylist join our team and expect our salon to be like the one they just left. They come in with their whole body armor on, thinking they will have to deal with a bully or a diva, but instead, they find us to be a breath of fresh air. That’s the biggest struggle, breaking down the armour of new staff and training from a place that is all about the client.
I’d like Edify Salon to be in a space where people are happy to see others produce beautiful work, people are sharing and collaborating for the benefit of our clients. To feel like you can truly be your fun self, funky self, quirky self and still be accepted. That’s the goal.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us more about your business.
We are in an upscale salon specializing in seamless color blends, curly hair cutting and coloring and extension services. We have happy clients because we build relationships based on communication and deliver solid execution. Our model program and continuing weekly education set us apart from other salons. We train fresh out of school to help launch stylists be proficient behind the chair and begin their careers in the beauty industry. We are launching an extension line shortly. Look out for Edify Elite Extensions, where we will have an online education platform and hand-tied extensions/genius weft extensions for sale.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some changes you expect to see over the next five to ten years?
The beauty industry will always survive any downfalls from our economic environment. The return of a team environment is going to be huge. Only some people are considered small business owners/booth rent Stylists. It takes a lot of work to grow your clientele as a solopreneur. So I welcome those who have tried it for a few years and find they would rather work in a team environment. For us, we anticipate another location in Johnson City as well as another nearby mountain town.
Contact Info:
- Website: Edifysalon.org
- Instagram: @edifysalon, @ketmaneeheartshair
- Facebook: @edifyholisticsalon
Image Credits
@nokkustudios/en0kku.com @jocelynmathewes.art
