Name: Evera Bailey
Major: Fashion Merchandising/Retail Marketing
Hometown: Queens, NY
Relationship Status: Happily Taken
Favorite Food: Chicken! Grilled chicken, fried chicken, anything chicken!
One word that describes you: Creative
Evera is a current Junior who studies Fashion Merchandising/Retail Marketing. She loves to style things starting from clothes all the way to hair which is why I decided to interview her for this weeks Profile! I checked out her instagram page @badmonbraids and was amazed. So I figured, why not? Upon interviewing her I learned that she does way more than just braids. She participates and models for the New Millennium Fashion Show hosted annually by the brothers of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.! This was her second year walking in the runway and must I say, that takes some guts! Her love and passion for hair also shows in ever hairstyle she does. I enjoyed getting to know her more and I hope you do as well after reading this interview!
For starters…what’s your biggest pet peeve?
“Slow people. I’m very fast pased so being around slow people just aggravates me.”
What’s your favorite part about being a student here at JWU?
“I think the diversity is beautiful here.”
How does it feel to be almost done with JWU?
“I’m sort of scared. I’m not ready for the grown up thing yet. I’ve been living off campus for a while now so living back home with my parents might be a little hard but I do have a lot of job opportunity back at home. “
What got you interested in doing hair?
“I went to a all girls catholic school with perdominantely all white students. I started doing celtic style braids (fish tales, waterfalls, french braids) and then I started doing my own hair. I just learned from there!”
Do you do this at home or do you do it at the clients house?
“I do both, it’s mostly whatever the clients want. Sometimes I travel to their home and sometimes they feel more comfortable if they came to my place so, it’s all about my clients really!”
Do you want to make this your career?
“Um, I would like to, right now I kind of just do it because I’m good at it. It’s pretty much my job right now. I would like to do something in the future, but if I end up doing hair as a career I wouldn’t mind.”
Do you have a career path?
“I do. I want to do anything with styling. I like to do anything with my hands. I’m very visual and creative so anything that incorporates all of those qualities.”
Do you believe your major has an impact on your hair styling?
“I think it does, dealing with styling and getting an idea of an overall look. I design clothes as well, so I look at the hair and style it accordingly as I would with clothes.”
What hairstyles do you usually get request for?
“I mostly do cornrolls, box braids, wash and blow, weaves… I used to do alot of prom hairs and updos but that ended when I came to college because my clientelle target changed from highschool students to college students.”
What’s one thing you want to do to expand your business?
“I think working at a salon would really help me out. I can learn from the salon but also I can grow clientelle.”
What’s your go to hair styling technique?
“I like to do protective style. Protective style is a style for your hair where you don’t need to brush it or straighten it everyday. It helps heal the hair and keep away from all of the damage you can cause from dying it or ironing it. Some styles would be box braids, corn rolls and twists. Anything like that I love doing.”
What’s something you pride upon?
“I think something I take pride in is the fact that although this is my job and I need to make money off of it, I try to accomodate to the clients and make it affordable. If they have a budget, I will try my best to stay within budget but still make them look flawless.”
So, I see that you have a lot of clientelle and you have quiet bit of followers on social media. Would you say social media helped you out alot?
“Yes, I’d definitely say that social media helped me a lot but before that it was more word of mouth. I only made an instagram because one of my clients suggested it. After posting pictures, my clientelle started booming. There was even some clients from Atlanta. Unfortunately, I don’t travel that far but whenever they are in NY or RI I’d love to do their hair.”
What’s one thing you struggled with?
“I think being taken seriously is something that I struggled with. I definitely think that when it comes to family it gets tricky. Of course I want to please everyone but at the end of the day, I am doing this as a business so, when people expect everything for free, its gets very frustrating at times.”
What is hair to you?
“Doing hair for others and myself allows me to express who I am. It allows me to bring out my creativity. Me exploring hair on myself allowed me to be myself and show who I am.”
Evera wishes to go far within the hair industry but would love to work more with styling. She was a pleasure to not only meet but interview. When you see her on campus make sure to say hi and ask her about her amazing talent! For all readers from NY or RI, make sure to book an appointment for your next GNO or upcoming banquet! Vera is super friendly and easy to talk to! Must I say, she was one heck of a gem! Keep up the good work, Vera! HCXO!