Check Out Lillian Nelson’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lillian Nelson

Hi Lillian, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always been a creative person who had a particular interest in beauty. My mother had me accustomed to salon culture from a young age, and my grandmother and great-grandmother were both licensed cosmetologists. However, when it came to my hair, my mom always made sure to keep it simple. I remember seeing models in hair magazines with all these intricate colors and styles that my mom would never let me try. So when I went to college with little-to-no money to splurge on getting my hair done, I started teaching myself how to install weaves and make custom wigs using Youtube. This was not only a cost effective way to keep my hair done, but it was how I expressed myself! I love being able to experiment with different styles and colors. I was scared to do hair on other people at first, but I would sometimes do hair for my friends and family. After I graduated college, I was completely undecided on the path I wanted to take. I went to grad school, but because I found myself so enamored with improving my wig-making skills, I ended up leaving to take a shot at becoming a licensed cosmetologist. I initially went to cosmetology school to improve my wig-making and coloring skills, then I started growing an interest in natural hair care. When I was in cosmetology school, natural hair was such a small chapter compared to everything else we covered. even though there was such a large demand for natural hair stylists. This lack of information sparked an interest and gave me motivation to provide client knowledge and healthy care practices for natural hair. Post-graduation from cosmetology school, I took numerous continuing education classes and worked under a natural hair specialist in order to become more knowledgeable in the industry. This led me to be the versatile stylist who knows how to correctly handle, treat, and style natural hair along with other textures. My first 4 years as a licensed cosmetologist started in Greensboro, NC where I worked out of a salon with other stylists for 3 years before moving into my first salon suite called “Lilly Da Vinci Hair Studio” where I worked out of for 1.5 years. In 2022, I decided to take my talents to Raleigh, NC where I currently work out of my salon suite now called “Press N Pose Beauty Studio”. Here I perform a number of styles from silk presses, sew-ins, wig-making, color and more, always making sure to put the integrity of my client’s hair first.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
6 years of being a hairstylist, and I can’t say it’s gotten easier but it’s become a way of life to roll with the waves. What most people who run a business don’t talk about is how entrepreneurship is so much more than just running a business. It is a mental and spiritual journey. I’m an introvert with social anxiety, so that alone has made my journey of a hairstylist a struggle. I’ve had to learn how to navigate through my anxiety in order to effectively show up to service my clients. I think another important trait to have as a business owner is confidence. Clients want to entrust their hair, time, and money in a beauty professional who is not only good at what they do but confident in what they offer. Client’s can definitely tell if you don’t have confidence in what you do. This is something that comes with experience, and continuous self-work which is something that has helped me grow into the stylist I am today. However, the inner work never stops but I’m enjoying the journey and seeing my growth from where I started.

Another struggle, is learning how to effectively and efficiently run a business. There isn’t a straight forward guidebook, so I’ve made a lot of mistakes and learning lessons along the way. A big lesson I’ve learned is that some things that might work for one person may not necessarily work for another. While working under seasoned stylists in the salon, I received a lot of valuable advice and direction. However, I had to figure out how to make it work for me and my business style. For example, some seasoned stylists are okay with working long days/hours but I’ve learned that’s the easiest way for me to reach burnout. Creating a business flow that works for you is imperative when it comes to productivity and growth. I’m more productive when I prioritize rest, I can’t work long days and multiple days a week. My focus with running a business is creating balance, boundaries, while maintaining self-care in order to avoid burnout. It can be challenging sometimes but it produces the best outcome for me.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a licensed cosmetologist who specializes in natural hair care and extension services. I think my clients book me for my skill and my emphasis on healthy hair. I always want to make sure that the foundation of the hair (and scalp) is healthy before performing a styling service. I take an elevated approach to hair treatments by offering spa-like steaming and scalp exfoliation packages with some of my services. I’m proud of how I am not only able to make a career out of my art, but also be able to educate my clients on natural hair education. This is what also sets me apart, because finding a quality hairstylist who is knowledgable with natural hair while also prioritizing healthy hair practices is hard to find.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Risk is important in order to grow and it takes being comfortable with discomfort, because you won’t thrive in your comfort zone. It’s a continuous trust fall, and you have to have a lot of faith (and that’s also where confidence comes in). I’ve taken a lot of smaller risks, but my biggest one has definitely been moving to a new city without building my clientele first. Before I moved from Greensboro, I was 95% booked and very comfortable. The problem was that I wasn’t happy living in Greensboro and I needed a change for myself. I knew I wasn’t going to see much growth within my business if I stayed in my comfort zone. Moving to Raleigh was a huge adjustment. It was scary and I had to start my clientele from scratch. Maybe 1-2% of my clientele was willing to make the travel to the Raleigh-Durham area.

I also made the crazy decision to skip the “working in the salon” phase, to hopping right into an independent salon suite. It was hard and I considered going back to school a lot. Overall, it was a very humbling experience because everything I worked hard for and built in Greensboro, didn’t mean much anymore. It was super risky, and for the first 6 months I was in DEEP regret, but i worked harder than I ever had and looking back it was the best decision for not only my business but my personal, mental, and emotional health. The short-term sacrifices are worth it for the long-run.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pressnposebeauty.com
• Instagram: press.n.pose