Esther Fawole
Nakia Vestal escaped human trafficking as a teen, she began working in beauty salons where she gained lot of experience about hair and how to beautify people.
After gaining a lot of experience, she used the opportunity to establish her own business.
She started her business with just a lash bed and the tools she needed in her dining room and started marketing her business to people by word of mouth, built her client base at home through hard work and determination until she built it into a full-service studio with a product line.
She then founded DollMaker Lashes, a beauty studio in Houston offering eyelash extensions.
Vestal’s Hair and Beauty Studio as a whole took a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic which kept beauty salons and barbershops closed for months. It was a challenge to her business but Vestal was able to keep her business afloat through a $10,000 grant from Verizon’s Digital Ready program, which allowed her not just to survive the pandemic but to also expand her business.
Vestal also succeeded through social media, which she also advice all small business owners and entrepreneurs to push their products and services through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok while growing a customer base through engagement and conversation. She said “With these tools, you can really target whatever audience you’re trying to get”
