When the failure came, although I was really upset and disappointed, I realized I no longer had the luxury to say my sister did that. I realized I could no longer just style pretty hair all day while my sister handled all the other aspects of business. I needed to step and become involved in all the other aspects of business. In the event we were challenged, I would know that I did everything possible to keep us in a good place. It’s an awful feeling when you fail and you know there might have been something you could have done if you’d been more active in the decision making.
The other thing was that I couldn’t afford to not try again. I was a single parent, I didn’t want to go to a 9 –to 5, I needed that time to bond with my son. Thinking outside the box was something I had to do because I understood what my criteria were. It was a difficult time, if you can imagine family and business in a time of failure. It was hard on our relationship, it was really tough but we stayed the course and managed to get through it.
BOSSY!: So you’ve had this great comeback and you’ve launched Miss Jessie’s, this super successful business. You could have stopped there. You have this huge success and you could have just chilled right where you were. What makes you say, now I’m going to write a book?
Miko: Another great question. For stylists and salons part of their business structure is not telling their clients their secrets. If they keep that information to themselves, they’ll be able to have a steady customer.