Driven. Passionate. Focused. A go-getter. Jenelle Blackman is a nail technician extraordinaire, who has levied her technical skills and drive to excel and provide great service into a salon, where you are not simply a customer but part of a community, the Urban Oasis Beauty Salon and Cosmetology School community.
The vibrant entrepreneur’s path to her profession which she elevated into a business was not an easy or simple one and involved much personal angst, but now she would not trade it for the world. The 29-year-old confessed that doing nails was not something she envisaged doing as a child, citing the common misconception that it was something that mostly school dropouts and people with no other options resorted to.
“I did my first year of CAPE (at President’s College) and was at home for two years not getting any job…This was after I did my SATs and did well…I planned to migrate but the sponsorship did not come through – so I decided that I am not going to wait on Government to give me a job…. I saw an ad for cosmetology training – a nail course – and I applied. After I got my certificate, I said ‘ok’ I am going to get a job’.”
But her first experience as a nail technician was trying. “I hated doing nails. I wanted to quit… I never saw myself as a nails person: I saw myself as a professional person.” After eight months, Blackman quit her job and went back home, where she stayed for a few months, but her desire to make something of herself had the Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara native trying the cosmetology field again. “I was living at Paradise then, but it really didn’t work out. I find that East Coast people rather come to Georgetown to get it done than do it right on the East Coast,” Blackman said.
But she was not prepared to give up. “My thing is that I challenge myself to be better than I was the day before.” One day as her mother was walking along North Road, she related, she saw that Nicanie’s Salon has stations for rent and told the ambitious youngster, who although she was scared of going out on her own grabbed the opportunity and started building her brand as a professional nail technician. Five years later, Blackman was ready to move on. “I find in the cosmetology industry, they have a culture of disharmony. I hated doing nails for a while, but whilst I was doing it, I was doing it to the best of my ability. They (most cosmetologists) limit themselves; generally, most people don’t strive for standards. So I decided to move on and (nearly three years ago) got a place of my own. A place where anyone would be comfortable— regardless of your status in society.”
From all accounts, the former Annandale Secondary School student has succeeded in doing this, as persons from various walks of life enjoy her services, but the level-headed perfectionist is far from done. “I am far from where I want to be, but I plan on getting there… I want my customers to feel that they are a part of my salon, that they are part of its foundation, they are part of a community,” Blackman, who sometimes works until two in the morning, said earnestly. “I cherish my customers and try to show them my appreciation as I could not be where I am without them. I feel that I am in my baby stage, but I am still comfortable with my efforts.”
Quizzed about her business role models and how they might have contributed to her pragmatic outlook, Blackman was emphatic: “I really believe in you being your own person. I know where my strengths and weaknesses are. I work on my weaknesses. There will always be people better than you, but I don’t think you should compare yourself to anyone as you can become bitter.” Rather, she counselled, work to the best of your ability; then look at what people are doing that works for them and adapt those concepts to suit yourself. In fact, her advice to budding business owners is: “In whatever you are doing, put your best foot forward and you can only get the best result.”
“I don’t think success is a measure of material wealth. I think success is a measure of balance in terms of your happiness, your relationships, your health and your finances…it makes no sense having one without the others,” she later mused.
As Blackman works to grow Urban Oasis into a “top-of-the-line, go-to-salon” in its own building where all strata of society can feel welcomed and cherished, she lauded her fiancé (Mr Jones), saying their combined efforts were responsible for the success of the business. She also praised her family for always being supportive. “We work as a family,” she explained, adding that her brother, Travell, was responsible for the beauty salon’s paintings and images as well as its Facebook page.
Questioned about the effect of the present economy on her business, the plainspoken cosmetologist said there have been no negative effects, as she tried to stick to a budget, taking into account the likely down periods, while maintaining her standards and managing her three employees. “I think the main problem is people live beyond their means.”
She added that the most important trait for entrepreneurs was being conservative. “It’s easy when you don’t have a proper plan to spend willy-nilly. You spend more than you earn; then, you find yourself in problems and most times you can’t get yourself out of the problem. Most people start spending on themselves rather than spending on developing the business. Spend on the business and when it’s where it needs to be, you can spend on yourself without any adverse effects.” This lack of business acumen is why Blackman believes more training in proper management is needed for entrepreneurs. “I was very lucky to have someone who owns a business since most learn by trial and error and by then it’s too late.”
Hands-on intensive business mentoring and help accessing financing are also critical, she noted. “It is very difficult to get loans from the banks when you are a small business. They want so much that you don’t have and the interest is so much.”
But that should not deter anyone from following their dreams. In final words of encouragement, Blackman urged: “Whatever your dream, dream about it all the time – not only when you are sleeping, but when you are awake, in the bathroom, when eating… Keep it in front of you all the time. Work to achieve it and with persistence, you can achieve it. You can’t just dream, you’ve got to work.”
Contact: 235 South Road, Georgetown; 691-1512, 231-2058; https: facebook.com/Urban-Oasis-Beauty-Salon
