The Alimond Show
Welcome to The Alimond Show --join us as we share our entrepreneurial guests' stories, uncover their secrets to success, and explore the unique paths they've taken to build thriving businesses in our community.
In each episode, our host, Aliyah Dastour, sits down with a diverse group of local business owners, from the corner cafe to the boutique shop, from tech startups to family-run enterprises. We peel back the curtain to reveal the trials, triumphs, and transformational moments that have shaped their entrepreneurial journey.
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The Alimond Show
Mela Wright - Transforming Lives through MW Hair Experience and Medical Wigs
Ever wondered how a passion for hair can transform lives and create a thriving business? Join us as we chat with the remarkable Mela Wright, founder of MW Hair Experience, who turned her teenage hustle into a celebrated career. Mela's journey is a testament to resilience, from styling hair in high school to buy Jordans, to overcoming the hurdles of being a teen mom, and facing rejections from cosmetology schools. Hear how she graduated from Dudley Beauty College, mentored by a strict instructor who instilled the seriousness of her craft, shaping her into the professional she is today. Mela's rebranding to MW Hair Experience highlights her dedication to personalized, holistic client care, especially through her new line of medical wigs designed to offer stylish, natural options for those in need.
Explore how Mela strategically grew her business through partnerships like Groupon and the power of social media in showcasing stunning hair transformations. She opens up about the challenges of client retention, the importance of creating comfortable and private client experiences, and her future plans in education and mentoring. Discover the evolving trends in hair extensions and the meticulous care required for maintaining wigs. Mela also shares valuable insights on staying focused amidst the distractions of a competitive industry and social media comparisons, emphasizing the importance of perseverance and nurturing one's passion. Tune in for an inspiring episode filled with practical advice and motivational stories!
I'm Mila, the name of my business is the MW Hair Experience, and the way that I service my client is through hair extensions. Well, hair services. I specialize in hair extensions and the other thing that I am actually working on as we speak is starting like a medical wig line, and so I wanted to be able to offer stylish wigs, because I've seen that in the past. Well, currently there's not a lot of options to me for like stylish wigs and human hair wigs in the cranial prosthesis area, and also textures Like there's not a lot of texture options for you know the different ethnicities to try to have what would make you comfortable and feeling natural. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, feeling your best, yeah, when you're going through a hard time. Yeah yeah, how did you get into hair and doing extensions and wigs? How did you get in? Tell me a and wigs how did you get in? Tell me a little bit about that, about your story.
Speaker 1:So I guess I would say it started probably in about high school. I would like always like do hair, like my friend's parents hair, for money, like I don't know. I grew up in Seattle and like Jordans was a huge deal and they're still expensive, but for the time then they were expensive.
Speaker 2:So oh, jordans, the shoes, yeah, you're saving up for some of them, yeah.
Speaker 1:Or I would just say to my mom like, can you match me Like and I would just like I would work for shoes it's a good goal, yeah, so that's how I started it and then, like, I honestly don't think I really wanted it to be a career, but I did want to be in like something creative fashion or like interior design, or I wanted to be an architect as well.
Speaker 2:So it was something creative.
Speaker 1:Um, and then I started to realize that I did, I guess, enjoy it. So then, like I don't know my early 20s, I went into cosmetology school. It wasn't that easy because I was like a single mom and a teen mom as well. So my I was actually told by a couple of schools that I couldn't go because they're like. One school told me, because my daughter was under the age of three, that I likely wouldn't like complete school.
Speaker 2:So well, how did that feel? Yeah, it was crazy to tell you if they don't tell me no it felt terrible, but that's how I am, though.
Speaker 1:Like that me having her like actually put a lot into me. As far as, like I am, I'm the type that, like if you tell me I can't do something, or even kind of like I guess the universe says I can't do something and then I'm going to try to.
Speaker 2:You're going to go do it, yeah, like I'm going to try to do it really hard. I love that mentality, yeah. So you went to cosmetology school and that kind of furthered your skills in the hair industry. Tell me a little bit about that.
Speaker 1:It did. I actually ended up. So I went and finished school here well, in Washington DC, at Dudley Beauty College, and that was an amazing experience because actually my instructor rest in peace, her name was Miss Carpenter. She was really strict, but she made me look at the career very differently. She made me think, like she would tell us we were the only ones that can like make money the same way that doctors could with being licensed. She was like you have a license to touch and serve people and you can like make the same amount of money that they can. And then she was also a nurse, and so that's where, like my deeper thoughts. Like she required us to have like a pill book to know like what type of medications can like cause hair loss and just different things like that yeah, or even maybe like, what, like if someone's having a bad reaction to something and kind of understanding that yeah because there's a whole science behind all of this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, yeah, she required us to like know a lot, and I think that it was great that she was a nurse as well. So she just, I don't know, she had me look at it like really really differently Because, honestly, it wasn't a career that I thought of as like glamorous at first, especially because it's a service thing, so I don't know. But again I was like, ok, I'm a professional, like as I, you know, went through, she, she cared about the way that we carried ourselves and even the way that we, like you know, interacted with our clients, and just thinking of it really really differently.
Speaker 2:So was she a pretty good mentor she was, I would say, she.
Speaker 1:I shied away a little. I liked her because she was tough, but I kind of still stayed away because some of it sometimes will rub me wrong. But, I can say that it was definitely impactful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah for sure. Tell me how um is it? Mw hair experience.
Speaker 1:Tell me how that was born, so this is actually kind of new. Um I, this career has been a journey.
Speaker 2:I'll say that it's been taking a lot of pivots.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I've done a lot of things throughout the entire time of my career and this is recent. I kind of just wanted to like rebrand. I'd been like kind of putting that on my social media. I was Mila, the hair expert on social media for, like I don't know, it's been years now. I would say maybe I don't know 10 years or so, even through other brands and things that I've done. But this, I guess, because it's like I want to create an experience for my customers and of course, it's going to be me, like I don't have an assistant or anything. So when I noticed that, like a lot of my customers, they like just the start to finish, you know they want me. So it's like from the shampoo service to like the music that's being played or the podcast that we watch or listen to, to the TV shows or whatever in the conversations that we have, it's an and, of course, the service that I'm providing it's all an experience. So I was like, ok, we'll just call it the MW Hair Experience.
Speaker 2:Experience. Yes, yeah, I like it because it is an experience and it's an intimate relationship. It is yeah.
Speaker 1:Especially because the way that I service my clients to us in like a private room and so it's just them and I. I try to keep it so that you know likely extensions they used to be where it was like. You want that to be discreet and so you know it's just the privacy you don't have to have. I like it too, Like I don't like too much of a crowd and things like that.
Speaker 2:So especially you don't want to see the whole room getting your extensions in Nor looking at me, do them. Tell me more about your medical wig line and the thought process behind that. How was that born?
Speaker 1:So I actually I know people, including my mom. She suffers from alopecia. Then I actually I lost a sister to cancer and then I'm sorry, no problem.
Speaker 2:And then I'm trying to think there's just too like so many people, yeah, like of course, having clients.
Speaker 1:I've been doing hair for like 15 years, so I had a client that like suffered from sickle cell and she had to have like a organ transplant and because of that she ended up having to go through chemo and I ended up donating wigs for that reason. And then again I know other people have suffered from cancer, and then I have clients that suffer from lupus, so there's all types of reasons and then, like, the wigs can be, you know, expensive.
Speaker 2:Yeah what is an average wig cost?
Speaker 1:So it just varies, but they can go from like $300 to like $3,000.
Speaker 2:Wow. So it's an investment go from like $300 to like $3,000 and maybe even more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, and that's the thing that was my passion, because I went to a store that like specialized in those types of wigs and carry different lines of cranial prosthesis, but I found them, they were synthetic and then it was difficult to customize them where I feel like with human hair, which is my goal, and there wasn't a lot of textures, like we were saying. And so those are two things that I want to be able to customize it as far as, like, color, texture, size.
Speaker 2:That's what I was going to ask. How do you customize? Yes, yes.
Speaker 1:So size like your cap, and the comfort, the color, the texture and the length. So if someone wants something to mimic their real head of hair, or even like if they're not losing all their hair, we can merge. So I just want them to be able to have options to, you know, feel comfortable while they're going through with their experience and their health.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and is it hard to get wigs approved through insurance? How is that process?
Speaker 1:So I wouldn't say it's difficult. I think that you just need, like a prescription from your doctor, and then they have to be very careful, like there's actual billing codes that you have to use. You can't just like get a prescription for a wig it has to have the words cranial prosth't just like get a prescription for a wig it has to have the words cranial prosthesis.
Speaker 2:Explain to me what that is exactly.
Speaker 1:So the word prosthesis is, like you know, prosthetic is the base and so that's just the cranial is the crown of the head, so yeah, it's just like if you had a prosthetic leg or a prosthetic arm. It's a prosthetic head of hair.
Speaker 2:Which should be covered just the same way as anything else. Exactly, and it is, it is.
Speaker 1:Especially, like I know, the Department of Veteran Affairs. They approve a really good amount for their veterans.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:I'm like their customers.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I got you, but yeah them.
Speaker 1:And then there's particular insurances that will cover, like, say, up to a percentage, like maybe 70% or 60% or whatever, and then you would just figure out how to come up with the cost, the remaining cost. And another thing that I just incorporated in my business is accepting financing.
Speaker 2:So that was good, like. Yeah, that's nice too for people that need to spread things out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can get approved and you can include, like hair services, as well as the actual hair and everything in there.
Speaker 2:What do you find most rewarding about what you do?
Speaker 1:I love to see how women like see one. I love the instant, almost instant gratification of seeing like the transformation, instantly, like I get to see like ooh, you came in this way, you leave this way. And then I love to see their results, like when they're're done, most women perk up and then they're just like yeah, I'm ready to go out now like they were, like they might come in tired.
Speaker 2:They stand a little taller and they like walk with a little strut.
Speaker 1:Exactly yeah, they'll come in tired and then they're like, oh no, I'm going to dinner now or I think I'm gonna accept that date or whatever it is, and I'm like, yeah, girl, go show up. That probably feels good right.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, I love that. What are you doing for advertising and marketing to get people in the door? What's working for you? What's not working for you?
Speaker 1:So the main way that I get? So that's a good question. I guess I rely a lot on social media, but I don't think that has been that great lately. I'm working on like running ads and, yeah, pretty much running ads. And then I was thinking in the past I've partnered with Groupon but I want to be really strategic in how I partner with them going forward, because you can sometimes attract like the wrong I don't want to say the wrong type of client, but you will likely not get a repeat customer out of them and they're likely bargain seekers.
Speaker 2:Yeah, which takes everybody to make the world go around. I can see how that might not translate into a repeat customer. Yeah, exactly. So how do you kind of overcome those hurdles?
Speaker 1:So a lot of times it's well. I haven't dealt with Groupon in years and so most of the time like a customer needs maintenance with their service or if they're really comfortable with the way that I've done it, and then of course they'll want to come back and they likely refer someone else.
Speaker 2:So yeah, do you do a lot of before and afters on.
Speaker 1:I do. Social media has a lot of uh photos. I don't. I feel like I don't do a lot of befores too much because I feel like I don't want to expose people too much. They don't you know they're shy, so they're even shy about the afters, but I'm like it's okay, it's good. This looks too good.
Speaker 2:So I take a lot of pictures. Yeah, that's good. Yeah, keep them always in your back pockets. You've got some content for later. Where do you see yourself going in the next few years?
Speaker 1:I hate to put a time limit on it. But you see, growth. I do a lot because, again, I'm throwing a lot. Well, I'm not sure if I said this during this time, but I'm rebranding right now and so, um, yes, I'm putting a lot in there. I want to get into education, like teaching um, advanced skills to newer stylists, because the thing that I did miss in cosmetology school was like how to manage my business. I feel like that's where a lot of the struggle comes along. Like you don't realize when you go to school, you think you're just going to get behind the chair and there's a lot that you need to know, that you have to be your own business manager, and there's a lot that you need to know, that you have to be your own business manager.
Speaker 2:So you think that's a common theme in cosmetology and a lot of trade schools that they're kind of missing that business part on it, so sorry, continue what you were saying.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so basically what you're saying like, and so I want to basically bridge that gap. In addition to that the practical part of it I would like to like teach advanced techniques where people can learn, like the extensions, and maybe even how to make wigs or whatever it is that they need to learn, but more so the extensions, because I do a lot of advanced techniques and I'd like to start teaching how to properly do those. I've been doing them for a lot of years and honestly, I don't think if I didn't do them I wouldn't have been able to stay around for as long as I have. But I believe in specializing and doing what you're good at. For sure, but I know that because they're high ticket services they helped me to, you know, reach six figures in earnings.
Speaker 2:That's good. So, yeah, do you feel like extensions are definitely on the uprise? I feel like more and more people are doing them, of all different nationalities, absolutely. Do you feel like it's become more of a not necessarily a trend, but a little bit more common?
Speaker 1:It's definitely more common. I don't think it would be a trend. But a little bit more common, it's definitely more common. I don't think it would be a trend. I think that there's trends within it, Like there's different types of extensions that people are they'll do more or less of over the years. It's crazy because when I started, like 15 years ago, a lot of the types of extensions that we were like doing then are now like repeating and they're becoming way more popular. And I'm just like what?
Speaker 2:You guys did that 15 years ago Right exactly.
Speaker 1:So it's like nothing new. But again, that's what makes me want to get on the education side of things, yeah, and have the opportunity to mentor somebody else. Maybe that was in your shoes, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was going to ask you a question about the wigs. Okay, do you make the wigs?
Speaker 1:I can, but it's not going to be my plan to, unless it's like. So there are um stock wigs and I prefer to have that, just so that is a little bit faster. But if there is some customization or whatever that they need, then I can do that, and then the other thing I will do is maintenance them.
Speaker 1:And so if you want to change the color, if you want to, you know, go shorter or whatever, like change your look, uh, uh, maybe you might want a ponytail yeah, not, unless we add hair, but it likely won't look right you'll just need a different unit, um, but yeah, if you want to like try a haircut or try like a hairstyle or something with it, and then we can, you know, do that, and then, of course, a lot of times they'll need cleaning and um, just to be brought back to life like yeah, like shampoo condition because they need the same hair care and conditioner when it's human hair right.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes and the same with the synthetic, but again, um, I don't know, I'm just not big on them.
Speaker 2:I've seen some look okay, but I'm just yeah, my goal is the human hair well, it sounds like you have the eye for it like what might look good to me and be like, oh no, that that is not good, I can't even watch tv without like cringing yeah, look at the hair, yeah, yeah, I'm always like how old's your daughter now?
Speaker 1:you said she was she's actually gonna be 21 in like two weeks, yeah, so she's a sophomore in college.
Speaker 2:I'm really proud of her congratulations. How does that feel to have her kind of going into adulthood?
Speaker 1:um, it feels great like she's. It feels great. I've taught her how to do some things and so sometimes she works with me, like when she's on her breaks she's more of a braider, but yeah, I'm super proud of her. And then she's interested in going to marketing.
Speaker 2:I'm like let's go, yeah you're like, let's go and then bring some of those skills my way. Are there any parting words you'd like to leave us with in regards to business? Maybe a mantra that you live by in regards to business? Maybe a mantra that? You live by. It's always a big question. I can't think of what's big. Maybe advice for someone in your shoes that kind of went through similar things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would just say and kind of building your own business. It's a journey, so I think that it's big to educate yourself and then also, like it's weird the way this is going to come out. But keep your eyes on your own paper Because, like social media will make you crazy, especially like in my industry, is very competitive. It's almost like a popularity contest, um, to be a stylist, and so I you can't let like other. You know things outside things.
Speaker 2:You can't let influencers influence you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think, if it's positive because I do I have people that you know, I look up to or whatever, admire their business and how they do things, and so what I think you should do is like not beat yourself up to try to like why am I not there, or whatever, but maybe just look at what they're doing and how you can incorporate it into your business, and so that's something.
Speaker 2:I actually haven't heard that expression before and I really like it.
Speaker 1:Keep your eyes on your own paper, kind of like just stay in your lane.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because it will come.
Speaker 1:And then also just stick with it, because I think I've deviated and I'm kind of kicking myself because I've deviated so many times and gone into different things because I have a lot of interests, but I have done the hair Like I always come back to it every single time, so, or it's always there in the background, but I feel like if I stuck with, like putting effort in at times when it needed to be nurtured, I realize now like no matter what you do, you're going to have to put in that effort and time. So you might as well do it. If this is your, you know your passion. But I understand falling in and out of love with things too.
Speaker 2:Yes, Well, Mila, thank you for coming in today.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:It was wonderful to meet you and I loved hearing your story.
Speaker 1:You as well. Thank you, thank you.