Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittney Jenkins.
Hi Brittney, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Hair has always been my passion! From the age of 13, I would always do my siblings and all the kids’ hair in the neighborhood. My mother used to always fuss at me and tell me that I shouldn’t do hair for free because I had a talent. I never understood that until later in my adult years. Entering 9th grade I enrolled in Milford Mill Academy’s Cosmetology program in Baltimore Md and started working after school as a Shampoo assistant at a salon. After I graduated high school I enrolled into HC Community College with hopes to become a nurse and started working as a shampoo assistant at a salon in Columbia MD. At this time I was 19 years old and a mother of two very exhausted but no matter what I loved doing hair. After about a year I became a hairstylist. At that very moment, I knew I did not want to be a nurse. The classes I was taking had nothing to do with what I loved to do, or the services I wanted to provide. So I jumped in head first as a full-time stylist and I was doing pretty well. I pushed myself to go back to school but this time online and majoring in business management, I was a stylist at this salon for about 6 years then due to renovations I relocated to another close-by salon in 2015. As my daughters got older, bills became higher, months became slower, we needed a bigger home, I was working way too much and losing time with them, I felt discouraged. So I picked up a part-time job, moved my girls from our apartment into a townhome and renovated my basement into my home-based salon. No matter what path I took, hair was always in the equation. My job at the time was Monday – Friday 10 am-7 pm, I would come home in the evenings and take clients as well as spend the majority weekend doing hair. In 2018 I received a job offer to be a loan specialist for a finance company, I was full of joy, I was excited and so were my daughters. The pay was great and the benefits were amazing. I remember crying and Thanking God, not realizing he wasn’t done yet. After a year, I was promoted to Branch Manager! I was in disbelief, now I would be making double the income. Even still I would make time for Hair because that was my Happiness, my peace. My job just paid the bills and I was good and what I was hired to do. At the time we were living comfortably and I was in the position to purchase my first home. Then 2020 Covid 19 hit us all and changed a lot, however as I reflect I feel like again it was all part of my journey. Work as a Branch Manager became very stressful. Bonuses stopped, management changed; every day became a struggle to get out of bed and go to work.
June 2020, I remember it was a Saturday I was taking clients as I usually do. My clients came in and said “Ms. Brittney the salon you used to work at in Jessup is empty”. At that moment I didn’t believe it was true, but as soon as I wrapped up my day I jumped in my car and headed over to the vacate salon to see for myself. It was true the space was vacant and at that moment I started the process of opening Beyond Royalty Beauty Bar. A month later I signed my least hired a Salon Manager to run the salon while I continued working at the finance company, after just buying a home a year before I wouldn’t take the risk of possibly failing, so I set a timeline to stay at my job for another year before jumping into being a hairstylist full time again. The morning of Oct 6th, 2020 I was told by my district manager I would be let go. I was devastated, here I have just signed a 5-year lease for a Salon, I have a mortgage for the home I recently purchased, and I was a single mother of two children, what was I going to do! I did all I knew how to do, which was HAIR. By December I had 5 employees. Within 10 months I’ve outgrown my salon space. Management agreed to an expansion taking over the storefront next to my current space. Now here we are today, I have 13 employees, my first year in business and I was killing it. Starting every month not knowing how it would end, But I am blessed and glad I took a leap of faith and trusted my vision. I look back on the last year and can’t believe this is my story. Me. The owner of the same salon I used to rent a booth. That’s real Black girl magic!!! I now have a Beauty Bar, a Lash Bar, and a Braids Bar. I am launching my hair care products in just a few weeks, and still, I know I AM NOT DONE YET. My journey has just begun.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My journey has not been smooth at all. However it was worth every struggle. I was a teenage mom, all odds were against me. On my Birthday in 2019, my youngest daughter’s father passed away. I took it hard, me and my daughters did. But I had to keep pushing. I had to be the best mother I could be. I wanted something different than what I ever had for children.
Me and my family fell out so my support was my soul mate. He was by my side during the entire process of opening the salon. He stepped in when I lost my job and made sure me and the kids were okay and bills were paid.
Over the last year my stress and anxiety grew because I was so scared of failure. I would push myself day and night but I don’t regret any of it
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are a beauty bar. We offer just about all services to meet beauty needs. Hair care, Hair Extensions, Hair Braiding, Nails & pedicures, Makeup, Lash extensions, Waxing services, Full Body Massages. We have a Boutique which has women’s clothing, accessories, and hair care products. We also have Beyond Royalty Bundles for all of our hair extension services. We are known as a one-stop shop! The ability to have all that you need in one location sets me apart from other nearby salons. I am most proud of my brand’s growth in such a short period of time. I have no experience as a business owner but I am figuring it out day by day,
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
My vision is never ending. I See myself creating a mobile business for Beauty needs and possibly relocate down south. I would love to teach as well.
Contact Info:
- Email: Contact@Beyondroyaltyllc.com
- Website: Beyondroyaltyllc.com
- Instagram: Beyondroyaltybeautybar
- Facebook: Beyond Royalty Beauty Bar
Image Credits
Styves Exantus Reggie Walker Ashley La’monica Lundy
