Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good
Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Skip Monty.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hello everyone and
welcome to the Good Neighbor
Podcast of the Tri-Cities.
So today we've got a veryspecial guest here in the studio
with us, and we were justchatting before we started.
I'm really excited to have herin with us and excited to learn
all about her new business.
And I'm sure you will be too,because today I have the
(00:33):
pleasure of introducing yourgood neighbor, Miss Angela Braun
, who is the owner operator ofthe Kingsport Academy of Hair
Design.
Angela, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yay Good audience
here in Nevada.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Well, we are thrilled
to have you with us today,
absolutely and, like I said,excited to learn all about your
new venture with the KingsportAcademy of Hair Design.
So, if you don't mind, whydon't you kick us off by telling
us what you do?
So if you, don't mind.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Why don't you kick us
off by telling us what you do?
Well, I own a one of the oldestbeauty schools in Kingsport
Kingsport Academy of Hair Design.
I purchased the building inDecember of 2023.
So I'm fairly new at owningthis business.
I've been in the beautyindustry, though, for about 30
years, so I'm not new to theindustry, but I'm absolutely new
(01:27):
to being a school owner andoperator, and so I'm excited to
start this new journey in thispart of my career.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Wow, 30 years.
You don't look old enough tohave been in any kind of
business for 30 years.
Speaking of that, how did youget into this business?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
So, ironically, this
is not something that I look for
, to be completely honest and Iknow this isn't like the type of
show it is, but I was.
I knew I wanted to do somethinga little different.
I was kind of tired of beingbehind the chair.
I had began teaching a coupleof classes outside of doing hair
(02:09):
actually servicing clients andso I thought, you know what, in
order for me to kind of teachthese clients, teach some of our
other local stylists, let meget my instructor's license.
So I got on the hunt to get myinstructor's license.
I ended up at Kingswood Academyto get my instructor's license
and I started those classes inFebruary of 2023, which was,
matter of fact, on Valentine'sDay.
(02:29):
I started and the owner was here.
She had been the owner for over40 years.
As I said, the school had had acouple of different names, but
has been in existence, from myunderstanding, like since the
60s, and so I just began to work.
Honestly, I did not have anintention on purchasing the
building at first or purchasingthe business at first, um, but
(02:53):
as time went on, uh, thebusiness began to grow, students
began to enroll and I becamekind of the influence for people
to come Um, and so the owner,long story short, the owner got
sick and the family wanted tosell the business, and so this
is kind of how I ended up withit, and so in December of the
(03:15):
same year I went from student toowner within a year, and so
it's been a great journey.
I love the students here.
I'm a mom at heart, so all ofthe young girls, and I do have
my first male student.
Now they become my babies and Ikind of just enjoy watching
them grow.
I get most of them kind ofyoung.
(03:37):
For the most part they're intheir early late teens, early
twenties.
So I get to kind of help, groomand mentor and I so far Very
cool.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Well, I'm sure it's
rewarding, especially when
you're getting young peoplestarted in life with a good
career.
So is it do you teach likecosmetology?
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Yes, so we teach
cosmetology and we also have a
nail program.
I love it because most of thegirls that come here already
have a nick and a talent for it.
So I tell girls all the time Ican't necessarily teach talent,
but I can absolutely teach youhow to run your business,
(04:24):
integrity in the business, allof those types of things that
are really important in thefoundation of what it really
means to have a cosmetologylicense or nail tech license,
because there are tons of, thereare tons of hairdressers Like
let's, let's be honest, and sowhat I get to teach is what it
takes to really sustain and havelongevity in this business,
(04:45):
because the talent doesn't getyou so far, but the way you
handle people, the way peoplefeel when they leave you all of
those things are more importantthan the service that you
provide.
And so, yes, we do, we havecosmetology and nail program,
but my heart in the business isreally to teach us how to just
be kind, to have great customerservice and to make people know
that they're important, andthat's how I believe you keep
(05:08):
and maintain and get clients.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Absolutely, and
that's the word of mouth,
advertising too.
So what are some myths?
I'm sure there are some mythsor misconceptions in the
cosmetology school business.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
One of the biggest
myths that I hear is that
cosmetology school is full ofdrama and just chaos and you get
a whole bunch of women in onebuilding.
Something is liable to pop off.
But because of the way wehandle and the way we care for
our students, I tell people allthe time I don't get the horror
stories that I hear from so manyother myths, and it doesn't
(05:49):
have to be that way.
Everybody can have their owntalent, their own skill, and we
can work together and makeschool fun.
Another myth that I hear aboutpeople coming to cosmetology
school is that hairdressersdon't make a lot of money, so
don't go into that field ordon't go into that business,
when in actuality, somehairdressers make just as much
(06:09):
as doctors do.
It just really depends on howyou handle people, and so I'm
excited that I get to debunkthat myth and invite these girls
into a world where not only doyou have fun at work, but you
get to make money and sustain alifestyle.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
That's got to be very
rewarding, I would think, for
you.
So, target customers.
I don't know.
Do you have a target customerthat you shoot for?
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Whoever loves this,
whoever feels like their niche
is hair, their niche is hair.
If they feel like you know, asa young girl, I knew I wanted to
do hair at like 11.
I was what you would call theneighborhood hairdresser, so
everybody would want their hairdone.
So I knew for a long time thathair was something that I wanted
(07:03):
to get into.
Now, what I love about theindustry is it's not limited to
just sitting behind a chair.
So those who don't really wantthat type of career now there's
so many different options.
You have online education.
You can be an influencer now.
You can be an instructor, youcan be a platform stylist, you
(07:25):
can be in movies like all of thedifferent avenues.
Now that is in the beautyindustry.
We're not limited to just sitbehind a chair, stand behind a
chair for 35 years and thenretire with your body broke down
, you know.
So anybody who feels like that,they want to get into this
industry, we are excited.
I call us creatives.
So any creatives out there thatreally want to make a mark in
(07:49):
the industry, come and see us.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Very good.
Yeah Well if, if you ever don'twork outside of work, what do
you do for fun?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
I love church.
That's probably my biggestthing Ministry.
I have six kids, so I have fourgrown daughters and two minor
boys, so I love to spend timewith my family.
My family skates a lot we lovethe skating rink so I really
(08:20):
just and I enjoy community work.
It just kind of anything thatmakes you feel fulfilled.
You know, now that I'm older,you know you realize that some
of the other things that we didreally it's okay, but now, as an
older lady, I understand thatwhat you give out really is
better than what you can take in, and so I really do enjoy just
(08:42):
you know being around people.
I love people.
I'm one of those mom types ofgirls so I'm going to make you
feel like you're one of my kids.
I love to mentor young girls.
I just whatever anything has todo with people, that's one of
my hobbies.
I absolutely love it.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
I'm learning, though,
as I get older, that rest is a
great hobby to have yes, itdoesn't happen enough yes, I try
to get some of that in wheneverI can well, the older I get,
the more I realize that I get it.
I tell you we get it.
So let's switch gears for a.
Can you describe a hardship ora life challenge that you've
(09:21):
overcome and how it made youstronger in the end?
Speaker 3 (09:27):
I would say one of my
greatest hardships would be
when my youngest daughter neededbrain surgery and I was trying
to battle.
I was a foster mom at the time,my husband and I were fostering
and I was trying to run abusiness.
I had just opened a salon herein Kingsport and Colonial
Heights and I was trying tomaneuver on how to handle and
(09:49):
balance it all.
That was probably one of thehardest things that I think I
went through.
However, it did teach me thatsometimes in balance, it's not
about doing it all at the sametime, it's about giving priority
to what's needed at the time.
And so I've learned thatsometimes some things don't need
(10:11):
all of your attention, thatbalance doesn't necessarily mean
I balance everything at thesame time, but that I give
attention to what's importantright now.
And so that season taught me alot about patience, a lot about
priority, and that things willbe there when you need them to
be there again.
Sometimes we think, whenchallenges come up, we think
(10:32):
we're losing when in actualitywe're gaining, and so through
that trial and through thathardship, my daughter and I
became very, very close throughdoctor's appointments and things
like that, and when she cameout of surgery, we just now have
a relationship that we justdidn't have before, and though
she was only 16, I really doappreciate that time now,
(10:52):
because it really taught me alot of good life lessons.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
So how's she today?
Speaker 3 (10:58):
She's's well.
She's actually about to get herlicense and natural hair and
kind of do kind of some of thethings that you know.
Three out of four of mydaughters are in the industry,
so I'm excited to see what shedoes next awesome, awesome.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
That's great, it's
great news.
Yeah, well, if, uh, angela, ifyou could think of one thing
that you'd like our listeners toremember about you and
Kingsport Academy of Hair Design, the school, what would that be
?
Speaker 3 (11:26):
We are the pink
school, if you, as you can see
in the background, my favoritecolor is pink, and so most of
the girls that that walk in anddo a walk through for the school
.
We are the school of pink thewalls are pink, some of our
equipment is the school of pink.
The walls are pink, some of ourequipment is pink, some of the
chairs here are pink.
And because it's such a livelycolor, such a fun color, it
(11:46):
really does represent who we arehere.
We like to have fun, we laugh,we make things you know
enjoyable, and so this isn'tlike a dreaded oh my gosh, I got
to go to school today.
We really do try to makelearning fun and because the
industry is so broad with socialmedia and all of the things, we
(12:08):
now have an opportunity to dothat Even our microphones are
pink you see what I'm saying, sopeople know it says the pink
school and I enjoy it because itsets us apart from from
everybody else and it reallydoes just make us feel good when
we walk into our building.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Awesome, very good
thing to remember.
Absolutely, you're going tofeel good when you come in and
everything's going to be good,especially, if you love pink.
Well, for those of us who youknow might be interested in a
career, or just curious, how canwe learn more?
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Go to our website at
kingsportacademyofhaircom and
shoot us a quick message Rightnow.
We are at capacity.
We will have openings startingin September.
I think right now, because ofwho I have graduating in August,
we should have three slotsavailable and I'm very much
excited to get the next fewgirls enrolled so that we can
(13:04):
get your career started.
The great thing aboutcosmetology school is you can be
done within 13 months if youcome every day and you apply
yourself.
So within about a year you canstart a whole new career that
you absolutely love about a yearyou can start a whole new
career that you absolutely love.
Very good, you heard it hereguys especially, only a year,
(13:25):
right, only a year.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Yeah, only a year and
you can have a new profession
and have a great appreciation, abetter appreciation, for pink.
Yes, absolutely, absolutelyWell, angela, I can't tell you
how much I appreciate you takingtime out of your busy schedule.
It sounds like to spend sometime with us and tell us all
about your school and your newventure, and then we appreciate
(13:45):
that and wish you and yourfamily and your business and
school all the best movingforward.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Thank you so much,
skip, I appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
I appreciate you.
Maybe we can have you backsometime.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Yes, sir, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
All right, sounds
good.
Thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Yes, sir, bye-bye.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Bye-bye.
Thank you for listening to theGood Neighbor Podcast.
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