We had the good fortune of connecting with Ja’Lahn Smalls and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Ja’Lahn, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The most important factor behind the success of my business was me personally making sure i felt Successful and not everyone else saying it. I knew I wanted t feel internal happiness and although it’s ups and downs in the business world I absolutely feel like I’ve beat the odds in my city alone. Although I’m not a millionaire I put on for the younger girls around me who knew me. I was almost like a role model and that right there is what pushes me.
What should our readers know about your business?
I started my business when I was 15 I was on the way back home from New York and I was in the back seat and I was like “im gonna sell hair” I lie to you not I never wore weaves I didn’t know anything about outsourcing vendors but I knew hair was what I wanted to sell. My mom is a hair stylist, so I was a salon baby , I use to go with her after school and just watch. So I wanted to sell hair because I seen how excited people were when they was transformed. I overcame a lot of challenges. It was so many times where I would dm my graphic designer and tell her “I need a flyer saying I’m retiring” I would purchase this graphic and never post it because I would have friends who would be like girl stop playing. This your baby. And in all honesty. It is. Its my pride and joy. I want the world to know that my extensions aren’t just regular. My brand mission is to make you feel so beautiful and feel like you didn’t waste money and you had a personal connection.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m not from atlanta , but I love Atlanta , I’ve visited numerous times and I always say I’ll move there. So if I was living there and a friend came to visit me I would take them to all my tourist hot spots such as the Bando , I love the crack wings , the breakfast club and probably Lennox.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The only person I can really dedicate my shoutout to would be my grandfather Leroy , that was my bestfriend and I was like his princess. I always told him I would start a business I never knew exactly what but I just knew I was , when I was younger I would make earrings , phone cases and etc and my grandfather was the one who bought everything. Any new side hustle I wanted to have he was buying my items. So when he passed away I felt like there’s no way I couldn’t keep my word and make a business that I was passionate about. The next ones that deserve a little credit is honestly my entire family , to be exactly my mom side is my village. They know I’ll be something one day. Then I have my father who literally is my listening ear. I can call him and say I wanna start a store and he’s gonna say ok cool let’s figure it out. It’s never a time where he’s not 100% behind me. My mom is also my number one girl. She’s my voice of reason. If I’m calling my dad I call her right after so she can burst my bubble with a little sense because I like to do do do but never stop and think. It’s really my whole family who put in so much time and effort with me and I appreciate every single one.
Website: Arrogancehairco.com
Instagram: Arrogancehairco
Image Credits
@marcjphotography