Meet Diana Opara | Hair and MakeUp Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Diana Opara and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Diana, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I would like to say the most important factor behind my success has been knowing my why. There are times where you are ready to quit, there are times where clients push you to the edge, and there are times where you believe you’re not good enough. But knowing my why has made me realize at times where I think such negative thoughts, that my why is to spread love and happiness through hair. It does sound pretty cliché, but the look on my clients face when they get their first install by me is so satisfying. It reminds me why I do this. My why is also to allow women to feel beautiful in their own skin at an affordable price. I get clients every day that tell me they expected my wigs to be more expensive and that when they go on my website they’re affordable, I’m not saying they’re super cheap but at the same time buying one would not break the bank. I say this because there are times where we are so busy focusing on bills that we let ourselves go, so I would like my wigs to also allow women to continue to pay their bills, continue to do their day to day responsibilities, while still looking the best that they possibly can look. With that in mind, that motivates me and helps me continue to give the best services possible, as well as retain the clients that I have because of my businesses values.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

I am a make up artist, as well as a hairstylist, but I take the most pride in my online wig company. I provide wigs to people all across the nation. My main goal with my wigs are to keep them affordable while still maintaining a great quality, The service part of my business allows me to get to know my clients. A lot of these women are hard-working mothers and hard-working students that are balancing their lives as well as attempting to still maintain their physical appearance. A lot of people do not talk about the fact that sometimes when we are caught up in life we can forget to take care of our mental and physical self. What I take pride in is during the holidays I do a wig giveaway as well as a makeover with make up included. It allows my community to know that we are listening and that we appreciate their business and trust they have with us with their hard earned money.

Sometimes you get asked, “how did you get here?” and it feels like you just woke up and your business became what it is overnight. I got here by being consistent. Consistently marketing myself, consistently giving the best service I can possibly give, and consistently allowing my clients to feel as if they could trust me.

I wish I could say the road here was easy, not only do you have to switch your mind from working for others, you have to become business oriented, you become your own customer service, you become your own marketing and branding, and you become your own accountant. You have to learn how to file different documents for taxes, my first year in business I had no clue what I was doing in taxes, luckily someone told me that I was doing it wrong and I received help my second and third year. You have to learn that you must post your product, you now have to create content, you now have to sit for hours taking pictures, making ads, and now paying for ads and promotion. You have to learn how to talk to customers, how to handle disagreements, and how to stay the most professional at all given time. So you become not just a hairstylist or not just a make up artist, and obtain skills that can be used outside of your business or any business ventures.

Along the way, I learned that mistakes must be made, money must be lost, and tears must be shes. When you fail it’s not an actual failure, it’s just a lesson. Sometimes these lessons must be learned as certain stages, so when your business is fully ready, and you have learned all the skills, and your business officially takes off you know which mistakes not to make because you’ve already made them.

I want the world to know that my brand is 100% me. I got into wigs because so many people were scamming people out of their hard earned money, I two was one of them. Scammed out of money that I saved while in college to buy this really nice wig. I devoted my business into making sure that quality comes first. I also know how easy it is to be working so hard, that you forget to take care of your physical, and not taking care of your physical sometimes messes with your mental. Because of that I keep my wigs at an affordable price so all people can keep up with their physical. Because I’ve lived it, because I know how it feels, I make sure my business provides what it needs to for all.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite places in the city may be the African restaurants, including Ikes, little Legos, and Le Nouveau Maquis. A good jollof rice and Suya will go a long way. We would probably go to the Martin Luther King Jr. Museum, the Ponca which has food and games and Of course the trap music museum. My personal favorite part of the city is the brunch life, breakfast at Barney’s – the breakfast club – as well as toast are my all-time favorites! I’m a big fan of Afro nightlife so the weekend would probably be topped off with dancing at the “Living room”.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to dedicate my shout-out to my Grandma, Kokoe J. Aboussa. I’ve always been a smart kid in high school, I got straight A’s and was top of my class. At the same time I used to work at a fast food restaurant, my grandma at the time only allowed me to work 20 hours a week. When I got to college she began to let me work a bit more to give me the sense of independence while also helping financially to make sure I wasn’t working too many hours. I landed a job my sophomore year of college at an elementary school where I worked sometimes through the day and sometimes after school. At this time, I realized my love for doing others make up and she encouraged me to continue my new hobby to make money. Once I started making more money with my hobby I told her I was no longer going to work at this school. She let me know that if that’s the decision I wanted to make, that I was allowed and that she fully supported me. As I did make up I also obtained a love for doing hair. Through hair I provided a service and sold a product. I delevoped real life entrepreneurial skills which made me who I am today. She deserves this shout out because even after I am who I am she still motivates me to stay in school, she always reminds me that anything I set my mind to I can do, and at the age of 22 I have done more than I could’ve imagined, and she continues to encourage me through the process

Website: https://odiancewigs.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/dianaopara?r=nametag

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-opara-679740115

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063616890244