Meet Judaea Evans | HairCare expert / salon owner

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

Hi Judaea, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
My favorite Quote is the turtle wins the race . It’s a story of the turtles moving slowly and carefully in his process to win the race and he beat the hare . I waited a long hard 23 years before I was one of the first black-owned businesses doing Haircare services in the town of lynbrook .NYC , To others it seems like I just got a shop and was successful, I truly worked my behind off, tirelessly to the point where I am now and it took time , it took years of experience and research , this quote means so much to me because I believe with a little patience and hard work you can achieve your goals in a timely manner and things you want to keep should not be rushed .

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My career started when I was about 14 years old . I used to go to peoples houses and do hair all the time . I got paid . I also ended up doing video shoots at a very young age , my first shoot was a Mary j blige video shoot when I was only 15 I got paid $100 for 6 cornrows for a dancer and then that’s when I knew I wanted to do hair forever . It was super hard my mom was in prison at the time and my grandmothers was taking care of 10-12 people in her own so we needed money . I remember I had to work at McDonald’s and do hair just to buy myself something nice for school because I hated to ask my grandma for money she had enough just to feed us . Not having my mom around really made me have to grow up fast so by the time I was 18 I was a bartender . I worked in so many restaurants and that’s how I also gained my clientele . It was super hard because I had to work all the time just to survive . When I was 21 I was fully on my own . I went back to hair school after 3. Attempts and finally revived my license. After that I didn’t realize all the other things I had to learn which was everything . I’ve went to hair shows , did some more industry work , I done Wale hair before and most of the time I already knew how to do natural hair . I learned my nitch along the way because I always loved playing with products mixing them up and practicing with what products work and which ones do not . I fell back in love with natural hair after working in 12 salons . I realized braids was something I’ve done effortlessly since a kid and then boom chic luxury hair studio was born . Back sorry 5 years ago I completely stopped working in restaurants, I started to make more money doing clients , the more popular I because the less I had to work so I started my own business in the house and grew tremendously from there on . I was going to quit hair but something in me always knew I was a boss . After the pandemic I realized I have enough clientele to open up a business and I did . I named it chic luxury because I feel like getting your hair braided for hours is a luxury . Especially when you have good conversations and you and your clients are healing each other . When I was a kid no one counseled us when my mom kept going away and it definitely effected me as a adult so when I raid I just feel like talking I’m a chatter box but I found that it not only heals me it heals the clients as well and that’s why my brand is so important I want people to feel nice while getting there hair done as well as educating them on the process of how to maintain and take care of their hair . It’s such a beautiful experience and I am very proud of what I have accomplished to date for sure . I want the world to know that I worked hard and I never gave up , when no one belived in me I prayed and I took the little money I had and opened a salon I had no loan and I just had faith and God . Now I’m excited for my future with my Haircare line Juju juice Haircare soon to be in stores 2024

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend was in the area I would take her to Brooklyn. Downtown Brooklyn has so many things to do , I would take her to the hot pot spot where you can cook your own food and it’s delicious. Then I would take her to the Brooklyn bridge it’s my favorite serenity spot in nature amazing for tourist the sights you see are just phenomenal. Dumbo Brooklyn is my top notch place to visit

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to thank God , he has definitely been a huge support in my life and my cousin kasim ,for never letting me make a bad decision, I also have my mentor sunshine Foss who truly believed in me all these years and definitely has guided me in the business aspects of how hard it can be but not to give up , I wanna thank the church of Christ and my pastor Anthony Ramades and his wife Melinda for always supporting me and encouraging me the whole way . I wanna thank my loyal clients who have stuck with me for over 13 years since the day I received my license until now and a whole community of special people in my life . I also wanna shout out my family thank you for always supporting me .

Website: Www.chicluxuryhairstudio.com

Instagram: Chicluxuryhairstudio

Youtube: Chicluxuryhairstudio

Image Credits
Judaea Evans