Today we’d like to introduce you to Donna Sparkman.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I started my journey through hair dressing very late in life. It wasn’t until I lost my son at the age of 7 to cancer. Before that, I was a perfectly content stay at home mom, but after I lost him, something changed, something drastically changed. I no longer had the desire to be home all day no matter what milestones my girls would reach, I always wondered what my son would be doing at this point, it was at that time I knew I had to get out and do something for myself and it had to be something that I loved. I started an online real estate course and soon realized there was way more math involved than I had anticipated and knew that wasn’t what I wanted to do. A couple of months later, I was referred to a wonderful woman to do my hair since I couldn’t find anyone in the Dallas area I was happy with, so I called and scheduled an appointment with her. During our appointment, we spoke of my story and how I needed to do something that I loved and she offered for me to help her at her salon in her home once her current assistant left which would be a couple months later, I quickly responded I’ll be here Monday and she said, but I won’t need you till August and I said that’s OK you don’t have to pay me I’ll be here Monday. That Monday came, she handed me a mannequin and a pair of scissors, gave me some quick tips and away I went. I knew from that first day, from that first mannequin, from that first cut, that hair was what I wanted to do. I absolutely fell in love with it. I was so intrigued at the thought that I could make someone feel beautiful and to this day, hair is more than a job… it’s therapy… it’s truly my life. Besides my kids there’s nothing I love more!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
After I enrolled in beauty school at Tony and Guy everything seemed to be going smoothly I was so interested in what they had to teach and I suck every bit of information out of those instructors that I possibly could but I was almost a little bit too intense for them, I think, so I did have some personality conflicts with some instructors. I felt some of the direction they were giving me was inaccurate or I needed an explanation for why they were telling me to do it a certain way when I thought it should’ve been another way, so there were definitely some obstacles. I think Toni and guy still has a bit of a sour taste for me even though I worked there for a couple years. I felt very unwelcomed and I was much older than the average aged employee which was in their 20s. I was well into my 40s at that time. Another obstacle, is that my husband…I never felt like he truly supported my decision to go back to school. He wanted me be home taking care of kids and I don’t think he understood the depth to which I needed to find something to do that was all my own.
Please tell us about Dalon Love Your Look!.
I believe in prioritizing the client, I do one client at a time. I have never processed someone and cut another person. I’ve seen too many clients over process that way I’d rather make less money and finish one client before I begin another. I also do Keratin complex smoothing treatments waxing and make up application as well as updos. I think what I’m most proud of as a business owner is that I work in a gallery of studios where everybody rents a room and I am the person that everybody that has a question on color comes to, that makes me very proud. I was also, I forgot to mention, the only person to graduate with honors from Toni and Guy. At least I was there first honors graduate no one had ever been able to pass the course until me 🙂
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Used to sit at the kitchen table with hot rollers and roll my hair without a mirror and my sisters used to sit in amazement and tell me someday you’re going to be a hairdresser! You don’t even need a mirror, you just sit and roll your hair and it comes out perfectly every time! I also loved making homemade Christmas ornaments.
Pricing:
- Women’s Cut only $40
- All over color only $55
- Signature Keratin Complex Smoothing System $200
Contact Info:
- Address: 1402 Overlook Drive
Frisco, TX 75033 - Website: Dalonlocks.net
- Phone: 310 918 1914
- Email: sparkmom67@gmail.com
- Instagram: Dalon Love Your Look
- Facebook: Dalon Love Your Look
- Twitter: Dalon Love Your Look
- Yelp: Dalon Love Your Look
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