Today we’d like to introduce you to Leticia Cuin.
Leticia, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
It all started during my Junior and Senior year in high school (Nimitz High School in Irving, Texas). There I was able to take a cosmetology class thanks to my principal, who saw the potential in me. I’m so grateful to him to this day for giving me the extra push and confidence I needed. After high school, I started working for the Dallas School District and I would do hair, makeup, and nails in my spare time doing house visits and at my home (kitchen, bathrooms, etc…. LOL)
After working at the school district for a few years, I then worked for Dallas County (Justice of the Peace) as a bookkeeper and then worked for a lamp company in the Design Center. After being at the lamp company for about five years, I was laid off. I then decided to take a year off and really think about what I wanted to do next. I enrolled at the Forth Worth Business Assistance Center and took a six-month course on how to become an entrepreneur and that’s when I decided that I wanted to work for myself and no one else and use my talents and not sit behind a desk.
Has it been a smooth road?
Honestly, it was a bit hard for the first two years, after deciding to open my beauty salon. I struggled since I didn’t have a customer base and it was hard to pay all the bills. So I had to get a second job by working at Armstrong McCall Beauty Supply store as a sales rep part-time in Dallas just to keep me afloat. After everything settled down and I started to build my clientele, I was able to leave Armstrong McCall Beauty Supply and concentrate 100% on my business.
It was hard to keep staff since most would come and work for me while I would teach them at the same time and then they would leave and start their own business. Which is perfectly fine, but at the same time, it would make it hard for me to keep my business going and teaching new employees. The other challenges in my journey included going through a divorce and losing everything taking care of parents through their sickness on a daily basis. It wasn’t easy but my will to succeed and my having my own business is what kept me going.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Latina Diva Beauty Salon story. Tell us more about the business.
Beauty Salon, located in Irving, Texas, been in operation since 2004. I do everything from haircuts, fades, hair color, highlights, perms, waxing, makeup and up do’s. I specialize in color and highlights. I’m extremely proud of being in business for the last 16 years and being able to serve my community.
Being in a business that long and same location says quite a bit of my accomplishment. What would set me apart from others would be that most of my clients become like family to me. I get to know them personally, meet their family members and I also do a yearly Thanksgiving Lunch for all my clients and it’s something we all look forward to every year.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I see the beauty industry continue to grow at an alarming pace in the next 5 to 10 years. The demand has grown, the products have grown, the services, in general, have grown. Now with the virus situation, we have to be more conscious and educated in keeping good sanitary conditions for myself, staff and clients.
As far as new trends, I believe that new makeup and skincare products will be on high demand as well as eyebrow, eyelashes and hair technics will continue to evolve.
Contact Info:
- Address: Latina Diva Beauty Salon
614v N. Britain Road
Irving, Texas 75061 - Phone: 214-441-1463
- Email: Latinadivabeautysalon@yahoo.com
- Instagram: latinadivabeauty
- Facebook: Latina Diva Beauty Salon
Image Credit:
Glamour Studio (Roberto Rivera)
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