Today we’d like to introduce you to Mesha Johnson.
Hi Mesha, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia by an amazing single mother. I remember growing up my mom had a small nail shop at home. It was then that my entrepreneurial journey began. Wanting to be just like my mom, I would sit and watch her while she worked. Later I asked her to buy me my own nail supplies and started doing the kids’ nails in the neighborhood in my grandparents’ garage. While in middle school, not only did I do nails but discovered in Home Ed class that I had a knack for sewing! I made my first pair of pajamas and a pillow; I was super excited. Then came High School. They offered a Trade school over PE so of course, I chose that! The first two years they did not offer nail technology, so I chose cosmetology and found out I had a gift for doing hair as well. After I finished the Cosmetology courses, they were now offering Nail Tech, so I signed up for those courses to improve those skills. By the time I graduated from high school, I had cosmetology and nail tech certifications.
While I was in high school, my mom opened a beauty salon. I’ll never forget when we opened, she looked at me and said, “you will never have to work for someone unless you ABSOLUTELY want to!” So, I worked at the salon doing hair and nails while I attended Virginia State University, majoring in fashion design, where I then mastered my sewing skills. Although I loved doing hair, I knew early on that I wouldn’t stay in Richmond the rest of my life. After graduation, I began putting in applications to be a flight attendant. That was my ultimate dream job. I wanted to travel and see the world. I didn’t know exactly where I wanted to live, so I applied to be based in several different states. I prayed and said, “Lord, I am putting this in your hands. Whoever hires me, that’s where I’m going.” I received a phone call from Spirit Airlines for an interview. They were based in Dallas, so when they hired me, I moved to Dallas with literally a thousand dollars to my name. I finished up training with Spirit and stayed with them a few months but ended up getting fired for the first time in my life. I was devastated! I couldn’t call home and tell my mom that I just moved 19 hours away from home only to get fired. But GOD always has a ram in the bush.
After about a month, American Eagle called me for an interview, and I was hired on the spot with them. Although I loved every bit of being a flight attendant, being a reserve attendant did not pay enough for normal living expenses. It was extremely hard trying to have a side gig while being on reserve (on-call) so I ended up leaving the airline industry and getting back into the hair business in 2018. Being new to Dallas and without clientele, I began Promoting the new hair business through FaceBook ads and referrals and started building a solid clientele. After a while, I noticed that many of my clients were dealing with some form of hair loss. I thought it was odd, especially because at that time, I was not promoting “Specializing in Hair Loss,” but I didn’t give it a second thought. (This also was the beginning of the wig evolution of the business.) I started perfecting and installing wigs for my clients. There have been so many moments where women would get out of my chair, see their hair, and burst into tears of joy. I became my clients’ “hair angel.” By the end of 2019, there were over 275 clients in Dallas, and the business was thriving, Mesha Michelle was being born.
Then came 2020. The year started with exceptional growth year over year. In March, the Pandemic had hit, and business came to a complete halt as it did for many companies. It was hard to get my wig shipments and supplies from overseas, everything was shut down here, and many clients were uncertain. I did not know how I was going to make it.
But we all know that diamonds are formed under pressure! I went out and purchased a sewing machine, ordered a big bulk of hair bundles, and began making my own glue-less custom wigs. During the pandemic, women couldn’t go to salons to have their hair done, so I began making ready-to-wear wigs. THEY SOLD LIKE HOTCAKES!! Who would have thought that going to college for fashion design(sewing) after cosmetology certification in high school would have prepared me for a pandemic?
During the Pandemic, God gave me a vision for my Dolls who are battling hair loss. I began making Mesha Michelle wig gift boxes and donating them to women going through adversity while dealing with hair loss. I took it one step further and began doing full makeovers. I would pick one special person to be treated to a full beauty day. I hired a make-up artist to do their makeup, installed one of our custom wigs and even hired a production team to come in and do a photo/video shoot while providing them a segment to tell their story. My goal was to allow them to have one day of glam and to feel absolutely beautiful. I wanted them to tell their story in hopes of touching someone else going through the same thing. After doing three full beauty makeovers, I knew that I wanted to take this project National and get on the road doing pop-up makeovers for women dealing with hair loss. This is where Mesha Michelle Cares was born. A nonprofit organization gifting women going through adversity while dealing with hair loss. We provide our custom Realistic human hair wigs along with a beauty makeover! Who would have thought the little entrepreneur doing nails in her grandparents’ garage would today have an amazing online hair business and nonprofit helping women all over the nation battling hair loss? I went through so many ups and downs, took so many losses during this journey, but I stayed true to myself and followed God every step of the way. This is where I am now, but this is just THE BEGINNING OF MY STORY!
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There is absolutely nothing easy about building a business/non-profit from the ground up, especially in this day in age of social media popularity. The hardest part is staying resilient even when people do not like your post and there are no sales coming in. At the beginning of the pandemic, all flights were shut down not being able to get supplies to keep your business afloat was extremely tough.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I own a hair extensions company and non-profit for women dealing with hair loss. Our non-profit donates high-quality wigs to women going through adversity while dealing with hair loss.
Contact Info:
- Email: meshamichellebb@gmail.com
- Website: meshamichelle.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meshamichellebb/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meshamichellebb
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRC53xHABv-ErSS84I7Jiyg
