Today we’d like to introduce you to Temica Seaton.
Temica, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I knew at age seven that I would be a hairstylist. My mother could never give me a hairdo that was pleasing to me that left me sad or in tears. I began at this age practicing at school in the restrooms while other kids were on the playground playing. I had a teacher who would give me a comb from her purse and allowed me to restyle my hair. If I came home with a total different style, my mother assumed the teachers were messing around with my hair without her permission and she was angry. Once she confronted someone at the school about it, only to find out that what I had told her previously was true that she began to believe me. I tried to convince her that I was the one doing my hair. She said it can’t be you because your hair looks too good; this is also the time that I was developing my craft as a detailed stylist leaving no hairs out of place!
She had finally accepted that I was gifted with hair so she allowed me to practice. I didn’t expect to have to comb my oldest sisters hair and my baby sisters hair as well, boy she put me to work! As time went on relatives, friends, classmates would come to our home and allow me to do their hair as well. This went on until I graduated high school. I loved the idea of being made up and looking beautiful while coming from a poor neighborhood. This was also an outlet for me considering what my environment looked like, I always knew my future would not reflect my past. God gave me this gift and also gave me the gift of compassion to help others even when they couldn’t afford it. I have always been a giver since a child trying to fix up girls in my neighborhood not knowing that I was walking in Purpose at such a young age. I didn’t know that it was never about me but about the love of God! I believe that the platform he has placed me on has been about Purpose and fulfilling Destiny as he has saw fit for my life.
I’m a hairstylist that’s compassionate about hair but also compassionate about helping other people who are down and out. I didn’t know what poverty looked like until I went to other areas of the city. I did find out that I was strickened by the area I lived in and people looked down on us, therefore I was considered poor but I never had that mentality. In order to remain humble, I reflect back over my life with so much gratitude of where I am today. All of my life I have given back to those in need! It ranges from sponsoring young ladies from the high school that I graduated from providing makeovers and buying and or donating gown, been that listening ear to friends of my children that needed support and feeding the homeless on the hot city streets. I have been blessed to help so many for so long and trying to make God proud! I want to remain humble and thru this continue seeking God for my next opportunity to serve others as he sees fit.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I have always tried to be accepted in my life. I thought I needed validation from family and friends to prove that I was pleasing in the eyes of those that I came in contact with. I always wanted to take the high road when others were going lower. I wanted to do what was right and do good to others but on this road to I was dealt some ugly stones that caused me to become closed off and self-sabotaged. I would put off things I wanted to do or be because I would be labeled as trying to be too much. I had dreams of so many things that I wanted for myself but was afraid of what was being said about me. I have always been different and wanted acceptance. It all started as a kid that I felt insecure in myself from things that no child should deal with. I didn’t realize that I was being built to withstand life’s bruises to break me that only turned into gasoline to fuel my strength. I had been exposed to unhealthy relationships by adults that I still think about today. I have always been a pillar in my family which has caused me to be in a position I didn’t choose nor wanted at the time.
I became a single mother at age 19 with my son, this challenged me to push harder while maturing as a young woman as well. The man who raised me became ill with cancer and took his last breathe in my hands, as I tried to hold him up in the hallway of our home. He was the one who showed us how a man should work and provide for his family, the stepfather whom I loved and now he’s gone. I was sad but more saddened that my mom had to live without him and survive as a widow. I stepped in to help my mother in hopes to keep her happy financially and be there for her as much as I could. I grew to be more dependable and available to whoever needed me. A few years went by and I took in one of my nieces who was only about seven months at the time. She needed a stable home and a good environment with love and attention. Now I’m still a single mother but with two children now to take care of, but I kept pushing thru. I kept her til she started pre-k and by then she was four years old. I released her to my mom and she began to bond with her and her older sister til she graduated high school.
While I was raising my niece, I had my second child and she became my STRENGTH on STEROIDS!!!! She was born in year 2000 a few years before I got married to the father of both of my beautiful children. This was another turning point in my life because I went thru postpartum depression while trying not to let it overtake me I still pushed forward. I finally married the father of my children in 2006, which made family feel more meaningful to me. I am now a married woman juggling two children, a career, a daughter, sister, aunt, and later a grandmother to a now two-year-old baby boy. I had to turn my Lemons into Lemonade for sure! Life has taught me so many valuable lessons that could have laid me flat on my back and I am still standing, I thank God for it all. I feel like the tree with roots running deep that’s planted by the water. I have gotten stronger, wiser, more confident, and I shall not be moved…
Please tell us about Rochea’ Hair.
I am a proud Owner/ Hairstylist for Rochea’ Hair LLC. I am a Hairstylist for 26 years now and I specialize in haircuts, coloring, and hairpieces. I believe I’m known for each of these services, not to mention the detailing of my styles. I am most proud of as a company is that I have grown and surrounded myself with other business minded people who has shown me how to be more professional in my business. I would not have grown to where I am now if I had not allowed myself to network with others and be open-minded to receive the information. I believe what sets me apart is that my Passion is attached to the nurturing part of me. I am very strong about educating the client about the care of one’s self internally and externally.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I would have done nothing different! I feel that my life was designed specifically for me to be able to share with someone the beauty of the rags. I say rags because it can be viewed as nasty and unattractive or even ugly but inspite of it all Beauty has always been in and around me, I just had to see it. I now know that I could not have made it to this point without the trials, errors, heartaches, and disappointments that I experienced along the way. I had to endure just to share with others that are hope strickened and mentally broken. I am an Overcomer! I beat the odds that tried to hold me captive! I’m stronger and can identify who I am today. I’m thankful for the past and all its teachable moments.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rocheahair.com
- Phone: 469.868.6009 or 469.608.0380
- Email: temica.seaton@gmail.com
- Instagram: rochea_hair
- Facebook: Rochea’ Hair at Studio Bw Salon
Image Credit:
Images by Temica Seaton
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