Meet Lee’Andrajnae Cross of Leelee’s Glamour Lounge

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lee’Andrajnae Cross.

Lee’Andrajnae, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
It all started with a Bratz Doll head. I was around the age of seven or eight. The idea of doing hair was already implemented into my mind. I loved being in everyone’s hair, that is of course the one who allowed me to do so. Many people do not trust just anyone in their head, let alone a child! However, I am blessed to have had many supportive folks in my life that allowed me to learn, play, make mistakes, and create in their hair. A few years later either for my birthday or Christmas, my mother gifted me a salon professional mannequin head, and it became my best friend. Anything I wanted to practice or try for the first time was done on my mannequin or my little sister! Having a live head and or person always worked for me when learning if someone was present. From that experience, I learned that practice definitely makes perfect!

From there, in high school, internships were mandatory for juniors. Year of twenty-six teen, my junior year, My mother enrolled me into an apprenticeship program called GEBBCA also known as Greater East Bay Apprenticeship. Which resulted in myself being welcomed by award-winning Nappy Or Not Full Service Hair Salon to obtain all of my practical hours. From there, I was trained to do a variety of styles and provide the best hair care to our community. Nappy Or Not is known for providing the best care for natural hair. At the time that I started working there, I had little to no knowledge about how to take proper care of hair. I just knew how to braid. Not many clients came for braids, the flow of that salon is a lot of locs and silk presses, so I had to extend my knowledge. In the midst of working there, I found a passion for locs. Five years later, I decided to move my business independently this year twenty twenty-one. Everything has been successful and prosperous every since. My experiences and journey allowed me the opportunity to now grow and share to inspire the next entrepreneur.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Everything comes with challenges and obstacles but no one said it would be easy, but it gets easier over time. The hardest thing for me at times was scheduling. Not scheduling my clients per say, but scheduling myself and my personal life around work and the things I found most important. I learned to maintain a successful running business, the operator of that business must be successfully running. When having a busy schedule and being in high demand, it requires a lot of self-care, mentally, physically, and spiritually. Having a team and or family that supports your schedule really helps. Without support everyone knows you have to work a little harder which can be stressful but very worth it. The process of obtaining my cosmetology license has been the biggest headache so far, but It does not have to be. I attended an apprenticeship called GEBBCA, Greater East Bay Apprenticeship, who advised me to discontinue and continue on with college career at California State University East Bay. My schedules did not complement each other so well, I had to make a decision. I continued working at the hair salon, yet discontinued with the Apprenticeship. Now I am currently back working on getting my license however it would have been much easier when I was in low demand.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Leelee’s Glamour Lounge Came into life year twenty fifteen. In year twenty fifteen, I would have said I specialized in braids. In year twenty-seventeen, I started specializing in locs. In year of twenty twenty-one I am a loctician. “As Gladwell tells it, the rule goes like this: it takes 10,000 hours of intensive practice to achieve mastery of complex skills and materials” I have definitely succeeded past the 10,000 hours! I call myself chief! I love that I have found my own lane, I’m not sure exactly what sets me apart from others than simply being I am not them. I value my clients and how they feel. I love when my clients leave my chair feeling luxurious with a smile. I honestly love when clients come and express their journey and where they have been before me. It allows me to open my eyes and take criticism not only from my experiences but from others as well. It allows me to always have something to work on. When my clients come to their appointments, it is really important to me to give them an experience of a lifetime, every time. Life is nothing but a sum of experiences. I love to create a space for all experiences to be relaxing and magical in Leelee’s Glamour Lounge!

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
What I enjoy most about my work are the smiles that are left on my clients faces, that’s where the real beauty is. However, Communication, Transparency, Consistency, Objectives, Energy Transfers, and Self Care are essential qualities and or characteristics I find important to my success. Self-care as in self-love, time you SCHEDULED in for yourself. What you do with that time is solemnly up to you, but I find it beneficially necessary to prioritize yourself. That means listening to what your body needs to support the person running that wealthy business! Health is wealth! I learned listening to your body requires you being able to listen, which is a huge factor of COMMUNICATION. Not only is communication with yourself very important, the communication you have with your clients is very critical. As well as being transparent when communicating. People appreciate realness and genuineness, it allows your clients to understand and relate to you. We all know consistency is key! As long as you are available, you will always have clients! Before I mentioned how I find it important to give experiences of their lifetimes, that’s my objective everyday when I go into work! Set an amazing and obtainable objective to create the flow of your day! The moment my client walks in is the moment we start exchanging energy! That is why I find it so important to make sure my mind, body and spirit is healthy to give out the best energy I possibly could!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leediddthat/?hl=en

Image Credits:
https://www.instagram.com/brandonalmengo/?hl=en Brandonalmengo Leeandrajnae