Meet Ericka Chancellor of Beyond The Chairs Organization

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ericka Chancellor.

Hi Ericka, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The best way to describe my brand is “No Pain, No Gain”! Throughout my life, I have found that was the painful situations that always encouraged me to push past my comfort zones to achieve the “Gain”. There was at a point in my life where I had to figure out how I was going to provide for myself, as well as my newborn, at the early age of 18. The need for income as a single mother compelled me to start the Erickas_Styles brand. I knew that as a child, I loved doing hair. I would spend countless hours teaching myself to braid and style my dolls’ hair. This ultimately led me to choose a career as a Cosmetologist. I developed my gift as a hairstylist by enrolling into Contempo Beauty College in 1994, where I earned my cosmetology license. As I ventured further into business, I became exposed to different aspects of the industry that sparked new interest. I was determined to take my talents beyond the chair and became a Cosmetology Examiner for the California State Board.

In 2015, my expertise and philanthropy were recognized, and I was recruited by NIC as a Subject Matter Expert for Cosmetology Test Development. Shortly after, in 2017, I became a certified NACCAS School Evaluator. These experiences have motivated me to build a community and organization that better represents our industry. We are currently facing many challenges within the industry including deregulation, compromised standards and impersonations of certified beauty experts. We as professionals have a duty to make more of our presence known to combat these challenges. “No Pain, No Gain” is a well-known phrase within the Beauty Industry and I believe that we’ve gone through enough of the Pain, and now it’s time to reap the benefits and “Gain”! Bringing to Birth the Beyond The Chairs Brand.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
You cannot be a successful entrepreneur without having struggles. Time was one of my biggest struggles, I had to sacrifice my time with family and friends in order to focus on developing my business. I also had struggles with money. Entrepreneurship isn’t always easy, as there are times when monetary investments do not bring in any revenue but rather provide experience and exposure which is invaluable to building the business. The struggles and sacrifice of health and well-being was also inevitable at times. It is important to be aware and recognize the struggles and sacrifices you make so that you can create a better work-life balance in the future.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Beyond The Chairs Organization?
I has been a licensed professional stylist for over 23 years. I specialize in customer service, hair coloring, cutting, styling, extensions, makeup, alopecia, real live make-overs and more. Outside of hair care, my passions include motivational speaking, mentoring and inspiring the next wave of trade entrepreneurs. In 1997, I was recruited by The State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology as an Expert Examiner. I have always been compelled to excel at anything she attempts. And after working for the State Board for several years, her hard work and relentless motivation resulted in her recruitment by NIC (National-Interstate Council of State Boards of Cosmetology) as a Cosmetology Subject Matter Expert. In this role, I developed and formulated the National Examinations for Cosmetology and Natural Hair. My latest adventure is founding Beyond The Chairs this is an industry lead organization that lends a voice with marketing on our YouTube and business development assistance to license stylists as well as unregulated stylers in the state of California. Beyond the Chairs partnered with ecoHair since the Covid-19 crisis to bring African Americans Hairstylers in highly impacted areas outreach and education.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I really don’t believe in luck. I believe God created me with the gift of doing hair. As a Christian, I believe our purpose is to utilize our God-given gifts and glorify his name in the process. This is what keeps me motivated. God has already provided the blueprints of our lives, and all we need to do is follow the blueprint to be successful. Knowing that I cannot fail gives me the confidence I need to push my business to new heights. Luck has no place, it’s God’s Providence.

Contact Info:

• Website: Beyondthechairs.org
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/_beyondthechairs?r=nametag
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Beyond.The.Chair.Events/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCfVd-aY8–fPAQ5HNYQBl7g
• Other: https://anchor.fm/beyondthechairs

Image Credits:
Photos: by Dom & Armani Locations: Sweet1 Hairstudios Client: Valencia Coleman Beyond the chairs guest: Greg Gilmore Tonia Bell Erick Taylor Marc Ford Ruben Micheal Jacque Cook Lamecia Butler Jamese Davis All-stars After-school participates