Unapologetically Eclectic

Pic Credit via Krista B. of Unapologetically Eclectic

Malika Crawford is new to the world of entrepreneurship. The 31- year-old, is a budding business owner who says that she ‘accidentally’ fell into her career path. Malika is an esthetician who owns ‘The Chase Room’, and I had the privilege of sitting down with her to discuss her business and how it came together. Crawford’s booth is located in the back of a new nail salon called Barbie Nail Spa, located at 962 Myrtle Avenue, in Brooklyn.Walking in, you can hear the sound of Soca music playing from a single speaker and once you walk in you are greeted with a sweet aroma from an air diffuser and bright pink massage table. Malika was on the side of the table preparing her waxes for her upcoming clients and the space is very clean and tidy. Malika also greets her clients with a hug and smile and makes sure that they are ready before the process begins. Below is the interview.KB: Where did you come up with the name, ‘The Chase Room’?MC: Well, my son’s name is Chase and I am very big on trying to leave your child a legacy, regardless if he wants to take this over or not. Or if he decides to run it like how I want it to be in the next ten years as a full-blown storefront and a franchise.  I put it in his name in hopes to open an LLC for him to make money off of it and prosper for when he gets older.KB: When did you realize that you wanted to be an esthetician? When did this become your main career path?MC: Honestly, I fell into it. I started off wanting to do hair. I went to Cosmetology school and during the course of going to cosmetology school, I realized my OCD is far too much for regularly doing hair. It was taking me way too long to do simple tasks like cutting or coloring hair because I literally wanted everything to be perfect.  My second job, other than cosmetology school, I started working at EWC/ European Wax Center, and I realized that really helped with my OCD because my brain told me ‘If they want everything gone, we can do this, we can get everything gone.’ My brain formulates it as I see it. Whatever I see in mind, I can visualize it on a person.KB: What were the struggles you faced to get to where you are now?MC: Opening your own business you’ll always have or you’ll always make that wrong step the first time. I aimed too high the first time and I had to rethink my whole entire plan and downsize. Coming from EWC, you think ‘oh I’m going to have all of these clients and I’m good at what I do’, and then when you go on your own it’s not the same.KB: What are the benefits of owning your own business, as opposed to working for an establish cooperation?MC: People are used to cooperations, people are not used to small businesses yet. I think the whole idea of small businesses, within the last 5-6 years, people have been trying to boost small businesses and black-owned businesses in the last 2-3 years. For people to really trust you and rely on you like they do the big cooperations that they know they can go in and get out, but I feel like big cooperations aren’t concentrating on actual skincare, to them its a factory work, you get in, you get out, next, and you’re not giving time to really educate people on their skin. I’ve seen people come in with cyst-like in-grown [hair], and they don’t even know, they just figure they can put the serum on it and it’s just going to work, but going working in those cooperations you only have ten minutes with those people, owning your business I can literally educate you for 20-30 minutes while I am giving you your wax. I make it more personal and more tailored to you than making you feel like you’re in a factory.KB: You said that you take your time with your clients and that you talk to them about skincare, what products or routines do you recommend to someone who has every coarse hair but they have sensitive skin?MC: Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate! I cannot stress enough that you guys need to exfoliate, dead skin cells will close out the pores where the hair has already come out from and it will cause ingrown hairs, it will cause your skin to be sensitive, especially if you come from shaving every day or every three days because people who have sensitive skin or coarse hair like that are those who have been shaving their entire lives and they don’t know anything else other than that. When they transfer over to the realm of waxing they become frustrated because maybe their first wax isn’t as clean as they thought it was going to be. Exfoliating has to be your best friend and if you do get ingrown, treating it before it gets worse is the best recommendation that I can give to anybody. Also, if you stick to waxing and not waxing for special occasions and then go back to shaving, you are not going to see the results you want at all.KB: Earlier, you mentioned the growth of Black-owned businesses and now you are in the world of being a black business owner, did you ever think that you be owning your own business?MC: No, not at all. When I was working at my previous jobs I thought that making $600 every two weeks was everything. I was more concerned about going to the clubs. Now, when I make that amount of money, I’m wondering about how to put it back into my business.KB: Who are some of the people that influenced you to get to where you are today?MC: My top influencer has to be SupaCent. I used to watch all of her videos when she used to talk her mess just cause, she was hilarious. I literally own some of her Crayola crayon products. She’s legit it for me, I still follow her, I feel like I am an internet auntie to her kid. My second influencer is an esthetician out of Lousiana named Melissa founder of Queendom Aesthetics. She literally started her business from the ground up and I have seen her progress through Instagram.KB: Where do you see your business going in the next five to ten years?MC: As I said before, I want to own a storefront. I want to be able to have my business become an LLC and maybe in the next ten years, I can be a franchise but not franchise to where I sell out to become cooperation but a franchise as in I will be manging four or five stores along with my sister so that we can leave something for our children.  I think that’s the main thing that black people fail to do, and a lot of people leave their children in debt. When my mother passed, she did not leave us in debt, she left us to a point where we were stable and want to be able to leave my son that.KB: Do you think that starting this move or falling into this realm of entrepreneurship was the best decision that you have made?MC: It had to be the best decision that I have ever made because I feel like I can spend more time with my son now. Granted, I am at work, but I don’t have to ask someone ‘Can I come in late today because I have to do so and so with my son?’ If I don’t have any clients scheduled on that day, I can clear out my entire day and spend it with my son. I take my own sick days, I can call and reschedule clients in the case of an emergency. I work for myself and it’s the best feeling ever.Walking in The Chase Room, as a first time client, I left with a lot of tips on keeping my skin healthy and glowing. I also left with a goodie bag full of products that she makes herself which consisted of a sugar scrub made with tea tree oil, olive oil, or coconut oil and a small bottle of Rosewater made from boil rose petals, distilled water, and witch hazel. The scrub is good to use for exfoliation and the removal of dead skin cells, while the rosewater is good for inflammation and the reduction of bumps and ingrown hairs.

Pic Credit via Krista B. of Unapologetically Eclectic

You can book Malika for consultations and services right here.You can see her work in the posts below.https://www.instagram.com/p/B2KXHWUH0Ff/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_linkhttps://www.instagram.com/p/B1fEjhSgJ8l/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_linkhttps://www.instagram.com/p/B1h38BxAsmR/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link