(light music)
- Your hair speaks to everyone.
Your hair is what makes you unique.
Your hair is what makes you feel good.
Your hair is what everybody sees.
My name is Rebecca Gibson.
I'm known as the Braid Chick,
and I'm the owner of Empire Beauty Bar.
- Empire Beauty Bar is a small Black woman-owned business
owned by Rebecca Gibson.
It can be really scary to start something new,
especially if you're successful
in a business working for somebody else.
And it's so cool to see that Rebecca stepped out
and did something new later in life.
- Braiding hair for me started when I was a kid.
My grandmother did hair.
She did hair from home
and would take care of everybody's hair.
My godsister helped me kind of to develop that craft,
but I definitely fell in love
with the braiding aspect of things,
and it just kind of stayed with me.
After high school I had an opportunity
to get into the healthcare field,
and I was really good at it,
and I kept kept excelling.
However, I still kind of would do hair on the side.
Once I knew there was something else that I wanted to do,
the beauty industry was definitely what I looked to first.
(upbeat music)
- It's important to have salons
that focus on textured hair, natural hair,
and all kinds of black hair because the people
who are serving you have expertise in that area.
It's a place of community and it's a safe place.
- When I got an opportunity
to be able to take the beauty industry seriously,
I realized that if I was going to own it,
I wanted to be here.
I wanted to be a hands-on owner
and make sure that the vibe
and culture of my salon was what I wanted to do.
It was a little scary going into the New Year
and wanting to step away from something
that was solid and stable.
My husband supported me through that journey,
and we decided to take the leap.
Unfortunately, it was right before COVID hit,
which no one knew was coming.
I just took that time
to perfect everything I needed for the business,
behind-the-scene things for the salon,
so when I got a chance to come back in,
I would be able to do so.
My husband is my support system,
as well as my parents, who definitely helped me,
and my grandmother as well.
She definitely sowed a seed for me
to be able to kind of get everything going.
If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be able to be where I am.
(upbeat music)
The whole image of who I am and what Empire is,
is presented through my GoDaddy website.
I wouldn't have my business if it wasn't for my website.
I was able to create my website on my own,
to have it be exactly what I wanted to be,
be able to integrate my appointment app
so that people can click from there.
It's very important
that when clients come to my website, they're comfortable.
They trust me to provide a service.
GoDaddy was able to provide everything that I needed.
I had all the support, all the information,
everything I needed during that period.
Having a team is amazing.
We all work together.
We all support each other.
We help each other out.
The goal is to just make sure
the client has a great experience,
no matter who's serving that client.
I love helping people and giving back.
Sometimes there is a stereotype
that women of color will not help you.
They won't push you to do anything.
They just keep all the information to themselves.
A lot of times we choose to work individually,
and it doesn't mean that you can't,
but I strongly believe that we can accomplish
and acquire a lot more things if we choose to work together.
- I think the secret sauce is helping other people grow
as you're growing.
I love that Rebecca has helped almost 100 women
create their own business.
She didn't just teach them how to braid,
but she taught them how to run a business,
even if it's right next door
- The State of Ohio has the braid license.
And so once I checked with State Board,
I found out that I was able to provide that service
to other individuals.
I created the Empire Braid License course
about two years ago,
and it was something that would allow them
to own their own shop
and be able to operate completely
as their own individual entrepreneur.
Community is big.
You need people in everyday life,
and I've learned that personally,
the importance of networking and how other people
can just share a little bit of information with you,
and it makes the world of difference.
Me sharing what others doesn't stop what I'm doing.
It doesn't take away from my clients or how great I am.
It just allows them to be great as well.
(upbeat music)