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Maplewood salon hopes to inspire young girls
One Twin Cities woman has opened a hair saloon not only to pursue her own dream, but to inspire others by teaching them what she knows. FOX 9’s Chenue Her has the ‘Signature’ story.
MAPLEWOOD, Minn. (FOX 9) - Young girls in the east metro who may want to learn how to do hair as a career or own a salon one day are getting free hands-on experience thanks to Shaunique Watkins.
Childhood dreams come true
Caring for community:
Watkins said it’s surreal to be in the Maplewood Mall running a business because this is her childhood mall.
Now that she’s there, she treats the shop like her own home, a space that’s full of her passions and her life story.
"You can be yourself here," she told FOX 9.
If there’s anything Watkins has learned in life, it’s that being herself and loving others pays off.
A native of east St. Paul, Watkins said she still gets to see high school classmates, teachers, and old neighbors because they pop into her salon, "Signature Lace by Nika."
She says her shop is a reflection of her and it’s a way to see her love in action.
Watkins now uses the space to also mentor young girls who are thinking about careers in the beauty industry. Girls shadow Watkins daily to get hands-on training and experience, learning skills from doing hair and wigs to customer service and how to run a business.
She said she sees herself in these young girls.
"When I was young, I really loved doing hair, braids, all that good stuff and there was like really nowhere to go and no support. And, I’m like, I’m going to open up the shop so that I can have the youth come out," she said. "A lot of these young girls really know how to do hair and makeup already, so it's kind of just like the approach of getting that experience."
Growing success:
In the last few years, Watkins’ work has become noticed by celebrities.
When the Super Bowl was hosted in Minneapolis, she got the chance to work with her first celebrity.
"I started with Kash Doll when the Super Bowl was here. We had a lot of celebrities come out. She was one of the first celebrities I did. I did her hair and her makeup," she said.
Mission at work
The first teacher:
Away from Super Bowls and celebrities, Watkins remains focused on why she loves what she does.
It all started with her mother, Pastor Delores M. Jones.
"Everything that they're doing today in hair, I done that – braids, sewing, the glue-less. I mean, whatever hair style that's going on now. I was a diva back in the day. We say old school, but Shanique picked it up," said Jones.
She helped her daughter learn the craft and empowered Watkins to find her purpose out in the world.
But tough times showed Watkins the purpose began much closer to home.
In 2010, Jones was diagnosed with cancer.
"Not knowing if you’re going to live or die, when you hear the word cancer," Jones said.
"Hair loss, went through radiation and I just started to put some stuff together and just like, what can we do to support to make her feel better, you know? Children working with children with cancer and others with hair loss and alopecia, they all come to me for wigs and I’m like, let's just open up a salon and see how it goes," Watkins explained about how she decided to open a salon.
The roots:
A mission rooted in helping her mother continued to branch into empowering others in her beloved east St. Paul, young Black girls who she said are a reflection of her.
"I want them to be able to think your hair is beautiful. You can do whatever you want with your hair. Your hair is gorgeous. I think a lot of younger girls think that, you know it's hard to maintain their hair. But as a Black woman, there's so many different hairstyles that you can do with your hair, including wigs, braids. I wanted them to take in you can do whatever you want. You can be whatever you want to be," said Watkins.
What's next:
Watkins said her goal for this year is to connect with local hospitals so she can help provide free wigs to any children who may be going through radiation and chemotherapy.
Jones said she’s proud of Watkins for using her gifts and skills to help others.
"With this, she’s going to go a long way in life. This is just the platform right now, but she’s going to blow up," said Jones.
If you'd like to get in touch with Watkins or know of any girls who may want to shadow her at the salon, you can reach out to her here.