Today we’d like to introduce you to Trichologist Irene Palmer.
Hi Irene, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Since I was a little girl I dreamed of being a business owner. I loved watching older women do hair and at the age of 10, I started a nail business. I would charge $5 to put the press on nails and nail stickers. Lol! Life has not always been easy for me. I experienced many forms of abuse as an adolescent and because of that, I landed in a foster home. At the age of 15, I gave birth to my first child, and by the time I graduated high school I had another baby. Over the years I struggled with my self-love and image which caused me to make some pretty irrational decisions. By the time I was 24 I had 4 children. In 2011 I graduated from Aveda and became a licensed cosmetologist. Soon after I married and had two more kids with my now ex-husband. Life was hard for us and being a mom while battling your own depression makes it even tougher at times. In 2016 I graduated from nursing school. After that, I got pregnant with my twins. And enough was just enough. In 2019 I packed my kids up and moved to Texas for a better life. Covid hit and I took an opportunity to work on the frontlines. This caused me to lose my section 8 housing and threatened our stay in Texas. I prayed and God, like always, showed me grace and mercy. I was able to find more affordable housing in a better neighborhood for the kids and myself. In July of 2021, I opened my nonsurgical hair restoration clinic Eighty Luxe Hair Studios which is doing very well. We provide medical wigs to our clients that have medically related hair loss most of whom qualify for coverage under their insurance plan. We also provide a variety and nonsurgical hair replacement treatments. For clients that don’t have hair loss, we provide healthy hair care programs to either improve or maintain their hair. We also provide luxury hair extensions and healthy hair extension installation. Most recently I launched my 8-step healthy hair care line which is vegan and packed with ingredients that help aid in the hair growth cycle and healthy hair. In the upcoming months, I will be launching an online class that will teach other women how to become entrepreneurs and bill insurance for their clients with medically related hair loss. I plan also to start publicly speaking about my journey.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
No, life has always thrown me curb balls. Some of the struggles I have faced are homelessness, being a single mother, sexual abuse, lack of support, bad credit, poor money management and sometimes getting in my own way.
We’ve been impressed with Eighty Luxe Hair Studios, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Eighty Luxe Hair Studios.. I came up with the name because I have 8 kids. We are a nonsurgical hair replacement clinic. We offer our clients that are experiencing hair loss a variety of options. We offer scalp detoxification. lower laser light therapy treatment, microneedling, and Mesotherapy treatments to help support healthy hair regrowth. For our clients that have permanent hair loss we have a variety of hair extensions, from i-tip, and tape in extensions. To partial and full medical wigs and toppers for men, women and children. What sets us apart is our ability to connect with our consumers in a real life manner. I am most proud that I have been able to start from nothing and this year my business is projected to make six figures. I want readers to know that hair is a passion of mine and I have fought so hard through life to be able to provide you all with exceptional service.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
When I started my company I didn’t have a mentor or anyone that I was able to reach out to that could help guide me. Because of this, I made costly mistakes. I would recommend anyone that is wanting to start a business to get a good mentor that has your best interest at hand. That way they can guide you in an appropriate way. I wish this was something that I had before the start. Owning a business is not easy, especially if you are a single mother and lack support. But if you decide to show up every day for yourself then your business will grow.
Contact Info:
- Website: Eightyluxehair.com
- Instagram: Eightyluxe_hairstudios
- Facebook: Eighty luxe hair studios
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/sharandapalmer
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/eighty-luxe-hair-studios-frisco-2?osq=Eighty+luxe+hair+studios
