Today we’d like to introduce you to Tonicia Marsh-Griffith.
Hi Tonicia, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Getting started for me came
Like riding a bike I loved playing with my Barbie dolls and Bratz heads in my grandmothers den. Watching my aunt do our hair she would always set us infront of the mirror of her vanity and she would create the cutest styles on us but she also took care of our hair. So I have always had a love for hair but my passion came when my mother had a stroke and it left her in a wheel chair so I wanted people to see her for her and not the wheelchair. So I really began to explore my creativity.I was the one doing all my friends hair even sometimes when my mom would get sick and have to go to the hospital or I would do hair for food. I was telling my friends let me do your hair trying different styles on them .My brothers was also my personal male models lol I was always braiding twisting doing whatever to their hair. Over the years I have had my idea of what type of stylist I wanted to be. I use to always tell my mom I was going to own my own hair salon one day. In 2014 I enrolled into cosmetology school in 2015 I graduated and started my career. At the beginning of it I was still trying to find me so I was still doing everything til I found my niche which is cutting. So from I begin to fall in love with that part of industry and I have always loved kids. So watching them being turned around because of their age broke me so I would always take them when I worked in big corporation stores. Then I moved to a kids only haircutting salon and my passion really took off watching the kids grow and catching a glimpse of them
Selves and smiling so big. I begin to get children who would walk in and choose me by giving me hugs and high fives or simply speaking.I begin to pour into every kid that sat in my chair and making them comfortable for their service their parents would begin to tear up stating OMG they has never done this or that before.Etc they begin to see that I understood them and I see them for them and not wether they were neurotypical or neurodivergent I just wanted them
To have a great session and show parents that this does not have to be a stressful thing. I care for your kids like you care for them.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I wouldn’t say it was smooth, but it’s definitely a journey. What they don’t tell you is, you literally have to rebuild even if clientele follows you.. I have struggled mentally to understand where I was coming from and the numbers I was doing for being established for four years at a specific franchise versus me being independent and not nearly touching the numbers that I touched with a franchise behind me. The struggle of just getting your name out there and keeping whoever walks through your door.The struggle of understanding the seasons and breaking even. The understanding of learning to enjoy the time that I know have cause I’m
Use to working long hours. Being in a salon setting and watching people around you be so busy and you are not always wondering when you will be like that. You really have to have God first you and you have to faith being a owner of anything.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a children’s stylist. I cut all children’s hair Neurotypical and Neurodivergent children’s hair. I am the most proud when a child walks in and we have worked so hard to get them to either sit still for the haircut or put on the cape and they finally do it or when I finally hear my non-verbal kids, laugh or say a word I celebrate the small things from. Hey, I got a smiley face at school this week Mrs. T too. I’m potty trained or took my first plane right I celebrate BIG with my kids. I am set apart from others for once this is not just a paycheck. This is my passion. I love what I do. I love making a difference in my kids life another thing that sets me apart from others is my patience the way I just understand the kid to calm them to give them a safe place whether they want to cry or fight and let them know that if they’re safe, they could do anything this hard whether they just want hugs and cuddles I hug on them. It’s never about the time of the haircut, it’s about making my kids comfortable .
What are your plans for the future?
No major change for the near future just
Looking to continue to make a
Difference in the kids who walk through my salon door lives!
Pricing:
- Boys Haircut – $27.00
- Girls Haircurs -$30
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.Littlebawsekuts.com
- Instagram: littlebawsekuts_
- Facebook: Little Bawse Kuts
