Today we’d like to introduce you to Markeita Pruitt.
Markeita, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
As a kid, I always knew I wanted to be a hairstylist. I also knew that I wanted to build my own empire. Though my mother worked, entrepreneurship ran in the blood, as she and my grandfather had their own businesses and multi-streama of income. So, four years after beauty school, I opened my first salon. It was an outdated model, and I wanted to be more progressive. So I chose to close five years later and took the time to develop a new and improved vision, taking into consideration the direction the beauty industry was taking and what void I wanted to fill.
Two years after closing my first salon, I relaunched my salon park. Though at the time, I operated under a different brand name, the vision has been clear: to provide a creative space for professional beauty industry leaders to grow their own businesses. With 14 years licensed and over 20+ years in the industry, tenants are offered opportunities of free business consulting, marketing strategy sessions, advice, and more.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I was completely blessed not to have had a too stressful trip down the road of entrepreneurship. But, much like most things, it takes diligence, patience, and strategy. Now, taking into consideration of the recent pandemic (COVID-19), things have definitely taken a slightly different path, a little rockier than I’m accustomed to. But, still very blessed.
I’ve undergone a rebranding that was to help reposition me in the market and open me up to new opportunities for growth and expansion. But, again, that has been slightly delayed and impacted by the unforeseen pandemic. And much like all salons, being sure to lease to the right tenants, those who would add to the synergy of the salon, is always a struggle. But, thankfully, the artists currently in the salon are wonderful!
Please tell us about The Suite Life Salons.
The Suite Life Salons was born of a vision to provide developing beauty industry professionals the space to create freely and do so in an atmosphere that encourages creativity. As a natural artist, I share an interest in art, sculpture, and all creative processes, and so I’m a huge advocate of having the space to move as you desire without confinement. So being able to offer salon suites to creatives and providing them that space to build their empires – their way, is something I am definitely proud of.
At The Suite Life Salons, we have specialists who provide: lash extensions, short pixie cuts, the popular wave pixies, relaxers, makeup services and training, natural hair services, fantasy hair color services (vivids), taper cuts, braids, weaves, crochet styles, custom wigs and more!
The Suite Life Salons offer a plethora of services, but still offer the “old school” camaraderie we’ve grown to love over the years of visiting the salon. We build reports wity one another. We respect each other’s spaces and creative processes. We connect with all patrons and celebrate one another’s winning! When considering a salon, the old days of competing, we’ve eliminated that and created a support system for beauty professionals.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I wouldn’t really change a thing. Each encounter served as a necessary lesson. So, I don’t really have any regrets with the way things have gone for the business.
Contact Info:
- Address: 7840 FM 1960 Rd #404
Humble, TX 77346 - Website: www.thesuitelifehtx.com
- Phone: 2819739181
- Email: 2911hairgallery@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/thesuitelifehtx
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/thesuitelifehtx
Image Credit:
Kingdomkidd Photography
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