Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream Podcast

"You can do it… you really can. I mean, you don't have to be a victim of your circumstances. Whatever you can come up with, whatever passion you decide to store down in your belly, you can make it - or whatever big idea you have in your brain - you can make it come true. And I think that it's just a blessing to be in a position where you can inspire other people as well. "

 

Born in the small town of Waxahachie, Texas, LaTarah Edmond relocated to Austin with her family in pursuit of better opportunities. Although LaTarah loved doing hair from an early age, she opted for a career in marketing after graduating from Texas A&M in College Station. That decision, seemingly unrelated to her love of hairstyling, was fortunate – because it was one of her marketing clients who helped led her discover the scale of, and reconsider the opportunities in, the multi-billion-dollar beauty industry. LaTarah followed her passion to establish her own hair salon.

After going to cosmetology school, participating in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, and surrounding herself with mentors, LaTarah launched and has continued to grow her Good Hair Day Salon in Duncanville, Texas. In this episode of the Start Small, Dream BIG podcast, LaTarah speaks with MCAAD president Kerry Healey about getting out from behind the salon chair and advancing her business, with the ultimate dream of buying her own building and starting a product line. Listen in to learn about LaTarah's story, her challenges, especially during COVID, and her hopes for the future.

"…in the Black community, unfortunately, the Black salons have a stigma of being unprofessional. I personally had not seen an upscale Black salon… So, I started visiting all of the upscale salons that were Black-owned in Dallas and I was like, “Oh my gosh, I'm your client! I'm your demographic! How are you letting people know that you exist?”

 

Listen here: https://www.mcaad.org/explore/view/ep-8-good-hair-day