One of my favorite quotes is from the incomparable Maya Angelou and it’s one I’ve tried to live my life by: “When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”
As we close out celebrating our 15 years of business celebration and look back over the years, beyond the products on the shelves or the beautiful space we have now (compared to where we started) I see gorgeous faces. We exist for you and because of you, and your wishes, wants and desires always come first here and always with me. I love hearing about your challenges so we can correct them as much I love getting emotional messages from you all. At the end of every day I want all of you to feel satisfied with the hair you wear and your purchases with Perfect Locks, because ladies our story is your story and I want it always to be one of happiness.
It’s also laughable now, but our longtime local customers will remember that in our early days, if you wanted to see the hair before ordering we’d meet you in a parking lot! In the beginning we didn’t have a showroom and we did whatever we had to do to help women nearby get access to great hair. Today we have a beautiful showroom and salon and those parking lot days are over, but to this day we still have customers from that time visit us and we laugh about how we got started. Like your first dollar of business, you never forget those first customers who believed in you. We tell those stories and we laugh, and remember.
I have so many stories about the women who found us over the years, some to have the hair of their dreams for their wedding or simply for a girls night out. Some of these stories are ones you’d expect, filled with happiness and others sadness, but those are the ones I remember most. I want to share some stories that never leave me and remind me every day what we’re here to do.
Several Stories of Survival
Perfect Locks is proud to have connected with six incredible survivors who have battled cancer, been kidnapped, experienced domestic violence, and survived sexual assault. These women courageously shared their stories in order to empower others to rise up and fight, no matter what their walk in life may look like. Our lives can change in a matter of seconds, but our willpower to fight and stay confident should always remain strong. The Perfect Locks beauty team was honored to showcase the inner and outer beauty of these amazing women with a stunning makeover from head to toe! We are inspired by their strength and resilience, and we hope their stories will empower others to face their challenges with courage and confidence. Thank you for sharing your stories with us!
Aisha's Story
Perfect Locks partners with the Oakland Children’s Hospital to provide a free wig each month to a child in need. Earlier this year, Aisha was informed of a traumatic diagnosis which drastically changed her life. To build her confidence, and regain some normalcy, she started a search for a human hair wig to reclaim her look once again. As she was under the care of the Oakland Children’s Hospital, we were more than happy to provide her a wig as part of our ongoing program. She came in a for a custom wig fitting and decided to go with our Straight 16” Full Lace Wig. Our full lace wig provides her with more hairstyling possibilities while giving her a totally natural look. We then had our Perfect Locks Salon Stylist, Nick Sanchez, install the wig for her! As he was installing the wig, you could see Aisha's demeanor change. You could feel the excitement coming off of her! Needless to say, she was thrilled with the final result! Want to hear her inspiring story, watch the video above!
Eva’s Story
Eva is a dear friend of mine that I met through my daughter’s kindergarten school. One day she showed up at our showroom, taking me completely by surprise. We stepped away to a quiet corner and she shared the heartbreaking news that she’d just been diagnosed with breast cancer. It was an emotional discussion for the both of us, as for women so much of our beauty and identity is tied into our hair. All her life she had loved and been complimented on her think, full head of healthy hair, but knowing what lay ahead for her as she fought for her life…she wasn’t sure what options she had to maintain her pride and dignity. She had come to me for a solution today, just after her diagnosis so she could begin the journey of retaining her style during treatment. I explained the process, the options and how those options may change as her chemotherapy progressed and she took great comfort in having solutions. A few months later once her treatment began, she was back and we took her hand and gave her some hope in the face of a long fight ahead. No one is ready for life threatening news and when it happens it can be both devastating and life altering, throwing you into a tailspin. Over the years, we amassed both knowledge and properly trained staff to handle all manner of hair loss and thinning challenges that can be temporary or permanent. I always want us to give you peace of mind.
Faith's Story
When we started our wig donation program with the Oakland Children's Hospital, we had no idea how many lives we would end up touching. Faith was our first client from the program, and her story is one that has stayed with us. Faith was diagnosed with a rare blood condition which caused her to lose most of her hair. For a young girl, this was devastating. She was self-conscious and felt different from all her friends. But when she came to us for a wig, we were able to give her back her confidence. With a new wig, she looked and felt like herself again. Her family was so grateful that we were able to help, and we knew that we had made a real difference in her life. Since then, we have helped countless other children through our wig donation program. It's been one of the most rewarding things we've ever done.
Ronae's Story
When a mother and daughter duo from Sacramento came and purchased hair for the daughter to take place in Miss Sacramento they were very excited to learn there was a place like Perfect Locks that offered a complete full-circle hair purchasing experience.Not only were they able to find the perfect hair for her daughter to fulfill her dreams of becoming Miss Sacramento, but they were able to do so while also supporting a local business. The daughter later sent Perfect Locks photos after she won the title of Miss Sacramento, and they were thrilled to see that their hair had helped her achieve her dreams. This is just one example of how Perfect Locks is able to help people achieve their goals and look their best at the same time. Thanks to our supportive community, we are able to make everyone's dream a reality.
Darnell’s Thoughts
You may not know that our professional business has been blossoming, as stylists and salons all over America have been looking for good quality, ethical hair these past few years. One of the first professional customers who found us was Darnell Davis. Darnell’s career is something I always marvel at and am jealous of, a true genius with shears with the eye of an artist and the kind of precision that only comes from years of expertise. Darnell today is a celebrity stylist, but also a dear friend. We were talking recently about our 15 years, of who we are and how far we’ve come. He said, “It’s the consistency of your awesome products from day one which brought you guys this far and will always take you further. Keep up the good job.”
And that I think is it: consistency. In this day and age, so often as customers we don’t feel like we matter…that we’re just another customer. To us and to me, we’ve never looked at any of you that way, and you don’t say that, you show that in every interaction, action and experience.
They say good stories are like soup for the soul, it warms you up, fills you up. These are just a few stories of people that keep me grounded and make me feel in my heart and soul that we aren’t just selling “things”... We’re helping people. We’re passionate about what we do here and about how we want you to feel and is one of the reasons the words, “hello gorgeous!”, are so conspicuous on one wall of our showroom.
You, our customer, are Queens. It’s been a pleasure to serve you. Here’s to another 15 years of business!
