Today we’d like to introduce you to Feliza Elizalde.
Hi Feliza, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started doing hair around the age of 10 and I would mainly practice on my dolls and/or girls at my school. The one braid type I only really knew were individual braids and after a while, I wanted to start learning other braid types but I was always scared It would be too hard. Two and a half years later I decided to try and do cornrows! My first try was horrible but it’s what kept me to keep trying and the one thing that would motivate me the most was “Practice makes improvement “and after multiple try’s I greatly improved! Around March 2020 I practice braiding styles on my mannequin heads and I would post them on Instagram and Snapchat! After a few weeks, I had got a message and someone wanted me to do braid their hair. So, I responded and we set a date and time and I was very nervous but I push thru and she liked it! After a few months, I didn’t post about my work anymore and I learned to do knotless. They were one of the quickest styles I learned to do and over time improved greatly on my techniques. Around May 2020 I posted a video of my knotless and cornrows and the first week I got booked up! It was a lot of work and very tiring but seeing the reactions of my clients kept me going. From then to now I had immense improvement and repeating clients and that’s what keeps me going is knowing people love my work the way I do!
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?
It definitely wasn’t a smooth road I did face a few obstacles but I kept pushing. One of them that were the hardest was not believing in myself! There were times where I didn’t believe my work was good enough for me to keep going and really open a business about it! But I would always look back at the improvement on my work and see how much betterI got through time! There were some people who would said hatful things about my work and there were times were it did make me want to stop but all my clients and non-clients who would tell me they loved my work and always showed support outdid the hate and kept me going!
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about BlessedBraids?
I’m a 16-year-old self-taught braider and I’m home-based. I specialize in mainly knotless, feed-ins and ponytails but I can do just about a majority of braided styles! There’s a few a I don’t service. I’m also at the start of servicing sew-ins, lace fronts, and non-braided styles. I’m mainly known for my knotless and feed-ins and Fulani braids but I do get booked for other styles. One of the sets I set apart for are my freestyle feed-ins! I get the most creative and I get to always do something different. I’m most proud of the name I chose from my business. I chose blessed braids because it felt amazing to bless the hair of my clients and my own.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Don’t ever give up and don’t let anyone discourage you and let them stop from fulfilling your dreams. It will be hard at first but the more you try the easier it gets. There will definitely be multiple obstacles but you have to push thru them and better yourself and your work! Always believe in yourself and always know no matter whatever never give up! “Practice doesn’t make perfect it makes improvement “ -Steve Harvey
Contact Info:
- Website: https://blessedbraids.as.me/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/blessedbraids.
