Accomplished beautician Asha Alli is a ‘Special Person’

Nov 22, 2020 News, Special Person

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Overcoming many hurdles to achieving her goals

“ I switched hands until I found a way that I could handle the tools,” She said adding that she learnt that day,” anything is possible once you put your mind to get it done.”

By Rehanna Ramsay

Kaieteur News – Guyanese beautician Asha Alli is among a small percentage of people born with a congenital hand anomaly – a birth defect which sometimes results in infants being born with missing fingers on one or both hands.

In Alli’s case, the condition affected both hands; she was born with just three fully formed fingers, two thumbs and the middle finger on her left hand.

This, however, has not stopped the ambitious mother of two from leading a normal life and successful career in cosmetology.

In fact, she has been in the beauty business for over 25 years¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬, establishing her own salon –Asha’s Beauty World – for 18 of those years. But what is most fascinating about this week’s Special Person is the fact that though she was blessed with just three fingers, she has managed to thrive in a professional environment that demands dexterity like no other.

Clients and admirers alike would agree that Alli’s mastery as a hairstylist is deserving of much praise.

“She is great with her hands, every time, she cuts my hair, it grows back so quickly. She always leaves me feeling and looking beautiful,” one of her trusted clients told Kaieteur News over the weekend.

This is not the first time that Alli‘s work has earned her public praise. Over the past week, social media was abuzz over a heartwarming story about her journey to becoming a valued and trusted cosmetologist. Several customers and Facebook users chimed in with compliments for Alli’s handiwork lauding her for her perseverance.

She shared about having to overcome the difficulties, learning to love herself and teaching others to do the same.

“It was difficult but I was willing to learn use just three fingers to hold a comb, scissors and other tools. I practised, and practice makes perfect,” the hairstylist said when Kaieteur News caught up with her at her Annandale Public Road, East Coast Demerara salon, last Friday.

Like most entrepreneurs, she said that her “path to success was not paved with gold,” but that a support base was essential to reaching every objective.
To this end, she accredits her success to her supportive family unit: her loving mother, husband, children, other relatives and friends.

OVERCOMING HURDLES
Born, Hasmattie Shiwpal to parents Janet and Boodram Shiwpal, the hairdresser shared that there were many hurdles to achieving her dream as a cosmetologist and staying on top of her game.

She reflected on how her love for helping people look and feel beautiful, dates back to her childhood. She said it is the single most rewarding thing about her career.
“Seeing the satisfaction on the faces of my customers when I am finished sprucing them up, I think is the most rewarding thing, “she said.
That fascination, Alli says dates back to her childhood.

“I wanted to become a model because I liked the idea of dressing up,” she explained.

However, Alli later found out that a career in cosmetology best suited her desire. She noted that the first hurdle she faced to achieving any of her goals was poverty.

“My parents were poor; my father was a cane cutter and my mother was maid but they did their best so that my sister, Savitri and I could attend school,” Alli said.

She explained however that due to the economic circumstances, the family was constantly moving.

“So I attended several schools because we constantly staying with relatives,” she said. The cosmetologist recalled that her nursery and primary school experiences were rewarding and quite normal.

“I did all the schoolwork and participated in the activities like all the other children. I was never treated with any difference at school and even at home, my relatives allowed me to do chores and helped out around the house like everybody else,” she explained.

However, all this changed when she entered the Bladen Hall Multilateral School– a secondary school located on the East Coast Demerara.

“I think, secondary school was the first time I became so much aware of my condition because the children started to tease me and call me names. That really messed with my self esteem because many of the children treated me as if I had a contagious disease that they did not want to catch…,” Alli explained.

She said that she endured four years of secondary school before her parents decided to finally take her out of the system.

“I dropped out not because of the bullying but because my parents could no longer afford to send me to school every day,” she explained.

But even though she could not finish secondary school, the teenage Alli was always looking for ways to achieve financial independence and help out her parents.

The opportunity presented itself in the form of a newspaper advertisement, which invited interested persons to apply for a cosmetology course at a popular beauty parlour in the city.
“I saw the ad for training from a Salon and Spa at New Market Street. I was interested so I found out about the course. It was too expensive for me but I was allowed to pay for the training in parts,” Alli said.

She recalled that the course also required that she had her own tools—something she could not afford back then.

“I couldn’t afford my own stuff so I used watch the other girls work, most of the time,” she said.

When her time came to use the equipment, a determined Alli had to figure out how she would use her fingers to hold the comb and scissors correctly.

“ I switched hands until I found a way that I could handle the tools,” She said adding that she learnt that day,” anything is possible once you put your mind to get it done.”

By the time, she was a certified cosmetologist, Alli had already secured a permanent position at another popular salon in the city, where she sharpened her skills and solidified herself as an experienced beautician.

In just three short years, she met her husband, Ashaad Alli.

The beautician migrated with her husband to St. Kitts and Nevis, a small territory located in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean. While there, she found employment at Sherry’s Beauty World another popular spot in the busiest parts of the Island.

“The experience exposed me to so much, I met a lot of people and gained the confidence, which I needed to go after my next big goal—opening my own salon,” she said.
Establishing her own

Alli soon realized her goal of ownership. Along with her husband and their firstborn daughter, Aaliya, the beautician returned to Guyana in 2002. The couple later welcomed a second daughter, Amelia in 2004.

With the help of her in-laws, the couple acquired a small cottage on the Annandale Public Road, which used to belong to her sister-in-law.

“The house was small but we used a 10 x10 space to open the salon. I purchased one chair, a wash sink, a shampoo, three hair colour and just a few nail polish and that’s how I got started,” she said.

Alli explained that her success as a salon owner did not come easy— she opened her shop everyday for two months straight without a single customer.

The fate of her business began to shift in the right direction after a family friend visited the shop. “She was my first customer—we are friends to this day. She recommended three persons and my customer base began to increase,” the beautician explained adding that, since then, her salon has catered for thousands of people.

Yet, she recalls that one of her greatest tests happened 10 years ago when she and her family were involved in a horrific traffic accident. The accident left the beautician with several broken bones in the face.
“I was unrecognizable. I had to undergo three facial reconstruction surgeries; it was the single most painful thing I had to endure,” she said adding that the love for what she does brought her back to her feet.
“I recovered faster because I wanted to get back to tending to my family and the people who were depending on me,” Alli added.
“On a busy week, we get at least fifty people in the work chairs,” she disclosed. The cosmetologist has even moved into the area of training other young women. In her role as a beautician, Alli is constantly encouraging women in her care, both trainees and customers, to strive for excellence. The experiences she said taught her a valuable lesson in self love.

“People ask me sometimes if I would want surgery to fix my hands but I am in love with who I am today and yesterday. Those experiences helped to shape and I would encourage anybody to love themselves, that’s the way they were created,” she stated.

As a mother, she told Sunday Kaieteur, she has the task of guiding and motivating her two equally ambitious and beautiful teenage daughters, both of whom plan on becoming doctors, to achieve their respective career goals.

“I am living proof that you can do anything that you put your mind to. Nothing should stand between you and your goals.” she encouraged.

 

 

 

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