‘Hair by Tamara’ for that classy look

May 23, 2021 News

---

>>>Young Entrepreneur on the Move<<<

“Young entrepreneurs play a major role in society by being creative enough to come up with new business ideas that would benefit themselves and the country’s economic sector.”

By Allyiah Allicock

While many young people are still finding ways to adapt to the new normal brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, some have had their fair share of challenges in terms of how it has affected their studies.
Among them is a young lady by the name of Tamara Castello, who when she was forced to put a pause on her studies, decided that she would seek to grow her fledgling business. She knew it was possible because of the many compliments she got for her craft.
The 20-year-old, who hails from New Amsterdam, Berbice, is the proud proprietor of a hairstyling business called “Hair by Tamara.” The young woman revealed that she has been living with her grandmother who has been by her side ever since the death of her parents when she was very young. After achieving passes in 10 business subjects, inclusive of Mathematics and English, at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, she was motivated to further her studies. In this regard, she applied and was accepted at the University of Guyana where she is majoring in Management.
Castello in an exclusive interview with Kaieteur News explained that due to the pandemic she development some financial challenges and was forced to put her studies on hold. On a mission to achieve financial stability, Castello took advantage of her free time to bring to life a dream of owning her own business. On February 22, last, the young woman officially launched her hairstyling business which now provides services such as braiding, twists, locs, crochets, among many other popular hairstyles.
The inspiration to start the business, she said, was nestled in a pact she had made years earlier with a group of friends to start a small business in order to help address the high unemployment rate they had observed in the country.

As she got older, Castello said that she started to hone her skills in hairstyling and some of her female friends even allowed her to style their hair. Although she wasn’t thinking much of it at first, she recalled that the outstanding styles soon started to gain much attention and compliments as well. Persons, she said, would ask her friends: ‘who did your hair?” and made remarks such as ‘it looks really good.’ Before long, the “little compliments” were enough motivation to for her to kick start her business.
Together with the support of her friends, Castello said that she was able to turn her craft into a legitimate business venture.
But one would think that trying to grow a business amid a pandemic would be difficult but, according to Castello, “once you put your mind to it and have faith, things would eventually work out.” The appreciative young woman noted that persons who shared her flyer and those who recommended her were the ones who really helped to boost her business considerably.

But like any other young entrepreneur, Castello noted that there have been some challenges along the way. She spoke of some persons being indecisive about what style they want or some who would cancel on the day of the appointment.
With the onset of the pandemic too, there were difficulties such as clients being skeptical about leaving their home or allowing anyone into their home for that matter, despite their need for a fresh hairdo. This, she said, caused a decrease in the average number of clients she got per month. While still experiencing these challenges, Castello said that she has faith that her business will grow and blossom and that someday she would be a truly successful entrepreneur.
Looking at the bigger picture, she said that her long term goal is to one day expand her business and have it recognised as one of the best salons around.
In fact, she is optimistic that her business will evolve into one that provides employment opportunities for skilled and unskilled persons. She is of the firm belief too that “young entrepreneurs play a major role in society by being creative enough to come up with new business ideas that would benefit themselves and the country’s economic sector.” As such, she noted that in order to boost small businesses locally, they should be given financing and proper exposure too so that the public can know that they exist. A move in this direction, she noted, will encourage productivity and growth.
Those who wish take advantage of Castello’s fabulous hairstyles can contact her on WhatsApp – 592-646-9885 or via her Instagram page @hair.by_tamara.

(If you are young entrepreneur with a fledgling business who would like to be featured, please send us a concise description of your business to kaieteurnews@yahoo.com)

---

---