This week on Volume Up by The Tease, Yene Damtew came to share her wealth of knowledge with us. Yene discussed topics such as mentorship, education, inclusivity, industry insight, business and more.
Yene walked us through her journey to where she is today. She shared her entrepreneurial efforts in middle school and how that turned into joining cosmetology school at 16 years old. She talked about her struggle between college and cosmetology school as well as eventually moving to Washington DC with one of her mentors to work with the Obama family. Yene expressed the importance of her time as an assistant and going on to start her salons and academy. Yene was a delight to have on the podcast and this episode has a little bit of something for everyone.
Don’t miss out on hearing from Yene Damtew and let us know @readthetease on Instagram what your favorite moment from this week’s episode was!
“I think that part of it is us as professionals, we have devalued our industry. And we haven’t positioned ourselves as subject matter experts and as the authority and I think that we have forced our clients rather, to go to other avenues, into other channels to get information.”
“We as stylists have to remember that ‘I am my secret sauce’, right. Like I am what’s special. So like I could give my client my formula, I don’t care. I could tell you what products I’ve used because you will never be me.”
“It doesn’t matter your texture, wavy, straight, kinky, coily, whatever. If your hair is healthy, that is what defines good hair.”
Listen to the full episode here or wherever you stream.