Description
Afro Studio Black Diamond: traditional hairdressing in Slovenia
Admin | Comune di Milano
25/02/2022
Kim Camara is 24 years old. She was born in Sierra Leone. When she was 7 years old, she moved to Slovenia with her family. In 2018 she opened “Hair Salon Black Diamond”, in Ljubljana, the first and only hair salon in Slovenia that specialized in arranging “afro” hairstyles. Since its launch, her business is really well received among African and Slovenian clients.
Can you please tell us how you had the idea to start your business?
First of all, I attended a hairdressing high school to get the knowledge and competencies to run this activity. Also, in Slovenia, there were no salons where hairdressers would be trained to arrange an “afro” hairstyle. In my childhood years, my mother was arranging my hair but in my teenage years when I wanted something different, I had to go outside Slovenia to get the hairstyle I wanted. For this reason, I decided to try to develop my own afro-style hair salon.
Can you please tell us about the main obstacles you have encountered and how you managed to overcome them?
In fact, I did not face any major obstacle in opening and managing my business, except for dealing with relatively hard bureaucracy and financial issues (for this second aspect, I currently have an accountant who is taking care of it). It is difficult to be a black woman and a black entrepreneur in Slovenia. People look at you as if you should not get the opportunity to become an entrepreneur, to establish yourself in business. They believe you are not capable or that you are being less worthy because you have different skin tone. Gaining trust is very challenging.
Has the recent pandemic affected your business and how did you overcome the challenges?
The pandemic has hardly affected my business, especially during the total lockdown. I do not have a strategy in place to address this emergency, we will see how it goes in the future.
How do you see the future of your company?
I have started my business without any major or concrete long-term plan. I am aware that it takes time for any business to flourish. First, people need to get used to it and results come just after a while. But I am still very optimistic.
Is there anything you would like to tell to your fellow entrepreneurs? #somethinginspirational
It is definitely much easier for those who are raised in Slovenia and speak the language to start their own business. I think that migrants are very scared about businesses because they are afraid to fail. So I would suggest them to just stay persistent. They should not allow anyone to look down on them or take away their motivation. They need to fight for what they believe in. And they also need to know that no one will help them. They will have to build their businesses by themselves.
Discover more
Website: https://afro-studio-black-diamond-kitke-dredi-podalski-las.business.site
FB: @afrostudiobd
