Cape Coral business owner and hair stylist shares salon journey

From a small town in southwest Florida called Cape Coral, Nakisha Camacho is changing the fabric of the hair industry one curl at a time. Healing from upsetting stages of her life, Camacho opened up her very own hair salon at 24 years old. 

In the heart of downtown Cape Coral, during the summer of 2017, Hair Artistry Full Service Salon opened and offered the community a diverse range of hair services and treatments by the hand-selected staff of stylists Camacho put together herself.

Have you ever heard the saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” In her case, Camacho was thrown her lemons and made her lemonade by opening her salon and expressing her passion through hair artistry, keeping those people worthy of her trust close to her. 

The first investor in her business was her godmother, Sue Wyatt. Using Shark Tank as a framework for her business plan, Camacho was able to give her godmother a detailed account of the costs for opening her salon and how the $10,000 loan will be put to use. This includes how many stylists and barbers she would need, how she would create her own income through booth rentals and commissioned salaries. 

This five-year contract was paid back within the first three years of business. “I also offered her free haircuts for the rest of her life,” Camacho added. 

Networking is something that Camacho pours plenty of time and effort into, as she would any other aspect of her business. This is how she identifies opportunities that could further expand her professional relationships and create personal ones with new clientele. She also uses social media as a tool to network and research new marketing techniques in a world with constantly changing trends and styles. 

“I spend 30 minutes every morning, surfing social media and the web to identify new beauty tips that are coming in or styles to keep myself updated. It’s very important to invest in yourself and your time to be able to develop correctly and keep growing,” Camacho shared, in regard to recognizing strategies to success in her field.  

Camacho’s main motivation and reason for growth is her son and her family. The thought of her son watching his mom grow into a successful business owner is what keeps her going, “It has been very challenging developing a business and while trying to be a mom altogether, but allowing my son to see me become successful and live out my dreams shows him that no matter what obstacles you might hit in life, it is you that will make a difference, no one else.” 

Another piece of motivation for Camacho is the feedback given to her by her community. Being comfortable with the space her salon had become, Camacho gives back to the community as frequently as she can by hosting back-to-school haircut events and cutting classes for young, inspired stylists. 

She does these events because these are things that she wishes her mother had available to her, also as a single mother. “Having the community stand behind me, pushes me not to give up, no matter how hard it gets.” 

With enough confidence, Camacho opened up another business with her lifelong and business partner, in the unit next to her salon called The Pug Barber Supply, a store that carries all of the tools and products that a barber or hair stylist might need behind the chair. Camacho even sends her own clients next door to purchase products carried in her own salon, keeping her clients informed of what she’s using in their hair and keeping them coming back to the salon every few weeks for a trim. 

In the years since she’s opened her salon, Camacho has been able to travel for her profession while trusting her fellow stylists to keep her salon safe until she is back behind her own chair, ready to get back to business. Stay updated with her hair artistry and travels through her social medias like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.