We had the good fortune of connecting with Beck Velasquez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Beck, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I have been in the beauty industry for seven going on eight years. I’m started whenever I was 14 getting in my mom‘s make up samples and cutting my own bangs from a video I saw on YouTube. I was just 16 when I started working at Sportclips as a receptionist by the time I was 17 I had my license and I was able to cut hair. Within their company, I probably jumped around to 6 to 7 stores I believe, And from there, I have probably worked from 10 to 20 places within my career constantly always trying to find the place that I could call home. Unfortunately, in this industry, I don’t think a lot of us have found that place to call home, the thing is the beauty, industry and salon industry is very toxic. You can easily be overworked and getting paid, a quarter of what the Salon is charging for the service that you’re providing. I love my job but working under other people was starting to depress me, i wasn’t able to do what i wanted / do the types of services i wanted to provide. All while ensuring toxicity from my bosses or coworkers and even the clients. One day i was going a different way home, upset from the day i had, and then i saw a building that captured my interested me. Then and there i realized that if i wanted to work the way i wanted too and not be apart of something toxic, id have to create it myself. That day my salon was born.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art is something that came very naturally to me. It was easy for me to see someone do what they were doing, and trying to replicate it on myself, but it didn’t come from pure talent. I came from the women who surrounded me since I was a young girl I would go to the mall with my girl Cousins and go to Sephora and my cousins would have me pick out a poster on the wall that I wanted them to replicate on to me so then I just had such an interest in the beauty industry with make up with hair with the glam of it all. At first, I would get in trouble for wearing make up too early or cutting my hair without telling my mom or even staying up and dying my hair silver in the middle of the night until one day my mom recognized this is not something that I was gonna give up on and encourage me to get my cosmetology license while I was in high school and even then I had said I’ll do it because I have nothing else to do and I don’t wanna do college but is not gonna be forever Somewhere along the way it has become forever and I’m so grateful that I did decide to get my license because I truly don’t know where I would be without it. It hasn’t been easy to get where I’m at, but it’s always help feel better about themselves and give myself a sense of pride that I could do that for somebody , there was probably 1 million times I wanted to give up and try something else, but I just have always been called to this when I first started doing hair. Everyone told me this job is going to make you cry one day and maybe it’s because I’m a Scorpio and I don’t want anyone telling me what to do. I was determined that this job wasn’t gonna make me cry Has it yet not necessarily, but it has given me a lot of stress but I use stress just keep pushing because I’m just so determined to not let this job break me. I’ve overcome a lot of things while doing this job. It definitely helped me with my anxiety and my depression because you can’t really be anxious why you’re doing someone’s hair they need to know that you got it And so I will put on the front and eventually the front just became what it was because I’ve always been capable to do it. The lessons I’ve learned is to keep trying. You have to fuck up a few times to get to where you’re actually trying to be if you ever mess up it’s not something that you just give up on. It’s something that you work on trying to fix and seeing how you can overcome that . I would like to world to know that I am a boss that I am a fighter, and I will always rise from the ashes. My brand is about reinvention and how you can change your life just by your appearance.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m a big foodie so I would say if I’m looking for sushi I’m going to Kawa sushi if I’m looking for tacos I’m going to tacos Doña Lena And if I’m looking for seafood, I’m going to El Barquito seafood.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
@geminiglam she is my business partner and helped create the space we work in.

Website: https://bbeautybrattt.glossgenius.com/

Instagram: @bbeautybrattt

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutHTX is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.