Meet Laurel Uko | Business owner, tech professional & MPH candidate

We had the good fortune of connecting with Laurel Uko and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Laurel, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
The thought process behind starting my business originated from a passion I developed at the age of 4; braiding my Barbies’ hair. By the time I turned 12, I was on the dance team at my school which required us to wear make up on our performance days. Those days or nights consisted of bright blue eyeshadow and red lipstick. At that point, I was practically obsessed with makeup. By 17, I saw how passionate I was about hair and makeup so I decided that I wanted to start my own business where I could be the hairstylist, the makeup artist and sell my products (wigs & cosmetics) and that was the beginning of what is now Afro Luxé Co.
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
In December of 2020, I graduated with my bachelors in public health. Prior to graduation, I applied for numerous roles in public health and healthcare and was faced with low paying opportunities or opportunities that I wasn’t qualified for. I’m the process, I was getting a lot of traffic from technical recruiters for software development roles. Out of curiosity, I started to research different programming and coding languages and found myself obsessed with HTML and CSS. I then gravitated to Python and a bit of Java and after completing a few courses, I started to apply for roles and landed my first role, which I ended up disliking which led me to the company I’m with now. Currently, I’m an SAP SuccessFactors consultant and I’m definitely loving the challenges that come with it because they’re allowing me to learn and grow. During my transition into the tech space, I was faced with a lot of challenges such as learning new things which were extremely foreign but those challenges taught me the importance in being resilient. I definitely cried and got upset when I couldn’t get a code correct or a software installed on my MacBook but immediately after, I’d find a solution to the problem. Aside from working in tech full time, I’m also an MPH student running a business where I play all the roles, including makeup artist and hairstylist from time to time. One thing I want the world to know is that you should never give up no matter how tough things get. You can accomplish anything you put your mind to.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If you’re ever in Houston and you want to eat and you’re not sure of what you want? City Centre is one of my favorite places because there’s so much to eat. There are also a lot of bakeries, places to shop, a little park and more. If you’re a seafood lover, BB’s Tex-Orleans, LA Crawfish and Angry crab are amazing spots.
If you’re someone who loves daiquiris, we have a plethora of daq shops but my favorite and the best is Candy Shack Daquiris.
If you’re looking for bomb tacos, check out BLK MKT Birria.
Some great lounges and clubs are Domain, O2 Lounge, La Pasha lounge and grille, and Nomad.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate this shoutout to my mother, Maggie. My mom has been such an instrumental part of my business; from her encouragement, to her prayers, even down to her being my Guinea pig when I wanted to try out a new hairstyle or makeup look. She doesn’t deserve a little credit. She deserves a lot of credit! If not for her, I would have given up and I would not be where I am now. So for that, thank you Mommy!
Website: Afroluxe.co
Instagram: thelaureluko & afroluxeco
Linkedin: Laurel Uko
Twitter: @_LifeofLala