As she saw other small businesses struggle through the pandemic, entrepreneur and musician Keniqua Smith, 24, embraced the solitude and created a business plan for her natural hair-care services company Hairbykennikay. She reimagined edges, locs, braids, bonnets and more -- weaving together product lines and natural hair-care services that have the power to create relief for crowns across the Cape. She also researched natural ingredients and created oil and botanical combinations (like luscious rose petals, almond oil, and eucalyptus!) to fuel her product line, the KenniKayCollection.

As she healed one head at a time, Smith saw first-hand how much her services were needed -- despite pushback from Cape area salons.

“I think my success was born from a willingness to help others,” Smith says. “A lot of times we forget where we come from, but I always remember that in order to maintain my progress, I need to pour back into somebody else.”

Amplify: What does your business have to offer?

Keniqua Smith: I started my hair service company called HairbyKenniKay first, and began offering hair care services for men, women, and children. I provide my clients with different braiding styles -- I do box braids, wig installations, sew installs, full loc extensions or natural locs, closures, sew ins, and even aesthetician services like eyebrow shaping. At first, I styled out of my house but now people can find me at Divas Beauty Studio in Hyannis. I have a chair there and can take clients by appointment. After HairbyKenniKay got going, I started KenniKayCollection, and began selling luxury hair care accessories like wigs and bundles, bonnets, edge control, lashes, masks, and heels and custom apparel.

Amplify: How did you start in this business?

Smith: Doing hair has always been something I have a passion for, and I was fortunate enough to turn it into a job that I love. When I was younger, I would watch hairdressers keenly as they did my mom’s hair and then I would go home and practice on my dolls. The first time I really thought about styling hair for a living, was when I was in a fashion show in Atlanta. I was completely mesmerized as the stylist prepared my hair for the show and I told myself that I was going to go home and figure out how she did it. I started doing the same style on my friends and just practiced until I could do it and after that I knew I could make a career out of it.

Amplify: What was one of the standout moments since beginning the KenniKayCollection?

Smith: I think it was when I helped my mom. She had hair loss from discomfort in her scalp - bumps and things like that. Instead of steroid injections that the doctor was prescribing, I started researching oils and natural treatments to help relieve her pain. I ended up finding natural treatments that helped heal her scalp, but her hair wasn’t growing back. The doctors had already told her that it would probably be impossible to grow it back. But I kept trying. I began using elements straight from the earth -- ingredients like rose petals and peppermint and little by little her hair began to come back. Ever since then, I’ve been bottling it, and people all over the country have been buying my oils and my edge control nonstop. My mom was my first success story. She was surprised and never thought she would have hair again. She was proud, but also happy and grateful to not feel pain anymore.

Amplify: How was your business affected by the pandemic?

Smith: The pandemic was hard in certain ways. But I was able to have the time to do my research -- that was the biggest thing. From there, I created my logo, a business plan, and even did my first photo shoot. I knew what I wanted, I knew who my target audience was, and I had the time to put in. I enjoyed that so much and I could feel myself growing from that experience. Finding success has been amazing because I showed myself that I could create something from nothing. A lot of times we forget where we come from, but I always remember that in order to maintain my progress, I need to pour back into somebody else.

Amplify: How did you make your way to Cape Cod?

Smith: I was born in Montego Bay Jamaica, and moved to Macon, Georgia in September 2006 - I was 9 years old. I lived in Georgia for 10 years. It wasn’t an easy transition. In Jamaica, it’s diverse and no one categorizes themselves as Black or White or Asian like they do in the United States. When I got to Georgia, the elementary and middle school was predominantly white, and I was called every name you could call a dark-skinned person. I had to drop my accent quickly and it was hard for me for a while. Suicide was something I thought about. But I talked to my parents, and they helped me through it. We moved to the Cape in November of 2016, and I’ve been here ever since. Music is what brought me here -- I’m also a musician. One of the local churches was looking for a keyboardist and the pastor asked my father to move here so I could play for the church and go to school. I loved Georgia as an adult, so I honestly didn’t really want to move but my parents sent me anyways. At times it’s difficult for me here -- like after Labor Day when the Cape goes quiet. In the South there’s always something to do on the first Friday and Saturday of every month -- there’s concerts in the evening and cookouts. So, my first winter here was a culture shock and I really missed the faster pace and hustle of Georgia. But, in some ways I’m glad it worked out. Because I’m not sure I would have pushed my passion as far as I did.

Amplify: Have you felt any pushback regarding your craft from other business owners on the Cape?

Smith: Yes. There is a lack of support from other small businesses for someone who looks like me -- especially from the beauty community. In Georgia, people are open to collaborate, and they understand that sharing hair education and techniques is what builds success. But it’s not like that here. Other stylists won’t collaborate with me but would rather copy my styles and copy the products that I sell. When I tried to get a chair at different places, they would charge so much for rent -- an arm and a leg! But in June of 2020 things changed for me. I started connecting to the owners of Divas Beauty Studio and they started teaching me things here and there and then a spot opened at the Studio in November of 2020 and the offered the chair to me at an affordable rent. I had just had an opportunity to work at the mall, but the salon owners wanted $500 per week and 20 percent from all my client fees. Divas came in at the perfect time and said, “my home is your home.” It still brings chills to me. They took me in as family.

Amplify: Where do you see your business in five years?

Smith: In the next five years, I hope to keep learning and doing more. My ultimate dream is to one day have store on the Cape, Georgia, and New York. I plan to employ ladies to do makeup, hair, lashes -- everything. I want to be a one stop shop.

Amplify: Do you have any advice for potential business owners like yourself?

Smith: I would say to speak up. Don’t hold anything in to save someone’s feelings. I tell all my beautiful Black girls out there to remember that we are what’s trending -- everyone in the world is trying to look like us. They are copying our styles in every single sense -- they want what you have. Remember that and hold your chin up high.

‍

On the Web: https://www.kennikaycollection.com/
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kennikaycollection/
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hairbykenn