Meet Shantesheona Jennings | Braider

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

Hi Shantesheona, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I am from Los Angeles, born and raised in South Central; Crenshaw District. Growing up in the “hood” people always look at us as never amounting to anything, they only see gang banging/negative connotations! As a child/young adult when asked where I lived and I told them, a negative comment would follow. However, knew that I wasn’t what/who they saw me as. My neighborhood never defined me, I always knew I wanted to be an example of not allowing my upbringing to stop me from becoming who I wanted to be versus what society said I was, because of being in the hood.
Being in the hood gave me the love I needed after losing my father at the age of 12, leaving my mom to raise my siblings and I on her own. I watched her day in and day out try to be the best mother but that love seemed so distant to me. I still felt broken, lost, confused, and not receiving the love I needed fully. Being that my dream was to be a teacher, I didn’t want to be any teacher, I wanted to be the teacher who taught kids like me, kids who were in the hood, kids who longed for more and felt that disconnection from their parent(s) like I did. I wanted to be that example to them, in addition to being the ear that they needed. After having my daughter who was diagnosed with Spastic Paraplegia and Microcephaly, I was forced to stop teaching and had to change my focus to doing hair full time because that’s a talent I used in the neighborhood; I would braid my friends hair. Doing hair was another way for me to not only have income but it also allowed me to be that ear to others who I service. Since I started braiding, I have been able to listen to kids who feel broken, kids in foster care, kids who are ready to give up on life, and some who feel unloved. In addition to adults who are broken and need to just vent. Today I am able to be a counselor, therapist, friend, aunt, god mother, and sister to my clients because of my upbringing. I took what I did not have and became that person who gave to those who do not have! My listening ear and words of love and encouragement, goes a very long way for my clients!
I pushed to change the narrative!

What should our readers know about your business?
My hair business sets me apart because it’s not just about the money to me. I care about my clients and listen to their needs. It’s about the smiles I put on people’s faces. If my clients aren’t happy then I’m not happy;my job is not done. I always feel the need to perfect my craft so every night, I view my images/videos from that days’ work to see how I could improve if anything. In my mind there is always room for growth! Another thing that separates me from others is I believe have a calling! I am constantly reminded that I can’t save everyone but trust me I will try! When my clients walk in and I can read them; I can see the sadness, the happiness, frustration, whatever mood they’re in at the moment. When my clients walk in, my feelings are put on the back burner immediately! If I have a client who comes in with a heavy heart, I worship with them, I allow them to cry, we hug, we pray together, and most of all even after the appointment, I check on them! I support my clients in sadness and in happiness!
I am most proud of the clientele I’ve gained, in addition to their love and loyalty. I don’t feel like I’m the best braider in the world, I know I’m not, but my clients pick me and I am beyond grateful for their support. Without them I have no business and that’s how I got to where I am today; they are my walking billboards. Because of my son being one of my walking billboards, the fabulous Zane Production hired me as the hairstylist for Style Factor-Edge Booster and am beyond grateful for the team that I work with. Zane believed in me and saw something that I honestly do not believe I saw in myself! He took a chance-simply by looking at the braids I did on my son, he knew he wanted me to work for him! Baby if that doesn’t speak volumes!!
I have been able to deal with the challenges of running my own business, not ever questioning why some days are slow, but always grateful that I am still able to stay in business! Getting to this point where I am today was not easy; their were times I would go days or a week without a client, making me question if I was making the right decision, but also making me want to perfect my craft more so people would come to me. I would and still try to keep up with what’s trending to overcome those slow days. If I saw a trending hairstyle I would do it on my daughters and post it on social media so people would book with me.
Along the way I have learned that there will be slow days/weeks but when it’s holiday time and school time, that means more work hours. I at times cannot accommodate everyone and of course I feel bad and lose potential clients, but I am a strong believer in everyone cannot sit in my chair. Energy is everything! I have learned also that it isn’t just the clients’ energy that’s important, so is mine!
I want the world to know that this is just the beginning! I have no idea what is in store for me but I am ready and I am grateful and thanking God before it even happens. I want the world to know that me growing up in the hood, in the sixties, shaped me and made me want more. Your upbringing is everything but it doesn’t have to be everything! Some people will catch that and some will not! Let it sink in!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
6 day vacation itinerary

Day 1:
Rent a slingshot car from Adrenaline rush in Bellflower
Breakfast- Sunrise Cafe in Lakewood
Shopping at the Lakewood Mall
Lunch/Desert at the mall
Ice skating at The Rinks in Lakewood
Dinner-R & R Soul food in Carson

Day 2:
Breakfast-Roscoe’s chicken and waffles
Day at Santa Monica Pier
Dinner-Carney’s restaurant (known as the train since I was a kid)

Day 3:
Breakfast-IHOP (my favorite)
Hollywood bus tour-celebrity homes tour
Experience Hollywood/walk of fame
End the night at The Hollywood Rooftop

Day 4: Breakfast
Shopping at The Citadel Outlets
Helicopter ride
Food and Drinks-San Antonio Winery

Day 5: Full day with my little sister Verlener.
ATV Riding
Drinks and dinner at her house.
Dessert-peach cobbler from the best spot in Inglewood, Cobblers, Cakes, and Kream

Day 6:
Breakfast-Tam’s on 51st and Central in LA (order my favorite grilled ham and cheese)
Take my best friend to see my family, spending this entire day at my aunt Vicky’s house in her boom boom room. She will definitely bbq ribs, have some bbq baked beans, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, and greens. This will be a day/night full of dancing, laughing, drinking, and singing.

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?
God! Without God my success is nothing! I am beyond grateful that I have been able to be a living testimony to those who come in contact with me. More than half of the people I grew up with are dead or in jail but here I am! I can say I made it out of the hood. I took my losses and turned them into gains.
Besides that I have to shout out my mom who listened to me when it came to my dedication, she did her best to make sure I didn’t get caught up but I of course made my own decisions and had to decide what was best for me. She showed me what not giving up meant and so that’s how I’m able to keep going today!
I would also like to thank my God father Anthony Dixon (my Dad). My dad has been the best hands on dad that I can ask for. The support, love, and encouragement I get from him is beyond belief because although I am not his biological child, he doesn’t fall short of doing any and everything for me that a biological father does. My dreams for myself has always been his dreams for me, he has never judged me, simply reassured me that I had his full support in whatever I decided to do.
To those who did not believe in me! I shout you out! As a strong minded, intelligent, confident, and determined woman, the negative about what I could/would not do, has made me strive even harder!
Most of all I must shout out my children, Bri’azyiah, Tahjeh, Ny’len, and Spirit, who are my motivation! I get up daily and make it happen for them. I try my best to ensure they are better than who I am and are not feeling the losses that I did as a child. In the past we would always have to go without because of what our families could not afford or go without because it wasn’t what our parents/families wanted. I have been a witness to talented people around me, including myself, whose talents have gone to waste because of the lack of support. Many times I felt I lacked support, however I knew what I wanted and in order to full fill my goals, I had to be my own support! My kids are my support just as I am theirs and I will not deter them from their dreams/talents because of what we do not have. It’s going to happen one way or another!
Some people take their childhood and use it as an excuse of why they cannot, but me I use it to why I will, why I can, why my kids will have, do have, can be, and will be!

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