…advises youths to make ‘make money from your passion’
By Naomi Marshall
Growing up, the plan is most times to attend school, graduate, get a job and live comfortably.
However, in Region 10 where the unemployment rate is very high, the reality is that most students graduating from high school will either be underemployed or unemployed. Hence, some are even forced to leave the town in search of employment in the capital city.
Twenty-three-year-old Jewel Webb is a cosmetologist in Linden, whose struggle to find employment led her to start her very own business, Boss Inc. Beauty Salon.
Webb grew up in Amelia’s Ward, Linden with her parents and siblings. She attended the the Amelia’s Ward Primary School and in 2010 upon writing the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) she gained a space at the New Silver City Secondary School. In an interview with Village Voice News, Webb related that her experience at the school was a bit rocky due to glitches in the school system which resulted in her being unsuccessful at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination in 2015.
As such, Webb got enrolled in the Wisburg Secondary School in the same year, where she joined the Form 4 Business Class. In 2017 Webb gained passes in six subjects at the CSEC examination and was named ‘Best Business Student 2017’for the school she attended.
At that point, Webb was ready to enter the world of work and figured that her six CSEC pass would land her a permanent job in the public sector. However, things did not go as she had hoped. Instead, the young woman would spend five years trying to find a job. “I was going to interviews back to back since 2017 to 2021 and I was not getting through. It was a lot of go round come round, persons said that they would call me back and never did. It was very stressful, very draining, it took a toll on me and at a point I became very depressed,” she recalled.
Even though during those five years Webb was looking for an “ideal” job in the public sector, thankfully the young woman had her talent and skills to fall back on, hairstyling. “I have always been very passionate about doing hair. When I was little I would watch my older cousin take care of my hair and her hair and I became very passionate about hair-styling because I was in love with the transformation,” Webb explained.
“I started braiding hair from a very tender age of 6. I started braiding my dolls’ hair and then as I got older I started practicing on my four sisters,” she added.
As she got older and better at her craft, the young lady would receive compliments on her hair styles from not only her family, but persons in her community. Eventually, she would start braiding her neighbours’ hair upon requests.
In 2019, after becoming confident enough in her braiding skills and receiving encouragement from family and friends, Webb began braiding hair in the living room of her house and charging persons for her services. “I had to figure out a way of getting an income because I realised that employment was an issue in the Linden community and I am getting older and I need to secure my future. So that is when I began charging persons to style their hair,” she noted.
Determined to improve her skills even more, Webb joined a four-month cosmetology programme in January of this year that was conducted by the Board of Industry Training in Linden. The programme was facilitated by veteran cosmetologist, Fnita Small.
“The programme was very nice, the teachers were great, I had an awesome experience and I learnt a lot. It was timely because I always wanted to do a course that would help me better my craft or talent,” Webb said.
Upon completing the course, the young woman who was determined to be independent and to secure her future, figured it was time to expand her business by going from providing home services to renting an actual salon.
Webb officially launched her business, Boss Inc. Beauty Salon on her birthday, June 12, 2021. Boss Inc. Beauty Salon is located at the Toucan Mall on Toucan Drive, Amelia’s Ward Linden.
“I moved from providing home service to having my own location because I found that providing service at my home was not that comfortable for my clients and myself,” the 23-year-old explained.
Services offered at the solon include hair-colouring, relaxing, perming, braiding, facials, pedicure and manicure, among others. Webb is also well known for her specialty, the faux locs which is a trending hair style. The salon accepts clients who make appointments and walk-in clients.
Webb told this newspaper that since the official launch of her business, she has been getting a great amount of support from the community and her clientele is increasing.
Beside Boss Inc. Beauty Salon, Webb is also the co-owner of BossesCouture592 which is an online boutique that does preorders of the latest fashion of clothing, shoes, accessories, and bags, among others.
The young woman’s advice to youths who may be facing similar challenges in acquiring employment is to “make money from your passion”.
“My advice to youths who are facing a similar situation as me is to find something that you are passionate about and figure out a way to make an income off of it…There are many scriptures in the bible that would tell you to use your skills you were blessed with so find your skill and use it make a living,” the entrepreneur posited.
Webb’s hope for the future is to obtain a land and build her very own salon and boutique where she would not only expand her business but she would also be able to provide employment to other youths.
She said, “I want to build my own salon and boutique in the future to cater for youths who faced or is facing the same situation that I did, for youths having a hard time finding employment in the community”.
Persons interested in contacting Owner of Boss Inc. Beauty Salon, Jewel Webb can call 592 6990199 or message her on Instagram at ‘i.amjewel’ and ‘guyaneseboss_’.
