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Today, she’s still calling the shots, while balancing college courses and overseeing a second beauty business.
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A few months after I was born, my mom opened up her first salon.
I wasn’t even a year old and I was there every day.
As soon as I could wipe down a salon chair, I was wiping down salon chairs.
Cassie Basford
I cleaned barber tools and swept up.
Then I became a shampoo girl.
That was all before I was 10.
Cassie Basford
Everybody used to say I would take over my mom’s store when I got older.
But I said, “No, I want to be a doctor.”
I never thought of [the salon] for myself at all.
And since I was coloring the wigs, I learned how to install them.
That’s when I started taking clients.
At the same time, I had dual enrollment I was going to high school and taking college courses.
When we reopened after quarantine, I also started doing nails.
I had no bills to pay.
She knew how much money I had saved [so she asked me].
I had no doubts, no hesitation.
I looked at the shelves and said, “I’m a Black woman.
I live in a Black community.
Why do I have to travel for what I need?”
I made [the store] more accessible for the people that I knew were going to walk in.
I also made it accessible to people that probably hadn’t even been in before.
I wanted to create a space that everyone can be welcomed into without being judged.
You have the opportunity to stand there for an hour if you want and find what works for you.
Where am I going to find alash tech?
Yes, [my businesses] are my passion.
But what’s in my heart is to be a doctor.
I’m interested in orthopedic pediatric surgery.
I know the importance of what I’m doing.
I still can’t believe how far [my story] went; how far it’s taken me.
And that’s why, five years from now, I don’t know what I can imagine.
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