XO Beauty Effect is growing rapidly and expanding with multiple locations. The goal is to provide clients with convenient and accessible beauty services by beauty experts trained personally by the owner Hannah Vereen. This ensures that the services provided are top tier in quality in both the service providers and the products used for services at XO Beauty Effect.
Heart of Hollywood Magazine obtained an exclusive interview with Hannah to get to learn more about her and her path to becoming a beauty industry mogul.
Where did you grow up and how was your childhood?
I can say I grew up in Palm Beach County, I was in a few areas. I wasn’t always the perfect child; I can admit to that. I often deviated from the “norm” or what was expected. I was ready to be in control of my own life because I knew deep down, I was a hard worker and if I worked hard I could get and accomplish whatever I wanted quickly. I can also admit that I don’t listen even till this day. I dislike the feeling of being trapped in a box because I dream very big and I’m blessed to be in a position to take risks. If I have a business idea, everyone can say no but if I say yes its possible, I’m going to do it the next day. Having this mindset made me extremely successful at a young age.
What would your younger self say to the woman that you are today?
Honestly, I feel as though my younger self wouldn’t know what to say to the woman that I am today. Entrepreneurship has completely changed who I am and continues to transform me as a person and business owner. Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely proud of the woman that I became but it wasn’t easy and it didn’t happen overnight. I really believe in the saying “you grow through what you go through”. I needed to go through a series of character developers as I would call it to become as resilient as I am now. In early entrepreneurship stages, it’s easy to overly question “why, why me, why did this happen”. Over time, it changes to “what is this trying to teach me or what should I implement to produce a different outcome”.
Did you always know that you wanted to be a business owner or was there ever any other profession you wanted to obtain?
No, I didn’t know that I would be a business owner at all. My profession at the time was advancing in the healthcare field and I tried to hold on as long as I could. After a while, juggling the two became extremely draining and what started off as me providing lash extension services noticeably outweighed what I thought at the time was my dream. It was heartbreaking at the time, especially because people would wonder why I would leave a career for something that was once seen as a “side hustle” to others. It felt like I was going through grief. I was extremely closed off for a while. I knew that I was becoming successful because I had physically seen it daily, of course, I was making the deposits. From people that seen it from the outside, it seemed as though I was wasting time and I would downplay my accomplishments a lot.
What are the three qualities you feel an entrepreneur must have?
The first three that immediately came to mind are the ability to multitask and show empathy, and passion. Now anyone can give you something standard based on how entrepreneurship is portrayed by the successful like good work ethic, eagerness to learn, and be motivated. The reality is, that entrepreneurship is far from perfect! It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme or the end of a struggling road. It is actually the beginning and this is often a big eye opener.
Multitasking is an important quality to have. Being an entrepreneur, you are guaranteed to wear many hats no matter what. Being able to multitask allows you to accomplish tasks that come out of nowhere which is very common. Being busy, it’s easy to drown in all the tasks that you put aside due to the inability to multitask. Showing empathy is a needed quality as well because you are no longer dealing with your actions affecting yourself but you’re now dealing with your actions affecting employees, clients, and their families. This is a characteristic quality that big companies lack tremendously which leads me to the last quality, passion. you HAVE to be passionate in the field that you develop a business in because running a business, in general, gets very expensive. As a business owner, you have to be prepared to take losses, work for free oftentimes with no pay at all, and risk it all for the bigger picture. I myself pay for a lot of our client’s services for different circumstances. Even though it is an additional loss, I myself don’t count it as a loss because my bigger picture is giving clients a great experience to an attainable extent.
Who are some people in your profession that you are inspired by?
Right now, I’m inspired by anyone that has a business in any industry that is successful. Before, I was only inspired by people in my industry. Over time, things changed for me. I’m also inspired by anyone who is working on themselves. The self-care journey of others is extremely inspirational for me.
Where do you see your business in 10 years? How do you plan to get there?
In 10 years, I see my business continuing to make a huge impact on the beauty industry. Several locations for XO Beauty are inevitable at this point. I’ve mastered my business blueprint so well that I now feel extremely comfortable in duplicating it. I know what is coming and I now know how to handle it confidently. My numbers are immaculate. I now feel as though I completed the foundation stage. I plan to get there by continuing to strive to develop myself as a person and a business owner.
Any shoutouts you would like to give?
I would like to give a shoutout to everyone that has ever been a part of and or supported my business as a whole. Literally EVERYONE. We rarely get to see businesses at their startup stage develop. It’s been a process and is still in the need of improvement which I feel like an improvement will always be my goal no matter what. I just wholeheartedly appreciate everyone for believing and supporting me as an entrepreneur so far. Mentally it’s a challenge but seeing and hearing the encouragement helps so much.
I also thank God for putting me in this position because oftentimes I have to sit down and take it all in, sometimes it’s unbelievable especially if you knew me before I became an entrepreneur.
Learn more by visiting https://www.xobeautyeffect.com/
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Photo Credit: @avalonfotography
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