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Krystal and Keila Cummings are sisters and co-owners of permanent makeup studio Browstress in Brooklyn, New York. At Browstress, the entrepreneurial duo offers a number of services including eyebrow microblading, scalp microblading, scalp micropigmentation and nano blading. Microblading essentially creates the illusion of hair strokes — it’s similar to a tattoo, but not exactly the same.
The Cummings sisters first took an interest in microblading when their aunt was diagnosed with cancer. They wanted to find a way to help her through the difficult experience of losing her hair. Although the women regret that they did not get to perform their skills on their aunt, they’ve taken a tremendous amount of joy in helping other women who are recovering from cancer or struggling with Alopecia.
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Before opening Browstress, both Krystal and Keila were 9-1-1 operators and as a child, Krystal wanted to be a doctor — a desire to help people has always motivated these two. They say they still get to feed that instinct at Browstress because they get to be intimate with their clients.
“Some of our sessions are like therapy sessions,” says Krystal. Their clients often share the ups and downs of their lives, as well as what the sisters call their “brow story” — which is the story of why they need microblading. Over-waxing and over-tweezing are common issues that come up.
Krystal and Keila enjoy working together and say they’ve always made great business partners, stepping in when necessary to help the other. They have a motto they live by:
“Never get too fancy. Always stay humble. Always stay hungry. And never think you’re above anyone or anything.”
The studio owners have sage advice to impart on other young entrepreneurs looking to strike out on their own:
Keila says, “Don’t rush into anything without doing all your research … figure out if you really love it … if the passion isn’t there, you most likely won’t succeed.”
Krystal recommends writing your goals down so you can actually see them on paper and touch them.
—And then, she says, “Execute.”
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