Beauty by Alma

Is On A Mission To Make Working Moms Happy

Alma Vences Montes decided to set up her business, and she managed to achieve her dreams and direct her life to where she wanted: to change the lives of her clients.

By Hispanos Emprendedores

Being a worker, a housewife, and a mother can be limiting to achieving some of the goals we dream of, but Alma Bences Montes showed that with determination you can change your life and direct it where you want.

This mother of 4 children managed to start her business in Clarksville, Tennessee under the name of Beauty by Alma and even though she had to overcome some obstacles, today she feels that her efforts paid off.

This was a dream she had since she was a child, “when I went to school sometimes, I saw that the girls had their hair curly or with products, and I was very ignorant, but in High School, I started doing things to my hair, I said I can also and I think that from there my interest was born.”

She started her small business at Lee’s Salon, where she received her clients as an independent hairstylist.

Alma confessed, with the tranquility that characterizes her, that the step to be an entrepreneur was slow, “we were all affected by the time of the Covid, we were in a situation in which we did not know what was going to happen, everything happened so suddenly. During Covid I was working in an accounting office, it was a small company, and these were the most affected.”

During the pandemic, she had been playing with her hair, “every few weeks I had a different color, then we returned to the office and in the middle of the year I said I am going to find out how to get certified, I sent an email and after five minutes they called me and said when do you want to start? All this I did in half an hour. I called my husband out of the blue and told him I need your support; it was all super-fast.”

Despite the fear she felt of entering the world of entrepreneurship because she did not know what was going to happen and nothing was certain, she felt the support of the people close to her, “I have a good friend who motivated me, she told me that it is never too late to start, she gave me so much encouragement.”

Alma did not want her children to think that she was abandoning them, “you feel selfish, but in the end, you do it for them. I worked in the office, and in the afternoons, I would go to school,” she also had the support of her husband, Joel, who took care of the children during her absence, “he has always been there,” she affirmed with the face of satisfaction.

Her preparation was relatively extensive, she had to complete 1,500 hours of training while working full-time, “I had no social life,” she said with a laugh. After passing the 2 exams she obtained her cosmetology license last June with which she can perform hair treatments, waxing, manicures, pedicures, facials, etc.

She admitted that the course was easy and recommends people take it if they intend to go into this area. In August she took a tour to get her business up and running and found what she needed to get started at Lee’s Salon. The owner of the salon, April, “has been my guide” and for this, she is very grateful for helping her overcome the challenges of her start-up as an entrepreneur.

She broke down her own barriers Alma, who takes her time to answer, indicated that in the process of having her business, she had no obstacles, rather she put on the brakes herself, “I was making a good salary and it was difficult to let go of that, to think if I was doing the right thing, if I was selfish for leaving my job, for changing my children’s lives a bit, in addition to the economic burden for my husband, is what has weighed on me the most.”

With absolute conviction, she said that it was worth going through all this transformation, “I decided that if I was going to do this, I couldn’t turn back, I give it my all every day. After arriving home from the salon, I feel satisfied with my work and my clients. I love that they arrive and are just like me, someone who is a mother and doesn’t even have time to comb her hair, they get there, they get away from it all for a bit, and leave beautiful, I love that, changing their lives, even a little.”

When talking about her role as a mother and as an entrepreneur, with a grimace, she expressed how complicated it is and answered, laughing, “I don’t know,” but she explained that now she works 4 or 5 days a week and on days off she does housework, besides her older children are 14 and 12, “they are very responsible, they help me with the children and the house. We are a team; without them, I could not continue in this.” Likewise, she has had the support of her environment, as well as people in the company where she worked, such as María Jiménez who was her boss, “I have my sister-in-law and my friend Gabi who have helped me with the children, I am grateful for them so much.”

Although it was difficult for Alma to list the awards she has for being an entrepreneur, she commented that it satisfies her to work on something she loves, it gives her a lot of pride and satisfaction.

Everything in cosmetology

Although Alma works at Lee’s Salon, she has her own clients and the money generated she keeps. Amid the interruption of one of her youngest children, she asserted, while hugging him, that she offers haircuts for women, men, and children, application of dye (highlights), perms, etc., on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. The salon is located at 2201 Fort Campbell Blvd Suite 200, Clarksville, Tennessee.