We had the good fortune of connecting with Cassie Cunningham and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cassie, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
Risk to me is a breaker deal. The way I think of risk is a win or lose situation. Risk can be unrealistic or a fear factor to most people. In life you have to take risks (my sole opinion) to a certain degree; taking risks can determine what you believe in that can benefit you in the long run. Also by taking risk, depending on your risk factors, it builds your confidence and determination on succeeding whatever you desire to fulfill. One risk that I took upon myself is quitting my 9-5 job to further my graduate degree and worked as a freelance stylist while attending school. As a regular employee, I worked and looked forward to my earnings every two weeks. As a freelance stylist my earnings wasn’t guaranteed. Some days I would be booked and other days I wouldn’t. However, by promoting myself through social media platforms, business cards, flyers, and through word of mouth, I was able to work as a freelance stylist for about 3 years. The risk I took was well worth it, I was able to brand myself and earn the earnings that was compensated to me.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a Licensed Professional Hair Stylist. Hair is my passion and executing different hairstyles to my clients is what I do best. I specialize in braids and plaits; I’m best known for my plaits/braids. As a professional businesswoman, I’m most proud of how I’ve grown and the number of years I’ve been in the hair industry. I’ve been doing hair for about 20 years now, and admire it still to this day. What sets me apart from other stylists is that I engage with my clients and get to know them by building a rapport. Although my clients come to me to provide them with my different styles of services, I treat them all the same. Some of my clients have turned into good friends of mine. As a growing hairstylist, it wasn’t an easy road. I had to build my clientele from starch. I used social media platforms to advertise my craft, created flyers and business cards just to spread my business around town. Although there are many hairstylist out there, I’ve learned to stand out and make myself known. I’ve learned that you definitely can’t please everybody, but great customer/client service is the key to stand out from other stylist. What I want the world to know about my brand is that I love what I do, being a hairstylist is my prized crafted to make individuals I service look and feel good!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m a foodie and eating out is the most happiest times that I enjoy, lol! If my best friend was in town, I would refer going to Big City Tavern, Royal Pig Pub & Kitchen, and Foxy Brown located at downtown Los Olas in Ft. Lauderdale for a nice brunch. If you enjoy a good bowl of ramen and sushi (like myself), I would totally refer going to GO Bistro located in Hollywood, FL or GoBistro Wynwood located in Miami, FL. Oh and the food trucks down in Hollywood, FL are amazing also for a quick snack, drink, and hang out spot. The WHARF, located in downtown Ft. Lauderdale, is another place to hang out for a couples hours to socialize, eat, drink, dance and enjoy the day out. For a nice dinner, I would suggest GiGi’s, its on the water shores located in Hollywood, FL.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband Raul has been my biggest cheerleader in everything I do. While attending graduate school, Raul supported me every step of the way when I decided to quit my 9-5 job as I wanted to focus mainly on school and working as a freelance licensed hair stylist. Raul has encouraged my risk taking ideas as well as my out of the normal usual routine lifestyle to my new mindset prospective and risking thinking.

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