Today we’d like to introduce you to Kanisha Tillman.
Hi Kanisha, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was raised in Atlanta, Ga, in the West End to be exact, but traveled across town to school via Marta. Those hours on the bus and the train gave me a window into various walks of life and a lot of freedom. By 14 I was interning at Moving in The Spirit Dance Company as a Lighting and Sound Tech. I fell in love with being backstage, and the creativity that was on full display. I decided early on that corporate life, nor being a bum was the path for me. On the trains, I saw creatives, and travelers who seemed to be full of life. I wanted that!
By 23 I was pregnant with my son and the doctors told me I could not keep working as a stage tech. I was LOST! I had less than 9 months to get my life together, so I looked for occupations that were recession proof and required minimal training. Cosmetology and barbering were top of the list. My grandma was a cosmetologist. She had raised a few husbands, the whole tribe of her kids, and a couple of us grandkids on that income. She survived the depression, her children having bouts of polio, abusive husbands, and general poverty from the income she made giving Black women a good hard Press and Curl. Looking at her legacy made me believe I could and would succeed with cosmetology too.
Nobody told me Cosmetology school does not actually prepare you to make money. Insert face palm, ok insert it like three more times because I failed over and over again trying to master this whole parenting and entrepreneurship thing. I ended up homeless… a few times even! I did not give up though. One of my losses became my greatest spring board forward too! I had a storefront salon in Des Moines, Iowa that lasted about year. When it ended, I also lost my house. Cue the depression!! My former clients online started to wonder why I was not in the group I had created, and a local customer let them know I was experiencing a tough time. Folks came out the woodworks to send me letters of encouragement, expressing how much the work I did positively impacted their families, and sending gifts of money. As I transitioned out of the family shelter, back into housing, I found a deeper motivation to keep trying. I saw that the online classes had reached far more families than the salon ever had. Slowly but surely, and with lots of therapy, I found the courage and mental health to completely pursue the online component of Tutus & Tennis Shoes.
Here we are 3 years later with over 600 families currently enrolled in the online course and almost 300 who have finished! These families are a village committed to making proper hair care for their children a priority, even though it differs from their own. From that commitment they also allow themselves to explore and appreciate Black culture, history, and the community. They are building stronger bonds with their children, closing the racial gaps, supporting healthy self confidence, and becoming anti-racist. It is way more than hair care! Back in 2007, I never could have imagined the success and impact I would have from cosmetology! I love every bit of the cycle of struggle and triumphs that come with this entrepreneurial life.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Anybody that says entrepreneurship is smooth or easy, is either exceptionally lucky or a liar. I have overcome homelessness, failures in business, bitter business partnership breakups, mental break, needing to pivot at a moment’s notice, no capital, limited support, and lack of resources. I read you are supposed to fail forward. It was a hard mental lesson to grasp, but it does make the failures palatable.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Tutus & Tennis Shoes?
Tutus & Tennis Shoes is a hair care education company that specializes in teaching white adoptive and foster parents how to take care of their Black kid’s hair. I am known for teaching science based education, and not sugar coating or lying for likes. I love seeing the transformation in parents! I am most proud of the parents who were scared to talk to a Black person, had a Black kid with unhealthy hair, transform to being anti-racist, inclusive, seeking genuine positive relationships with Black people and a great caretaker of their child’s hair. My goal is to get the parent so good at caring for their child’s hair and self-esteem that when the child is in public there is no embarrassing tell tale signs the child is adopted by white parents. Believe it or not, a Black child with healthy hair in a transracial family is actually a subconscious sign to many Black folks that this family is a safe one to embrace in their social circle. The child thrives the best with a supportive village around them that includes ethnic mirrors.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I see a lot of new entrepreneurs who are disappointed when their friends don’t purchase their products or book their services. To be honest, I was too! Then it dawned on me my friends supported me in other ways. I had friends who mentioned my name in rooms that held my next opportunity, who helped me with a car and rent in a new city, who shared the businesses posts, or connected me with the education I needed for the next step in business, and the ones who didn’t judge me for crying after the failures. Strangers turned into friends. No one action is more important than the other. They all added up to the support I needed.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: tutustennisshoes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tutus_tennis_shoes/
