Today we’d like to introduce you to Leslie Cooper.
Hi Leslie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My name is Leslie I currently Run two businesses. The first one I opened in 2019 is Sassy Sunflower Special Events. The second one is Souleigh Beauty and Braids opened in 2020 but closed due to Covid and a new baby and I just relaunched it on march 4th of this year.
I have always had a knack for creativity. I spent endless hours with my grandmother watching and following her around as she planned weddings, designed events, and even large-scale fundraisers for our family’s church. I absolutely loved helping her watching her and taking in as much as she could.
As I grew older her passion grew with her. I decorated and planned events for friends and family as well as functions at school. My grandmother began taking it easy and not doing as much as she did before and that’s when she knew it was time to venture off on her own in February of 2019 and that’s when Sassy Sunflower Special Events was born in St. Louis.
Alongside event planning, I also grew up watching my mom do hair. she is a licensed cosmetologist. When I was younger I learned to do my own hair and as I got older my favorite style to do on my own was different kinds of braids and styles like crochets or sews that were easy and fun to do.
I started to explore the many facets of the beauty industry and discovered lashing and also decided to take a second look at doing braids and then decided to take the leap of faith again and relaunch my beauty enhancement business which is Souleigh Beauty and Braids. I offer lash extensions and I am starting off with knotless braids I plan to offer more styles in a few months.
I am currently building my inventory and trying to figure out how to make the best use of my social media accounts to help grow my business when it comes to sassy sunflower special events. I also recently added a new service which is growing in popularity with my clients which is luxe style picnics.
I just opened my beauty suite on March 26 and I am located inside of Tt Does It All LLC. I could no longer lash in my home so I decided to take this leap of faith and I am literally learning as I go with this one.
lastly. How did I get here… honestly, it is my husband and faith. He’s had my back and has done literally whatever to help me on this crazy journey that is entrepreneurship.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road. I have had to juggle jobs because I lacked the capital to get these businesses up and running. Honestly, I’m still struggling with this but I do what I have to do in these instances where I really need something.
I have been an undergrad since 2013 and I am literally fighting with everything I have to finish and figure out how to pay for it and balance everything I have going on at the same time.
I was blessed with a beautiful rainbow in October 2019 & being a first-time mom and first-time business owner played a huge role in how I have structured my businesses and making sure I find a way to again balance so I can make sure I’m still being what I think is a great mom
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a special event and wedding planner. I am a lash artist and Braider.
I am actually most proud of the fact that no matter what I have kept sassy sunflower going and have not given up because the industry is growing and imposter syndrome is very real. But I am still here and people are still supporting me. I really take pride in being a more small “boutique-style event planning company because I can really work on giving every single customer their own customized and personalized experience with their wedding or event.
As far as the beauty business goes I’m very proud of the suite that I just opened and how it looks. I really put a lot into it to make sure my clients have an all-around good experience when they come for their service.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I feel that since the event industry has grown so much in the last few years and they have way more details and so many more elements than they used to I feel like there are going to be many more event management systems popping up. I also hope they do because a lot of the systems out there are hard to use or very limited in the things you can do for them.
I think the girls are going to the girl and the lash and braid industry is going to keep on growing and I don’t think it is going to slow down anytime soon.
Contact Info:
- Email: lesliec@sassysunflowerevents.com and souleighbeauty@gmail.com
- Website: www.sassysunflowerevents.com and souleighbeauty.as.me
- Instagram: @souleighbeauty/@sassysunflowerevents
