Inspirational Woman: Aaisha Knights | Founder & CEO of Dream Tresses - WeAreTheCity | Information, Networking, news, jobs & events for women

I currently work in one of the Big 4 Accountancy firms as a HR Advisor within Diversity and Inclusion, an area which I am very passionate about. I also happen to be very passionate about all things hair and decided to take the plunge in October 2013 to set up Dream Tresses, a luxury hair extensions brand.

The idea of Dream Tresses is to make the business of acquiring high quality bespoke hair extensions customised for each individual’s needs. I have been a mobile hairstylist for over 11 years and of course install my own extensions. The drive to create my own start up came from listening to my clients; they would consistently ask me the same two questions;

Where did you get your hair (extensions) from?
Why can’t you supply them for me?

It then occurred to me that there was a gap in the market for a hair extensions brand that was targeted to the busy professional woman, who wants her hair to look fabulous as well as realistic. Exact colour and texture matching for clients comes as a standard; so does a worry free quality guarantee.

Our clients are mostly university undergraduates and professional young women who are on the pulse of hair and beauty trends. At Dream Tresses there is the option to have an initial consultation over coffee, Skype, telephone and/or email. The personal touch is very important since clients place their trust in me as a stylist to suggest what texture/style would suit them best. From Afro Kinky Curls to Russian Straight hair, Dream Tresses has it all and caters to women from all backgrounds.

A very wise and dear person to me encouraged me to spread my wings and fly. And I am flying at last.

What has been your biggest challenge?

My biggest challenges so far are two-fold. Firstly, becoming a business owner is a full-time job in itself; balancing my very busy day job with this second career leaves me with less time so I have to be a lot stricter with my schedule. Secondly, In terms of family and friends, I’ve had to spend less time with them during this start up phase, however, once everything is fully set up I envisage having more control over my schedule.

What’s been your greatest achievement personally?

I would say that just having the courage to be me, whatever that might mean to other people and their perceptions of me. I am essentially a late bloomer having held myself back in terms of my ambition and creative talent because there was time that I really cared about what opinions others might have about my decisions. A very wise and dear person to me encouraged me to spread my wings and fly. And I am flying at last.

If you weren’t doing what you do what would you be doing?

I would be ruling the world. No really I would be (laughs).

Who has been your biggest inspiration?

There isn’t one person I’m afraid – as a very creative individual I get inspired by many people and many things, from public figures to people that I know personally. In summary though, from a very young age my mother inspired me by being brave enough to leave a potentially dangerous living situation instead of remaining a victim of abuse. Another inspiration is a very close friend of mine who also survived spousal abuse and is now standing strong on her own. I don’t think enough can be said to express the disgrace of violence against women (physical, emotional and physiological forms). We need to teach our girls much younger how to look out for the signs of abusers and how to break the wheel of control and violence that usually happens in these situations. Statistics suggest that 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime and 2 women a week are killed by their male partners in the UK.

What does the future hold for you?

There are lots of exciting things coming up for Dream Tresses including the long-awaited launch of our website and presence at some of this year’s hottest hair and beauty conferences. To name a few, we will be exhibiting on 24^th May at the Curlvolution “Love and Learn Your Hair” seminar hosted by YouTube personality Taren Guy. In the mean time check us out via the social media links below, leave your comments and of course drop us a line!