Meet Nicolle Talley | Cosmetologist and a Keratin Complex National Educator & Platform Artist

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

Hi Nicolle, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
When covid hit in 2020, I was put in a situation where I had to choose to either be demoted from a corporate salon manager position, to an employee hairstylist or become an independent hairstylist and lease an individual suite. I only had 2 1/2 months to make this decision and I decided to take a risk and become a business of one, salon owner. In November of 2020, I opened De’Von Emages Hair Salon, knowing I had the knowledge and the skill set to open a salon and make my dreams come true. Even though I had many friends and family telling me I would not make it, I chose to listen to my Lord and Savior and have Him guide me through the process. This is when my life would completely change for the better and I am not looking back!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a cosmetologist that specializing in health hair and scalp. I service my customers with products that keep the scalp and hair healthy and the hair strong. I have been a National Educator with the number one smoothing brand in the beauty industry. Keratin Complex has the only bio-identical keratin to the human head, which rebuilds and restores keratin to ensure my customers have the healthiest and strongest hair always. I have gone through many ups and downs in my career, because I was trying to figure out my life instead of me following the path the Lord has already laid out for me. When I started to listen and follow His lead my career started to turn around. I opened up De’Von Emages in 2 1/2 months and have been a suite owner for 4 years now. I have learned not to give up and always be persistent when it comes to following the dreams that the Lord has for me. Life will always try and knock you down, but we all have the choice to lay down and let bad things happen or get up and put your “Armor of God” on and continue to let Him fight for you.
I am now in the process of trying to find a grant to help me expand the dream the Lord has for me and give my knowledge and talent back to those entering into the beauty industry. In the next 5 years I will open another 2 locations and continue to educate salon professionals all over the world.
The legacy I want to leave my children, grandchildren and other, is that I am someone who wants everyone to know their own story, not be worried about others stories. We are all here for our own purposes and do not have time to worry about others success or what they are doing or not doing. Keep you eye on your prize not someone else’s.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live close to the city of Detroit. This city is so amazing and fun, that we probably would not be able to fit everything into a week. However, in the summer time Detroit has festivals every weekend, and the Riverwalk was named the best riverwalk in the country in 2024 and it over looks Canada. The Riverwalk is miles long and still being developed. There are concerts on the water every Wednesday night at the “Aretha Franklin Theatre” and “They Say” is a great jazz restaurant to eat and get amazing drink before the concert. We have all national sports teams, The Pistons and the Red Wings at the Little Caesar’s Arena, the Lions at Ford Field, and the Tiger’s at Comerica Stadium. They have many little alleyways that have great boutiques and bars to socialize in and of course the theatres, like the Music Hall, the Opera House, the Fillmore, the Fox Theater. Then you have the casinos, the MGM Casino, the Hollywood Casino, and Motor City Casino. You name it, it’s in Detroit. We had the largest in history NFL Draft in 2024, which brought people from everywhere in the country to visit our amazing city.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I was born in Lexington, Ky, but grew up in Grand Rapids, Mi. where my father was transferred with his job. My father was in sales and I learned a lot by just watching him become one of the most successful salespersons at IBM in the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s. He is the one who encouraged me to go to cosmetology school and make it a career. He was the one who supported me the most when I opened up my first salon in Grand Rapids. He also was there for me when it failed. I then worked for several corporate salons and tried to move up in the corporate salons, which brings up the other person who took over my father’s support after he passed. My husband, whom I met in 2008, after my father passed away in 2007, took over being my support system. My son and I moved across the state of Michigan, where I started my career over after 20+ years. I thought starting over would be pretty easy, since I had grown my clientle before and by working with a corporate salon, that should not be to challenging. However, being in the industry 20+ years, I hadn’t update my skills and knowledge and need to do that first. I ended up becoming a salon manager for a Big Box store and because that was so quick I thought I’d move up in the corporate role. However, that didn’t work out so well. After being stressed out and no longer enjoying my career, covid happened and I had a brand new look on life and my career. I educated myself the entire time we were quarantined and chose to not only become a independent hairstylist, I became an virtual educator with Keratin Complex, and grew into a National Educator and Platform Artist within a year.
A great salon industry book, “Profit First Salons”, by Ronet Inos, I read to keep me grounded and learn how to manage my money. This book gave me information about how I was spending my money and where my money was leaking from my business. I still go back to the book quarterly, to regroup and know that I am on track before the next quarter begins. This is very important to know so you can make a profit and not spend frivolously. This also, helps you manage product usage, so you know exactly how much product per service is need and can charge more accurately.

Website: https://devonemages.glossgenius.com

Instagram: devon_emages

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