Meet Tiera Bates | Loc Specialist

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

Hi Tiera, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
When I first started my business, I put all of my effort into it, I was in the shop 7 days a week and it really affected time with my family and time for myself.

I really had to learn how to put up boundaries and actually enforce them, so I could take better care of myself and make more time for the things that the most important to me. It took me a couple years, but I finally learned that it was okay to say no sometimes and I wouldn’t lose a lot business because of it.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
LushLocs has a motto, “Trust The Journey”, and that doesn’t just apply to my clients and their loc journeys- I take that upon myself as well. Starting this business wasn’t always easy- I had to make some tough decisions and learn how to enforce my boundaries. I really had to sit back and look at what I was trying to build on a bigger scale and understand that not everyone else will see it the same way I do.

In the beginning, I was so worried about not fitting into societies norm of what they would expect someone who styles locs should look like or be – and there were a few times I lost business because of that. But, I never gave up because I knew this was something I really excelled at and wanted to continue with, plus Coach Donnie wouldn’t let me think otherwise. He saw something at that time, that I couldn’t. With his encouragement- I started to research everything loc related as much as I could and reached out to the master locticians of the world- to make sure I was someone who not only knew how to twist and style, but someone who was educated when it came to healthy hair choices and could take that back to my clients..

I started slowly, with one or two friends every few weeks, washing their hair in my kitchen sink and retwisting their locs on the bench of my dining room table. But in 2020, my friend Shaq, threw out an idea that catapulted LushLocs on a whole new path. She said “TT, what about CoachJeff’s shop?” and that’s when the self doubt tried to set in – Was I good enough for a shop? Would people even come to me so I could pay booth rent? How will this work!? I swallowed my fear and reached out to CoachJeff. Without any hesitation, he put me in a booth, told me had faith in me and sent me on my new journey.

From that point on, I always wanted to be in the shop. I loved being in that environment and because I loved what I did and it showed in my work, I started to get more and more clients. I started to become fully booked and I felt so blessed. I was able to move up from just a booth in a shop to an actual suite and words can’t even describe the amount of pride I feel in my soul for this business. Sometimes, I just sit in my suite and just really take in what I built. It is an amazing feeling.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would absolutely have to plan the following:
-Go for a weekend camping trip
-Kayaking on a lake nearby
-Tubing down Fraser Hill (if there is enough snow)
-Brunch at the Viewhouse Centennial .
-Attend a Rockies game.
-Sushi downtown

There is so much do to in Denver!

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?
First and foremost- I need to thank my wife, my son, my niece & my family for always being so supportive!!

Coach Jeff & Coach Donnie for always pushing me to better myself as a business owner and always being there when I called.

Lastly- the biggest thank you will always be to every single person who allowed me the opportunity to put my hands in their heads and helped me grow in my craft to become the Loc Specialist I am today!

Instagram: _lushlocs

Image Credits
Sable Bates
Chris Carrillo-Ray
LaShica Young