06Dec
On: December 6, 2021

We are pleased to highlight another amazing local business, Noir Essence Salon, Originally opened in May of 2020, Noir Essence Salon is a #blackowned business that was a labor of love for Owner and operator Kareen Williams.  As you can imagine, opening a business in the COVID era is a daunting task, however Kareen and her amazing team of family, friends, contractors, plumbers and electricians were able to persevere through all of the ups and downs of opening a small business.  

They invested a lot of time and money into redesigning the space and making it their own. They removed what used to be an old office and replaced it with washing stations. This reinvention made what once was a small cramped space into a much bigger space for clients and stylists.  Friends would often come in on off days or right after work to help.  To this day Kareen is “blown away by the level of support that i have received, i’m just grateful to my community for helping me.”  Kareen added  “ No one can open a business on their own, you need that support system.”  

At Noir essence salon, they pride themselves on providing their clients with the best service possible, in a comfortable environment where you can unwind and relax while being serviced by stylists that have years of experience in the industry.   

They offer many services, including Washes, Blow Drying, Coloring, locs Extensions, Wash, Twist and Style.  Press and curl and as of recently they have been working with wigs and weave installations. In the near future Noir Essence Salon hopes to expand their services to include facials, lash extensions and eyebrow waxing.

At Noir Essence Salon they are respectable to everyone and treat everyone as a paying customer. 

Coming from a background at the Toni and Guy Hairdressing academy, it’s important for Kareen to create opportunities for students graduating from the academy.  Kareen credits all the ladies fostering an environment where staff empower each other and help each other grow, Kareen added “ We have a group of ladies here that share and learn from each other”  and throughout the whole process the “Ladies and staff have become like family,”

Would you like to be a part of this great team, great news!! Noir Essence salon is hiring.  They are looking to hire an additional Stylist, Barber & an assistant.  They only require that interested applicants either be enrolled in cosmetology school OR have a cosmetology license.  All interested applicants should send their information to noiressencesalon@gmail.com.

Noir Essence salon is located at 1741 Dorchester avenue Boston Ma, 02124 and they are open Tuesday- Saturday  from 10am-8pm.  We strongly encourage you to check them out & #shoplocal #shopsmall #shopashmont and support a great #blackownedbuisness that is quickly becoming a stand out in the Community. 

 

More about the Owner:

Allow us to introduce you to Kareen Williams, owner and operator of Noir Essence Salon located at 1741 Dorchester avenue Boston Ma, 02124.  Kareen’s story is a great example of why we began this series spotlighting local business and nonprofits in Ashmont.  Born in Jamaica, Kareen moved to Florida with her father in 87,  In the early 90’s she moved to boston and has been living in massachusetts ever since.  She spent the formative years of her life at the Argyle Terrace near Saint Marks, she recalled having to walk to Mattapan Square to go to school.  Her ties to the area run deep, so when she was presented with the opportunity to open a small business in the city in which she grew up she jumped at the opportunity.

Prior to opening Noir Essence Salon Karen worked as a financial coordinator , a job in which she thrived for over 15 years.  She started out working at the New England Institute of Art in Brookline, after they closed Kareen would go on to get her real estate license and work in real estate part time for a year.  Kareen would go on to work as a Financial Aid Coordinator at Toni  & Guys Hair Academy,  For Kareen “It was a fun challenge” she added  “it was what she knew, but it was a different environment.”  For those of you who know Kareen personally, she is not one to shy away from a challenge.  One day Andre Pires, a friend and former owner of Perfect Cuts, a small business in Dorchester presented Kareen with the opportunity to take over the regions of perfect cuts which had been a staple of the community for over 20 years. She’s also grateful to another small business owner Kanessa, owner or Perfect10 Unisex Salon located West Roxbury for all her guidance and expert advice. 

Kareen viewed this as a great opportunity to keep small businesses open and employee graduates right out of school so they can get their feet wet. She already knew how to run a business and her experience at Toni & Guy gave her the confidence and motivation to open a salon.  Kareen, along with the help of her community and with the totalidge of Andre began her journey as a Salon Owner and operator. 

Kareen credits her good friend Kris  a contractor, who knows a little about everything for helping with completely redesigning the salon.  Kareen added “ He called everyone, Plumbers Electricians and got the work done.”She has a large and strong community that helped her open and to this day encourage her to achieve bigger and better things.

Noir Essence salon officially opened in May of 2020, since opening Kareen has invested her time and energy into the business in order to see it succeed and flourish. She also wants to create an atmosphere of empowerment. She encourages her staff to learn as much about the business as they can, and consider getting their Barbering License to be able to provide additional service

Kareen has big plans for the future. She is about to start school to get her cosmetology license. She wants to dive deep into the work and learn as much as she can to keep the business in line with the latest innovations and technology being used in the field.  She wants to start her own Hairdressing academy where she has qualified instructors  teach students more about Natural Hair and different styling practices that aren’t necessarily taught currently in school.  Since she worked for a hairdressing academy she has seen first hand the demand for new students and Kareen wants to do everything she can to empower graduates with opportunities to better themselves in a very competitive industry.

She also plans on opening the first all female barbershop in Dorchester, she loves to mentor new stylists in both the front and back end aspects of the work. She is a highly motivated and driven person and that rubs off on everyone she meets.  She continually puts other people ahead of herself and strives to be a role model to her colleagues, employees and family.  As the first person in the family to open her own business Kareen is grateful to her family, and friends for supporting her throughout this journey and for being there for her.

She has instilled the same work ethics into her children which for Kareen “ all of the hard work is for the kids and their futures”  Her oldest daughter Tatyana is begging to do hair at home and considering following in her mom’s footsteps.  Kalia, her youngest always asks her ”what’s next for you”  From a young age she has reiterated to them that in life you need to have a backup plan, and through her example showed them that they can truly achieve anything they want in life as long as they commit themselves to the work.