We are thrilled to introduce you to yet another amazing Greater Ashmont Small Business, Locticious House of Locs located at 1752 Dorchester Avenue. Officially opening in May of 2020, the first year was a challenging one for Owner and Operator Jennifer Mejia. There were some issues in place from the previous ownership group that caused a delay in her grand opening, just when she was ready to open they faced another setback when restrictions were put in place asking that salons close.
Jennifer did not let these setbacks deter her, she used the time to completely revamp and redo the shop, installing all new chairs, equipment, drying stations, washing stations and a brand new bathroom was installed. Since he was a new business, she had the advantage of being able to design the shop to fit within the restrictions that were in place at the time. They altered the layout to accommodate distance requirements in place at the time. Everything is spaced out, the drying and washing stations are 6ft apart and she is 6ft away from Emmanuel Her in shop Barber who provides discounted services to seniors and teens on “teen tuesdays” so too all the fellas out there, this is a one stop shop for you. Walk out with your locs on point and a fresh lineup, done by a barber with over 10 years of experience in the industry. They provide customers with access to masks and gloves and you can’t go more than a few feet without having access to hand sanitizer. At Locticious house of locs their focus is on providing their clients with the best service possibly delivered in a safe manner for the customers and staff.
When designing the salon, Jennifer wanted to be sure to create a welcoming environment that is a reflection of the clientele she has been servicing for over 15 years in Boston. She feels like too often salons are too technically designed, with plain white walls, with little to know design features that represent the community that they serve. So she painted the walls with a more neutral color which amplifies the interior decor of handmade curtains and art pieces that were made in Africa.
They have done what they can to recreate an environment that is almost like being at home, when you walk in you will be greeted with afro beats music, which adds to the sense of peace and tranquility that the salon has developed since their opening. You will be offered a complimentary coffee, tea or hot cocoa. They understand that sometimes in life finding childcare can be difficult so they have set up an area for kids where they can draw, read a book or play a game on their xbox. They even offer complimentary snacks to their clients.
As a minority run business, Locticious house of locs uses products made by black owned companies, not only to further support their communities but also because the products are better suited for locs then more generic supplies. They also make their own, handmade all natural products including detox powders, african black soap, body butter, eyelash and lip serum and detox shampoos.
As the name implies, they focus on any and everything locs related, they offer many services including full and half head retwist styling, loc trimming, coloring, detoxing, hot oil conditioning treatments and loc extensions to name a few. They also have recently hired an expert in eye lashes, Chelsea offers a long list of services including eyelash extensions, removal, lift and tinting as well as eyebrow tinting to name a few. They are currently running a cool promotion where if you have one of their cards stamped 5 times you can get free detoxing treatment and hot oil.
Locticious House of Locs is HIRING!!! They are looking to add a Braider to their team, any interested applicant need only have a cosmetology license. You can reach out to them via email locticious_jennycoco@yahoo.com with your materials. They are also willing to train new hires
They are Open from 10am-9:30pm Tuesday-Saturday and are an appointment only salon, each client is reserved a 2.5 hour window where they will be catered to and have their hair come out exactly how they want it. Too Book your appointment and finding out more about the services they provide click here
https://booksy.com/en-us/613586_locticious-house-of-locs_hair-salon_22412_boston
A bit About the owner Jennifer Mejia
Throughout this series I have met so many amazing people and acquired a great appreciation for the community. Jennifer Mejia Owner and operator of Locticious house of locs, is another small business owner in the community with an amazing story, one filled with many ups and downs.
Born in Chicago, Jennifer was raised in foster care, she was placed in over 60 different homes during her time in foster care. Although none of the placements would work out she did take life lessons from each place that has helped shape and build her character and drive to achieve bigger and better things. Jennifer has always been a go getter, her first job came at the ripe age of 14, education has always been a driving force in her life, at the time children in foster care were told they could go to school for free until 25” but when she told the administration that she wanted to go to cosmetology school “ The city didn’t want to cover it” so Jennifer had to pay her own way.
At the age of 18 Jennifer was signed out of DCFS with nothing to her name, she managed to get by working several jobs including working in the medical field in hospice care. All while attending school. In 2010 Jennifer moved to Boston, starting out in Chelsea before moving to Dorchester in 2014. When she first moved here she was told that she would not be able to transfer her cosmetology license, so she put cosomolty on hold and focused on her work in the medical field.
Jennifer didn’t enjoy her time working in the medical field, she added “ it’s not easy raising a family of 5 kids, on the pay that I was getting from the hospital” She added “ I didn’t love what i was doing, getting up every morning to do something you are note thrilled with is not for me” She was working with older generations and would occasionally work with patients that were at best unappreciative of the services she was providing and at worst flat out racist towards her.
So in 2013 she decided to go back to school to get her cosmetology license for Boston, after graduating from school she would go on to working part time at JJ Natural Hair Salon, it was here at JJ’s that Jennifer met a fellow Stylist by the name of Dominique who was Jennifer’s first mentor in the field. Dominique taught Jennifer he in’s and out’s of running a Salon. Jennifer was in charge of scheduling clients and managing stylist appointment schedules and coordinated their grand opening.
While working at JJ’s, Jennifer would get recruited to work part time at another Salon in roslindale called Mike Locs and Braids, this is where she took the next step in her Career. She was essentially the manager, opening and closing the shop, ordering supplies, managing inventory and even writing checks on top of her work as a stylist at the shop. She was seeing what it costs to run a salon. She got to the point where she realized she could afford to open her own shop. She knew how much gas, electric and rent was and she felt confident that given her experience running Mike Locs and Braids and her large clientele base that opening her own salon was possible. Jennifer credits Mike for giving her the opportunity to take on new challenges and views him as a mentor. Jennifer has brought all of her experiences into her own shop.
As a single mother of 5 children, (4 girls and 1 boy) it’s important to Jennifer that her children see that no matter what obstacles life may throw in your way, you can truly achieve anything you want in life. She has shown them how to achieve on their own independently and to her pleasure they have shown an interest in helping them with the business. Her kids see her as a single parent as one person doing everything on her own and by hand Jennifer added “ I did everything by hand, it was me, my kids, my roommate home depot and youtube”.
Prior to COVID Jennifer was teaching and providing free services at the Bridge Boston Charter School, she found it very rewarding and wanted to give back to the community that has supported her over the years in any way she can. In the Past she sponsored little league baseball teams and wants to do that again in Dorchester.
Whether it be helping with cleaning the salon, doing laundry or even carrying a dryer from their home on Melbourne st to the salon. The Ultimate goal is to open up 4 salons and to have them all managed and run by her family, one for each kid to manage. Jennifer’s never say never mentality, work ethic and focus on being a strong single parent role model to her 5 children makes Jennifer’s story truly incredible. We are thrilled to have a community full of amazing people like Jennifer!!
