Introducing some of the newest Sisterlocks Consultant Trainees!

I had the absolute best time at the Consultant Training class. I met some amazing women and learned a great wealth of knowledge. We got to speak with Dr. Cornwell over the phone which was a nice treat. This picture is from our third day of class. That's me with the blue scarf in the back with my head peeking up!

At the end of day four, we had the pleasure of being shown some styles for locked hair. Check out these beautiful Sisterlocks in a pretty style. My classmates nicknamed me "mega locks" because of "my massive amount of hair". It was funny. I wore my hair down one day and everyone asked if they could play in it. Our live models didn't show up so we had to volunteer as models. Everyone was eyeing my hair for practice, but I had a retightening recently so I had to decline. They were disappointed :-)

The picture below shows the completion of my first 4 rows, yeah for me! I need a lot more practice on my mannequin head, but I'm getting the hang of the technique more and more.

I took this class to learn everything I could to better maintain my hair. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to be certified, but I think I will pursue it now. By the way, for those on the East Coast (and other areas too of course), one of the Master Trainers will be sending out information on having a gathering in our area (possibly Philly) and having Dr. Cornwell join us for a meet and greet. In addition, they are are going to see if they can get approval to possibly have the Sisterlocks Homecoming planned for the East Coast in an upcoming year. No promises yet, but I'm hopeful that they will pull it off. I think this would be great, although I admit I am biased living in MD :-)

I'll be sure to pass along all info I receive!

Sisterlocks Certification, here I come!!!

I did it! I registered for the Sisterlocks Consultant Training program being offered this month. This last experience (see my last two posts below) was the final push i needed to go forward with this. I really need to learn to do this for myself, and be in a position where I can help others in similar situations. I pray that it will be a great experience for me, and should I develop a clientele, that I will be kept humble in remembering what I have been through. Thank you Lord for giving me and courage to press on. Thanks to all of you who encouraged so graciously, and thanks to my husband who never let me quit and helped to find a way to make this financially possible. I can't wait to share about my experience!

Update Part 4

Disclaimer: I am a very positive person who really tries to avoid drama in my life. Lately, it seems that my hair has been involved in one drama story after another. I was hesitant to post this before getting all of the facts straight. I really don't like to speak negatively about people, however, I felt this was important to post so here goes :

My mother/daughter duo charges $85 for the first 3 hours, then $25 an hour afterwards. It takes them a little under 3 hours to finish my hair. When I went for my retightening Monday, i was told that "to be fair, and given the amount of hair that you have, we think the price really should be adjusted". They reasoned that if I was going to one person, it would take at least 6 hours to finish my hair and I would pay much more than $85. While this is true, the reason why I sought them out is because they advertise the fact that there are two of them which will shorten your retightening time. So whether you have 300 locks, 450 locks, or 600 locks, you pay the set price. But, just because I have 680 locks, I should pay more off the top? Wow.....

Well, needless to say, I was blown away. I felt that there was more to this then they were letting on. It turns out that they had a conversation with my previous consultant and found out how much I use to pay when going to her. Based on another conversation I was made privy to, I believe that they used this as a basis to up my price. For the sake of background info, my last consultant charged $85 for the first 3 hours and $15 an hour afterwards. But, she wanted to split my appointments into two days at $85 the first day and $25 an hour the second day which would have been $185 out of my pocket. Besides conflicts to my schedule, I am a new home owner on a extremely tight budget (due to my nice mortgage bill) and could not fit $185 in my budget for hair every 5 weeks.

Now, I do understand that people have to make their bread and butter. Sisterlocks can be very time consuming for the client and the consultant. As you know from my previous experience, my first consultant took 12-13 hours to retighten my hair. I stuck with her for awhile because I didn't know any better at the time. But now, I don't want to be played for a fool. The biggest problem i have with paying by the hour is that the consultants don't work consistently yet don't stop the clock. On Monday, both consultants stopped for at least 20 minutes to do other things and that added time to my count. Was that fair? I don't think so. For a 3 hour interval, they get paid the same amount of money despite the number of locks. Is $85 fair for two people? Probably not, but they set that price and after my 3 1/2 hour session (which should have been 3 hours flat), they moved right on to the next person. So why should I be charged more if they are doing my hair in the same amount of time as someone with 300 locks?

So I asked what the new price would be and I was told $125 flat was fair. They also said that they wont be upset if i decide not to come back. To be honest, I don't think $125 is unfair, I just don't like the reasoning behind the change especially since they never complained about my hair before now. Man, discouragement comes in many forms.....

Update Parts 1, 2, & 3

Part 1: As an update to my last post: We had agreed that I could come to the class and my hair would be evaluated. However, I was asked to make the full payment the night before. I didn't feel comfortable making the full payment given the fact that I could still be turned away in person and I would have to wait to get my money back. I had already paid a non-refundable deposit, and I felt it was fair to be allowed to make the full payment in person if i could stay for the class. The instructor did not agree, so I said forget it (plus my husband was pissed and thought it was bad business). So i lost $75....

Part 2: I went for my retightning today and my mother/daughter duo asked how the class was. I told them that I didn't go. They said they did not give any indication that I was not ready to take the class. In fact, they said they told the instructor that they encourage all of their clients to learn the retightening technique. So, that led me to believe that my former consultant must have been the one to provide negative feedback. A friend of mine who goes to my former consultant said that she mentioned to her that the instructor had called her and that they had some in depth conversation about my hair, so who knows what really went down.

Part 3: After this experience, I desperately needed to find a way to let go of all the negative feelings I had bottled up. I felt like once again, I was being "punished" for having thick hair. I felt completely hopeless. I made the decision to get Sisterlocks so I could be free from the demands held on my hair in the past; yet, I felt like I was in bondage and subject to other people's rules and opinions. For a brief moment, I seriously contemplated cutting my hair, all 680 locks. But I snapped back to reality and determined that I couldn't let others take away my joy, my freedom, and my hard earned investment. So, I considered taking the retightning class offered by the home office. But then it hit me: why not take the full training class? I've always had an interest and now would be a great time (before I give birth). I'm sure there are other women who have experienced situations similar to mine, and maybe I can be the person to help them. I've have received so much love and encouragement from the comments left on my blog and I want to be able to do the same for someone else. What better way than to be fully trained? And, it would be a great investment for me in return. So, I plan to make a final decision by Wednesday. I'll keep you posted!