Finding My Loctician
Even though I decided I didn’t want sisterlocks, I loved things about the business behind them. The official website is full of super useful information for anyone exploring microlocs. If you’re willing to look past where it stumbles, you’ll find a list of certified sisterlock consultants, FAQs about the process and much more.
It was there that I searched their listing of certified consultants in the DMV area. Lucky for all of us here, there’s a pretty lengthy list throughout DC, Maryland and Virginia. During that particular search, I found several and began drafting a list of the things I needed to know about everyone on my short list. Although my criteria wasn’t solidified at this point, I knew that cost, location, investment in their business across platforms, and their conversation mattered. From my research I knew that the latter mattered just as much as everything else because you end up spending LOTS of time with this person.
Another thing I did that helped me come to some conclusions about who to select was to watch as many consultation and establishment day reviews as I could on Youtube. Youtubers like Drknlvely, Momma Fulltime, Tunisia Ali and many more offer up a massive amount of information that anyone considering this journey would benefit from. Their willingness to share enhanced my confidence as I explored my options. From their experiences, I knew what to look for and how to spot any problem areas early on before I committed to anyone.
Jumping back to the criteria I mentioned earlier. Ultimately, those four key things were weighed the heaviest in my selection process, they included:
Cost — Who hit that sweet spot of high quality work with a reasonable price among the estimates gathered and in relation to sisterlock™ packages?
Location — Proximity to my apartment + the cost of an Uber to and from appointments
Business Investment: Website + Social Media Presence — Did they have a website? How did it enhance the ease of communication and were they utilizing appointment software? Social media in particular is a great place to source references and see their work in the wild (come through tagged photos!).
Conversation/Rapport — Responsiveness, reliability and professionalism
Lucky for me, my chosen loctician Neneh, hit all of those and then some. My initial email to her in February went out in the early afternoon and she responded before midnight of 👏🏼 that. 👏🏼 same. 👏🏼 day. Talk about being about your business! I was so impressed by her because I know how busy people in this industry are, especially on high traffic days like the weekend. Neneh responded to me the same day and there are other salons + locticians I sent informational email requests out to before her that have yet to respond. With a polished website that spoke directly to my locking method of choice, a social media presence, Square booking software and timely yet warm email responses, I was sold.
In less than 24 hours after our initial conversation that started via the easy contact form on her website, I had a consultation booked. Less than a month after that, my locs were installed. So far, I’ve had 4 sessions with my loctician and I’m looking forward to many many more.
