Ericka Dotson started her professional career in technology. Before long, however, she became disenchanted with the work and decided she would follow her childhood dream of “making people look beautiful.” She enrolled in cosmetology courses and eventually got a job as a beautician at a local outlet.
But that wasn’t enough for Dotson. She wanted more out of herself and out of the career path she had chosen. Technology, she said, didn’t fulfill her creatively but cosmetology did and she ended up launching Indique Hair, one of the world’s most successful hair styling companies. The company became the first in the world to brand imported natural hair pieces and has grown into the premier hair retailer in the United States.
Indique Hair also is considered the hair retailer of the stars. Celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence, Jennifer Hudson, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga are all repeat customers of Indique and have helped make it and Dotson synonymous with high-end hair styling as well as turning her company into a multi-billion dollar success. B
ut Dotson says that the road to cosmetology greatness wasn’t an easy one. In the early part of the 2000s, she found herself job hoping through the finance industry and eventually landing a job with a cell phone company in Austin, Texas. That was essentially, as she puts it, “my low point.” And it is when she decided to make a change.
She had spent years styling hair for her female family and friends and decided to enroll in cosmetology school. She stayed working menial day jobs and took cosmetology classes in the evenings part time. The experience is exactly what she says she needed to find her true calling in life and develop her childhood passion.
Her next goal, she says, is to add singer Beyoncé to her client list since she “already has Rhianna.”