Jannelle Blackman-Jones exudes the satisfaction of a woman whose excursion into the highly competitive beauty industry is beginning to pay off. If she is yet to achieve all of the goals that she set herself, she has at least developed an encouraging momentum which, even now, affords her more than a modest feeling of accomplishment.
There had been a time, previously, when she had spent five years honing her skills as a nail technician at the now defunct Nicanie’s Beauty Salon. She learnt enough to be able to launch her own business in 2015, Urban Oasis Beauty Salon and Cosmetology School, at 235 South Road, Georgetown.
Along the way, Blackman-Jones had decided that, setting aside her decision to continually sharpen her own skills, she would also set herself the task of training other young women to be the best that they could be.
She believes that it was her focus that allowed her enterprise to experience a period of encouraging growth including, crucially, an expansion in her client base. It was this that allowed for the rental of the adjoining premises at 234 South Road.
Incremental success bred an increasing boldness and in October 2019, she launched what she described as a state-of-the-art facility offering her students “the best” opportunities to build reputations of their own.
It was confidence, she said, that caused her to throw her own talents and her savings into the venture. Fate, however, intervened. The COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, leaving her little choice but to close the doors to her school and business. It was then that Blackman-Jones began to second guess herself, wondering whether she ought not to have held on to her savings and engaged a commercial bank on her business venture. Eventually, she was able to move on, but not before sharply reduced patronage caused her to have to surrender the 235 South Road premises and to consolidate all her services at the 234 South Road address.
In a sense it was a fresh start, offering nail and body care services for both men and women. At that juncture, she simply buried herself in her work, expanding the range of her services to embrace a suite of beauty-related disciplines that included acrylic and gel extensions, waxing, body scrubs and wraps, among others.
One can tell, immediately, that a great deal of thought went into creating a pleasing ambience at her establishment. As one enters the premises, black, white and green are the three welcoming colours. The interior is painted white, offering a clinical contrast with the jet black chairs. In painting the ceiling green she made a concession to her husband and part-owner of the enterprise, Ted Jones, a practicing Muslim.
Urban Oasis boasts a floor management regimen that is simplicity itself. There are separate spaces for the training of nail technicians, makeup application, spa treatment and manicure and pedicure services. Each area is boldly labelled in green.
To her tasteful space design she added a marketing strategy that embraces social media and an all-ordered website. In response to the pandemic, she developed an online curriculum for her students that significantly reduced the need for direct contact. These days, face-to-face contact at training sessions is gradually being reintroduced as restrictions ease.
Students travel to Urban Oasis from as far away as Essequibo and Linden, making the journey twice a week.
Business, Blackman-Jones said, “is good.” It is, she said, a matter of raising your game to stay ahead of the competition in an environment where only the fittest survive.
Blackman-Jones comes from a family of educators. She herself is a product of the Annandale Secondary School and President’s College. At the latter institution she wrote the Caribbean Examination Council examinations, CSEC and CAPE. She had wanted, first, to work as a public servant and afterwards to study psychology. However, she was not destined to take that path, nor for that matter to pursue a subsequent desire to study Mass Communication at the University of Guyana.
Out of school she had been languishing at home before she encountered an advertisement on television offering courses in cosmetology. After completing a three-month course at Kevin’s Reflections, she decided that her heart was in the beauty industry. She worked at another salon for a year before she moved to Nicanie’s where she remained for five years.
Blackman-Jones conceded that she is a restless soul, forever in search of pursuits that challenge her. Her next undertaking, she said, may well be a partnership with her brother to create and run an animal salon.
