Leda aka the TikTok Queen of Hair is one of our wonderful Fanola Artists in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her viral videos are overflowing with creativity, talent, and so much fun. Not only is her salon known for its TikTok-fame but Tone Hair Salon was voted Best Hair Salon in Wake County for the second year in a row. Our team member, Iyanna, had the pleasure of chatting with Leda and got to learn more about her, her career, and her experience growing on one of the most popular social media platforms of 2020.
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Positive, happy, and kind.
What does a typical day look like for you outside of the salon?
It is really focused on a lot of social media, social marketing, and then trying to get some runs in. I like to run outside or get on my treadmill.
Were you born and raised in North Carolina and what some things that you've grown to love about North Carolina?
I was born and raised in New York City, but I love the weather for sure. The people are really friendly and it's just a more relaxed atmosphere. I've been here for 22 years.
What are some passions or hobbies that you have that no one would guess?
I like to metal detect. Every time we go to the beach, I bring my metal detector.
What is your favorite social media platform and why?
TikTok. It's been really easy to grow on TikTok for me.
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♬ In Motion - Kirkland Jaxon
How has it differed from Instagram for you?
I feel like Instagram's so oversaturated and it's really, really, really hard to grow on it. TikTok is still new enough and there really isn't a whole lot of hairstylists on there.
Honestly, I have had people now coming into the salon traveling to get to me. It’s people that think TikTok is for kids, the clientele that we're getting are all older. The kids are showing their moms and their grandmothers and they're the ones that are coming in.
What's something that you want others to know about you when they go to your TikTok?
That it's been hard, but I've been doing social marketing for at least 10 years now. So when that platform became available, I was ready. Everything that I've ever been prepared for in my life of marketing is finally here, this was the time, this is what it was all about. I actually went to college first before hair school, and I got a communications degree and I was going to work in videography. So I feel like my two passions are actually coming together now. I'm good at it because I know the aspects of video and I know what people generally like to look at. I look at the percentages, I look at analytics. It's like you have two seconds to grab somebody's attention and that's it.
What started that passion with TikTok?
My 11-year-old son. I went on TikTok in December 2018. Up until October of 2019, I only had 17 followers and they were all his friends. I had about seven videos up and they were not great, but one day I was in the salon and made a really funny video and it went viral and I gained 10,000 followers right then and there. So from that day on, I've been posting 5-10 videos a day on TikTok, and to be quite honest, people ask how I have the time for that, and I don't. I don't spend more than five minutes making a video. If I had to spend more than that, I'm not doing it, and usually, our videos in the salon are one take and that's it, and I just have to edit it a little bit to make it look really good, but I don't have that time to just waste.
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But I think that you never know. It's sometimes that I repost work and it hits and other times it doesn't. So you just never know what's going to go viral and things that I don't think are going to go viral will. For example, I have one video out there that I have 25 million views on and 4 million likes on and people are dueting it around the world. There are other people in other countries translating what I said. And I thought that was just going to be a bad video, I didn't think it was going to blow up like that, which made my day, they literally just comment on it and said, “Oh, Brad Mondo has a competitor” and I was like, "oh yeah!" Like, people are tagging me and Brad Mondo together and I think it's great! It honestly made my day. I would say even it’s not just nationwide but worldwide. One of my receptionists was doing interviews the other day and she told me that two separate people come up to her and asked "did you say Tone Hair Salon? Oh my gosh, I follow you on my TikTok!” And again, it's like, I want to stress to everybody, it wasn't that I got lucky. I've been working my a** off. I mean, I've been working since I was a kid in my dad's deli in New York City, and I've worked with Facebook and I've worked with Instagram, and I've hopped on to other social platforms and it's been hit or miss, it's been a slow growth.
With TikTok, where do you see it growing into?
I think it's going to be amazing, it's always felt as if it was like a mini YouTube channel. I think transformations are great for Instagram, but TikTok, people want more.
What can we expect from a hair service with you?
You're gonna laugh a lot, cause I'm a comedian. I have fun with my client, as soon as a new client sits in my chair, it's like we're old friends and that's how I treat every single person. You're going to have a good time, and those are the clients that come to me. Those are the ones that are attracted to me, those are the ones that see all my social media, they know what they're getting into. If they're that quiet client, I’m still going to talk a lot and I’m going to have fun with you, we're going to make videos, we're going to do photos, we're going to do it all! The world is so serious right now. I want to forget that we're in a pandemic, and I think that's how they feel. It's a strange world right now so I try to make it the most realistic experience right now.
Do you typically like to have a lot of people coming in with an exact picture of what they want or do you have a lot of clients that let you have fun with it?
I honestly like pictures, I don't ever do a service without looking at a picture, I just can't. I think it's very seldom that somebody sits in your chair and says, "do whatever you want!"
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What would you say that your hair specialty is?
Definitely blondes, balayage, platinum. Those are my favorites. I love color correction. I love a challenge.
What are some hair products that you personally use that you typically recommend to your clients?
I mean, if you're blonde, you're going home with Fanola for sure and I've been loving the Nutri Care Serum.
Are you a skincare routine or haircare routine type of girl?
I don't know, I guess hair. I’m really girly in a way, but I'm also not very girly in that way.
What are some ways that you keep your own hair healthy?
I don't wash it a lot. That's part of my laziness, but I just don't think washing your hair and blow-drying it constantly is helpful. So, less washing and then of course using really great products.
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