Patricia Thompson Talks Shop On Twenty Years in the Hair Care Industry
Owner of Touched By An Angel Beauty Salon and School in Atlanta, Patricia Thompson was recently added to the cast of the second season of Cutting It In the ATL on WeTV. The Atlanta based entrepreneur learned from an early age that hard word indeed pays off.
After enrolling into the Griffin Technical College School of Cosmetology, Thompson worked hard to create and innovate in the hair care industry. Within two years of graduating from cosmetology school, she opened her first Touched By An Angel Salon—named after one of her favorite television shows at the time, starring Della Reese. Soon after, business was booming and she was blessed to open several more locations—at one point having thirteen salons and sixty stylists working with her as independent contractors.
Thompson, not one for blending in with a crowd decided to make her chain of salons stand out from all the growing competition that was popping up all around her. She came up with the idea to offer women a way to get the look everyone wanted—but at a rock bottom affordable price. This idea spawned from the struggles in her childhood and not being able to afford visiting a hairdresser when she was a child.
In an effort to be different and help women with an affordable hair care option, she introduced “the $50 weave” and a trend was set. It was an economical sustaining development of adding hair extensions and the trend of quality paired with affordability meant that it was possible to fit within nearly everyone’s budget. Thompson says, “The $50 weave concept birthed from the early 1990’s by Touched By An Angel and grew to popularity over the entire metro Atlanta area. Salons alike capitalize off of the million-dollar wealth-building concept so much so, it continues to be imitated across the country today.”
We all know that the hair industry can be a little catty and cut throat at times, especially in a city such as Atlanta. When asked how she overcomes and stays above the drama, she simply replied, “I stay in my lane. I don’t have a problem with cut throat because I’m a trendsetter.”
And when it comes to being a successful trendsetter and entrepreneurial Patricia Thompson says, “It’s a must to have good people working along side of you on your team. Also be honest. You can’t be in business for as long as I have if you’re not an honest person.”
In another effort to stand out, Thompson decided to take her successful business to the next level and added to her brand the Touched By An Angel Beauty Schools thereby furthering the outreach to help others reach their potential. She continues to nurture and educate up-and-coming successful stylists through weaving boot camps, advanced career training, professional internship programs, employment, and scholarships.
Recently, Patricia Thompson founded a non-profit organization, TBA Helping Hands Foundation. Through the organization, the school on grand opening day awarded thirty paid in full scholarships for immediate attendance. In addition, for Easter the school opened it’s doors for a giving back to the community campaign. It afforded the way for woman to come in to get their hair shampooed and styled so they could feel good about themselves. Thompson is very committed to helping the local community through her non-profit and has offered scholarships to Job Corp students and others in the community.
Thompson is currently in the process of opening another school in July and is now accepting applications and essays for the next round of scholarships she plans to award.
To see more of Patricia Thompson, tune in to Cutting It In The ATL on WeTv starting July 14th. And to learn more about her Beauty Schools, TBA Helping Hands Foundation or details on how to apply for a scholarship, visit www.touchedbyanangelbeautyschool.com