Rising Stars: Meet Jasmine Morgan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine Morgan.

Hi Jasmine, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Since my days of styling hair for classmates in elementary school, I’ve always had a calling to serve. Time and life would lead me to serve in various ways, including as a beauty industry professional.

Upon graduating college summa cum laude, I knew I wanted to become a successful businesswoman– the problem was figuring out in what capacity. Dreams of moving to a bigger city faded, as I returned home to find out my father was gravely ill. After declining an opportunity to go to graduate school, practically for free, I chose to also remove myself from the job market to instead spend my days assisting my father full-time. It was during this time that my focus shifted to purposeful living. I watched my daddy weather the storms of his life without once complaining.

Imagine waking up every day knowing you can’t even swallow (food or saliva) because cancer has impacted your body, and your only nutrition comes via a feeding tube hooked directly to your stomach. Imagine spending six days, weekly, going to dialysis, chemo, and radiation. Moreover, imagine going through this day in and day out without questioning and still having the audacity to thank and praise God in the midst.

My daddy, with no known celebrity status and no loud riches, but a zest for purposeful living, managed to draw over 100+ people to his hospital room in 2 days, and over 200 more people than what the church could accommodate for his homegoing. This, to me, was what purposeful living looked like. To see people, young and old, come from near and far to pay their respects to my father, truly left a strong impression on me. My daddy was a leader, a servant leader, whose impact inspired so many, including me.

After my dad’s passing, I decided to intentionally seek and pursue my life’s purpose. I had no clue where to start other than with prayer. I revisited an index card that had been given to me by one of my college mentors–this index card listed what I thought were my top 3 dream careers, none of which included cosmetology. However, as a former Hiring Manager, my mentor read between the lines and suggested I pursue cosmetology to fulfill my dream lifestyle. At that time, I was in denial.

Additionally, I asked God to send me signs along the way, as I was chartering unfamiliar territory. Literally, less than one week after making the decision to consider cosmetology school, my golden opportunity literally fell in my lap. God used an angel, who had no clue of my desire to attend cosmetology school, to give my mother all the relevant information I needed to begin at a local institution. The beauty of it all is that I initially ran away from the idea of cosmetology due to the average 20k+ tuition. However, I ended up attending my program for less than $1,500!!

To graduate cosmetology debt-free, when many graduates are left with a debt of 10k+, was a huge blessing AND, more importantly, confirmation that God would always meet my needs and exceed my wildest dreams.

I proudly celebrate my wins, big and small, along my ever-evolving journey. I also celebrate allowing myself room to grow, learn, and evolve along my journey. In fact, I’m now a TN licensed tattoo apprentice, specializing in permanent makeup at Jeanette Wirz Permanent Cosmetics, recently voted Nashville’s best Microblading Salon for the 3rd year in a row.

Additionally, I actively serve the greater Nashville community alongside my sorority sisters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Upsilon Psi Omega Chapter.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Life is a marathon, not a race. My journey has been full of ups and downs. Perhaps, the biggest was processing my father’s passing and wanting to expand my entrepreneurial footprint.

My father was my entrepreneurial inspiration. On the other hand, my mother, a CPA, was always the more conservative parent–by the book and preferred structure. As a budding entrepreneur, I had to learn how to sort through the wisdom, encouragement, and even cautions, of my elders to reach my own path. Once I realized this, I was able to take the necessary leap of faith into full-time entrepreneurship.

A major part of being successful at entrepreneurship is mastering the art of building sustainable brands. Thankfully, my cosmetology brand, J.Morgan Styles, has been in high demand since day 1. The challenge for me became handling that demand and properly managing work-life balance.

My sole reason for becoming a Cosmetologist was because I felt it was purposeful and loved it. However, when the COVID pandemic shut salons down for three months, it gave me time and the opportunity to pivot. I knew I wanted to continue growing as a successful entrepreneur, but I also knew burnout seemed to be getting closer and closer.

Eventually, I was able to explore other gifts that I’d always been interested in but never seemed to have time or space for. And, earlier this year, I was also gifted with an opportunity to study permanent makeup (PMU) and become licensed, under the supervision of Nashville’s best PMU salon, Jeanette Wirz Permanent Cosmetics.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Jasmine Morgan is a professional creative, specializing in merging beauty and purposeful, inspirational living. Anyone can have talent, but, when it’s God-ordained, it becomes a gift.

My first brand, J.Morgan Styles, emerged from the talents of my childhood and has since led me to provide quality hair styling services for those seeking professional, dope hair care experiences. From celebrities to the local school teacher, I’ve been privileged to work with some amazing people. As a Cosmetologist, I’m most known for healthy, natural hair care, extension services, and “stitch braids”.

As a beauty professional, I’m known for professionalism, great customer service, and an evolving entrepreneurial portfolio. My latest venture is tattooing makeup as a licensed permanent makeup (PMU) artist. You can recognize a J.Morgan hairstyle a mile away, and I hope the same continues to hold true for my emerging PMU career.

I am most proud of my personal growth. Along this journey, I’ve made it a point to learn more about Jasmine, who I am, and why, so that I can truly evolve into my best self, as a stylist, entrepreneur, team member, servant leader, and daughter, sister, and friend.

My humility and zest for purposeful living set the tone for every area of my life, and, in my opinion, lead me on a distinctive path full of favor. I have been so honored over the years to grow as a public speaker and share my journey and inspirational tips with so many.

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Mentors can be a wonderful tool! My college mentors, along with my parents, definitely helped nurture the entrepreneurial seed that was already inside of me but laid somewhat dormant.

We are designed to be connected to others. Having a mentor and/or a valuable network is very important. My brother often reminds me, “If you have the most to lose in your circle, you probably need a new circle.” There’s no true long-term benefit in being the smartest student in the room. The real value is in allowing yourself to be a student of life and learning from the ups and downs of your life, and the lives of those around you.

In my early entrepreneurial days, I did not have many like-minded people in my network. But, as a challenge to me, I made it a point to attend networking events and opportunities, oftentimes I had to go alone. Ultimately, those experiences helped me grow my self-confidence AND my network.

Your network doesn’t have to be full of people who do exactly what you do. Instead, it can be a combination of people who excel in your industry AND other industries. As an example, some of the connections I’ve made over the years are with people who, too, do profound work in the community as educators, community leaders, health professionals, etc.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.TheJMorganStyles.com
• Instagram: Www.instagram.com/JMorganStyles
• Facebook: Facebook.com/TheJMorganStyles
• Youtube: Youtube.com/

Image Credits
Quture Media