Meet Sierra Leone’s Essential Workers: The Cosmetologist

I fell in love with cosmetology when I was a kid. It’s like it was wired in my DNA, so I knew what I wanted to be from a very young age. The last 20 years of my life have been spent developing, harnessing, and honing my skills in the field. Now, as a professional cosmetologist, I own a shop I pay rent for and employ staff who work for me.

For me, cosmetology is part of my everyday life, and I love doing it, so every day I’m at my shop with my employees working for a client. I’m married to two children: a boy and a girl. My husband provides for my children and me, but I chose to work because I want to lessen the burden on him.

Before the pandemic, business was good, and customers used to flood my shop. Still, unfortunately, I can’t say the same these days. Business went from being suitable for me to so wrong that I couldn’t afford to pay salaries. The only reason I stay open is that my staff are like family, and I know this job means a lot to them.

Credit: Essential Stories/OSIWA

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