Black women in business: A toast to their success

A week ago, I was delighted and surprised to receive an email from Te'Kara Thompson, a 31-yearold Vacaville woman, inviting me to the grand opening celebration of her business, Whiplash Academy & Salon Suites, on May 22. Six months earlier, she had told me about recently losing her grandmother, Alice McBride, and mother, Teresa Martin, within two weeks, to COVID-19.

As part of her healing process, she's using the tragedy of her great loss by opening a business in Fairfield, hoping that she can inspire others to pursue their dreams, even after suffering grief caused by COVID-19. The virus has taken 1 million U.S. lives, and, as a nation, we're still recovering.

Thompson said her grandmother's beauty salon was her introduction to the industry as a child. She witnessed the creativity of diverse hairstyles, the connection her grandmother and mother had with customers that turned into lifetime friendships, creating another generation of women receiving beauty services. The salon was the “headquarters of beauty” in her family, Thompson added.

I've known Thompson's grandmother and mother since 1995. When I first strolled into her grandmother's beauty salon, Alice's Accents in Vacaville, I was impressed by the artful and decorated salon in vibrant, soft colors, hearing the soothing music, and seeing freshly cut long-stem flowers in crystal vases in the reception area. Thompson was a little girl back then, with her hair styled in pigtails, sometimes playing in the salon with her cousin.

As a client of Thompson's grandmother for more than 20 years, she created masterful hairstyles reminding women of their inward and outward beauty when they felt the world had disappointed them.

Thompson said seeing women from all diverse backgrounds leaving the salon transformed and with a boost of self-esteem inspired her. However, after she graduated from high school in 2008, she worked in corporate America. She explained missing the culture she had been accustomed to seeing her grandmother and mother work in and the freedom of entrepreneurship. In 2010, she became a licensed esthetician.

Thompson worked at spas locally and in the Bay Area, using her license nine years later. She provided other services such as eyelash extensions, having her friends and family as customers. She taught classes, traveling as far as Texas. In 2018, Thompson took the leap of faith, quitting her corporate job and becoming a full-time licensed esthetician.

Her mother would pack her kits and prepare the classrooms, always emphasizing, “You need to take this on the road,” as she was outgrowing her immediate spaces.

“In a couple of years, Mom,” Thompson would reply.

Remembering her mother's words, Whiplash Academy & Salon Suites will provide makeup stations, body waxing, eyelash extensions, facials, and classes in the beauty industry. She will also rent spaces to others who want to teach a skill.

Thompson's mother and grandmother will be at the forefront of her business, as they helped her develop entrepreneurial skills, build client relationships and retention and plan marketing events.

In the reception area are pictures of her mother. She will display photos of her grandmother in the classroom, who taught beauty classes and ministered to people as founder and CEO of Angelic Tabernacle of Christ Universal Ministries. In 2020, McBride was honored “Woman of the Year” by U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, whose district is in Solano County.

Guests to the celebration will be greeted by freshly cut flowers in a crystal vase in the reception area. They will also have an opportunity to toast a new business and the continued legacy of Black women entrepreneurs.