*The Story Of Sola Alebiosu Of Say Zolar Beauty Planet
Ordinarily, one would not have expected him to excel in an industry where he currently holds sway. And that is not because he is a never do well but rather, due to the fact that the beauty industry of doing make-up, makeover and the rest of it for people often seems to be an exclusive reserve of people of the feminine gender to operate in. But for Sola Alebiosu who incidentally has an effeminate stature and brain behind Say Zolar Beauty Planet, along Kola Road, off Lagos/Abeokuta expressway, Agbado/Ijaye, Lagos State, he seems to be bent on reversing the sexist saying that: what a man can do, a woman can do better, to what a woman can do, a man can do, not just better, but excellently.
Few days back, Saheed Ojubanire Online paid a scheduled visit to his beauty planet which is currently undergoing a major expansion and diversification into some areas of fashion and entertainment businesses, for an interview about what makes him tick as a beautician well sought after by many of the Nigerian celebrities from near and far, and he took every question fired at him with a bullet proof of satisfactory responses. How did the business start for this young man fondly called Say Zolar by most of the people around him?
Hear him: " well,I started by running a mobile salon. It was just me and my hand bag and I'll visit people in their homes to make their hair. My hand bag was basically my salon " When exactly was that? He was interrupted with that question to keep a chronological track on his evolution in the business, and he said, "that was 2007/2008 before I then had the facilities to work at a salon as a stylist."
But before he would go too far with his story, would it not be nice to ask how he got trained to become a beautician in the first instance? That was posed to him and he went a little further down memory lane. "Yes,I got trained under someone; that was in 2006 after my Ordinary Diploma (ND) in Business Administration from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State. I was trained at a salon opposite Ikeja Airport Hotel, in Lagos here."
And guess who is trainer was? His trainer was a he like him. A male trainer and beside that, there is another interesting thing you should know about his trainer called Mike, an Ibo guy. " Mike was my boss, he was the model once used on a #500 (five hundred) recharge card of a telecommunication company, I don't want to mention their name (it is MTN, don't tell him I told you oh). And when I was with him, I was living at the shop back then before I left after graduation."
And that was how he transitted to running a mobile salon. Now, how did he get to the first shop where he worked, to cut a long story short? "One of my clients then, a woman, she saw the way I was working as a mobile beautician and she felt I was hardworking, so there was a place I wanted to rent at that time but I could not afford the money the owner of the place was asking for, the money was #45,000 (forty-five thousand naira), so I approached the woman to support me but she said she was about to open a salon too and she wanted me to work as a stylist there and that was how I started with her at Kola Road here."
Renting his own shop, how did that come about, afterwards? " While I worked with the woman I started saving money but when the woman saw that I was making money and my clientele was growing fast, she became kind of jealous, so she asked me to leave. But I thank God by then I had saved some money and some people also supported me, so I opened my own salon too in 2011."
But come to think of it, what struck his interest in the business of beautifying women per se, as a man? Did it have anything to do with his effeminate stature? That question was put to him pointedly. "Ah,ah,ah, no,no,no. Truly, people think like that but let me tell you the reality. Anything you are doing, just let God to intervene and assist you. Really, I have always had interest in the beauty world and again,I'm the only guy amongst my siblings. So, I grew up among girls and I knew how to pack hair from there and some other things about beautifying women. So, that fired me on."
Starting with a single shop in 2011, how did he begin to expand into multiple interlinked shops he now uses as his beauty planet, that is not a wrong question to ask, right? "I thank God for my students. I have trained more than 300 students now and I started with just one student. So, the money my students were paying as tuition fees was used in expanding into two shops in 2013."
Talking about students, most of his students are females save for 3 or 4 guys, how does he cope among beautiful girls numbering up to 15? "You know what, it is a matter of discipline. When you are disciplined and you concentrate on what you are doing, you won't be distracted. Though, the challenge of being the opposite sex from them sometime comes but that is usually put under control with everyone's dignity still intact." "So, you have never dated any of your students?" He was probed further, "no,no,no", he repeated matter of factly.
Now, who are some of the celebrities he does make-up, make-over for or beautifies generally? " The first person I'll mention, I don't call her my client, she is my friend and that is St. Janet. I call her Mama Yabis, Iya Amuludun, she is my friend and client. I also work with Fuji stars Dewale Ayuba, Sule Alao Malaika as a make-up artiste when they are shooting videos, I work on the set of top thespians like Iyabo Ojo, Antar Laniyan and a lot of them. But one person I so much want to work with very soon is Oga Nla, Wasiu Alabi Pasuma. Though, we have met on locations before but I have not worked with him directly yet.
"Meanwhile, when you talk about popular hip hop artistes, I have worked with a lot of them. The likes of Terry G., Tommy Zino, Skally Mental, Kayefi, Seriki and many others, I have worked with them all. I did the make-up during their video shoot and still remain their favourite man up till now. Most of them come visiting here from time to time, even when they are not shooting videos, just to hang out with their man."
There is a major expansion project going on at Say Zolar Beauty Planet as at the time of this interview, what was that all about, he was asked and he answered. " I'm trying to combine a lot of things in the beauty, fashion and entertainment businesses together. You can see a barbing salon being set up there. There is a musical studio inside there. And you can also shoot some scenes in your video in there, there is enough space for that. There is photo studio too." Hmmm, that's huge! Innit?
The name Say Zolar is as popular as the long stretch or road called Kola Road hosting his beauty planet, how does that make him feel? " Let me give thanks to God for that. Anything you are doing just believe God will be with you. And I believe in my students because they are my future and I believe in my clients too. I have a lot of them overseas, London, America, Jamaica, South Africa and I also have not less than 80 ex students spread across differents parts of the world and I'm proud of them. When I want to do my 10th year anniversary, you'll see what will happen. I also thank God for people around me, my family, friends and everyone, I thank them because they are really the owners of the name Say Zolar!"
Before the final question, Say Zolar uses himself to promote his business by making up and dressing up like a woman, why would he go that far? " You can't give what you don't have. And you need to be proud of yourself for the way God has created you. I believe a day will come that I'll be one of the top models people would be looking for. I still hope to be a professional model and I know I would work with a lot of companies in Nigeria and overseas. And what you want to give you need to let people see, that is why I use myself as my model."
Finally, what is his message for his clients generally? " Well, for my clients, I always pray for them everyday and I know they are proud of me. And I promise to always do research into the best ways I can beautify them. Most of the things I do, I create them by myself. I believe in Africa, I don't believe it is until we go abroad that we can get the best, everything we need is right here, we only need to research into them and that is what I promise my clients.More research."
Say Zolar's phone contact is: +2347031850525. He is on Instagram as sayzolar and Facebook as Say Zolar.
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