Life & Work with Daricka

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daricka.

Hi Daricka, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ll start with saying I LOVE HAIR! I’m from Waco, Texas but I have lived in Austin now for 13 years. As far back as I can remember, I’ve always had my hands in others hair. I began braiding my own hair at 11 years old as a survival mechanism due to not being able to afford salon visits. Initially, the hairstyles I did on myself were pretty decent considering me just tapping into this talent. Overtime, I became good at it; so good that friends and family members would pay me to do their hair. That money allowed me to buy my own school clothes throughout high school on up to me graduating. I continued what I considered “hobby braiding” until I found out that I’d be a mother in 2013. It was then when I took it serious and pursued and completed beauty school at Austin’s Paul Mitchell campus and Yahweh’s beauty academy in Killeen, Texas.

Once my son was born, I adventured off into the medical field because at the time I didn’t feel that the beauty field was a substantial career. Over the following four years, I became a wife and we found out we’d be having another child. This led to me being a stay at home wife and me slowly making my way back to braiding & boy is I glad. From 2017 until now I’ve solely braided hair. I worked from home in my “in home salon” until Jan 2nd of this year; I have now transitioned into a salon suite. Deciding to get a salon suite has changed my life drastically for the better. I now view my career as a limitless adventure.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road. My biggest struggle was balancing motherhood/being a wife with my career. I naturally gravitated to pouring my all into being a mother; but with some planning, praying and adjusting I found that both can fit perfectly into my life. I also experienced the loss of two grandparents in 2019. My granny Mary and my grandpa Pastor Anderson; both played significant roles in my life, especially my granny. She was always so fascinated with how fast my hands moved while braiding and was my greatest advocate for doing hair. She would jokingly say I got my hand speed from her lol. I know that they would be proud of me today.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a Master Braider. I specialize in braids also known as Protective Styles. Protective styles is when the hair is twisted or braided into a style that can last anywhere in between one week to 12 weeks. It is intended to promote growth, lower maintenance and eliminate heat usage over the time period of wearing that style. I am known for my efficiency and quality put into each style. What typically takes a braider 6-10 hours to complete, I can complete the same style in half the time while still presenting beautiful work. This is what sets me apart and what I’m most proud of.

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
My most important lesson I’ve learned is that it’s easy to become complacent in life due to fear and life in general happening; but DON’T let it. Write down your aspirations, create a plan, tell yourself that you’re worthy of your goals and then go for it full force!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://stylesbyrica.as.me/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stylesbyrica/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/pages/category/Beauty–Cosmetic—Personal-Care/Styles-by-Rica-220810955280301/

Image Credits
Charmed Life Photography – Lisa Haynes