When All Hell Breaks Loose

She lost her mom. She left her marriage. She built a multi six-figure business anyway.

In this powerful Mother’s Day episode, we sit down with Kelly G (@iamkariah) — a fierce, resilient salon owner from Stone Mountain, GA — who opens up about the real-life detours she never planned for: becoming a mother at 19, escaping an unhealthy marriage, surviving betrayal in business, and navigating the heartbreak of losing the woman who always believed in her.

But through it all, she never stopped showing up — for herself, her kids, and her clients.

💔 Grief didn’t stop her.
💼 Business challenges didn’t break her.
💍 And walking away from what no longer served her? That saved her.

This episode is a tribute to every woman who’s ever been told she can’t — and kept going anyway. Every woman who's lost their rock; their mother. It’s raw. It’s real. And it’s exactly what you need to hear today.

👉 Tap in at wahblpodcast.com
🎧 Listen now and share this with someone who needs the reminder: Keep. Going.

Creators and Guests

Host
Chris King
Chris King is the host of the “When All Hell Breaks Loose” (WAHBL) podcast, where he facilitates real, raw, and uplifting conversations about overcoming life’s toughest challenges. Through this platform, Chris aims to help listeners discover strength and hope during difficult times. His engaging discussions provide profound insights into finding light amidst adversity, guiding audiences to rise stronger.

What is When All Hell Breaks Loose?

WAHBL Podcast (When All Hell Breaks Loose) is your go-to source for real, raw, and uplifting conversations about overcoming life’s toughest challenges. Hosted by Chris King and Monique LaRue, this podcast dives deep into the personal stories of resilience, faith, and growth, providing practical advice on how to thrive when everything feels like it’s falling apart. Whether you’re navigating loss, career setbacks, or personal struggles, each episode offers inspiration, actionable steps, and a reminder that even in the darkest moments, there’s hope on the horizon. Tune in for empowering discussions, audience engagement, and thought-provoking interviews that will help you take life’s toughest blows and turn them into victories. For more information, please visit our website at https://wahblpodcast.com and follow us across social media @wahblpodcast

Chris King:

Somebody once said, if you wanna make God laugh, tell him your plans. Sometimes in life, we have plans. We start off making plans when we're young, and we have plans when we're old. But what happens when God takes us on a detour? What happens when people have made plans for you and God tells you to do something different?

Chris King:

Well, our guest today has experience in just that. She's had plans and she's had plans made for her, but god took her on a detour to achieve something much greater. Help me welcome miss Kelly g. Kelly, welcome to the When All Hell Breaks News podcast. I'm so excited that you hit

Kelly G:

So my name is Kelly Grier. I go by Kelly g. I own a hair salon, Karaya Salon in Stone Mountain, Georgia. I've been owning my own hair salon for seventeen years. So yeah.

Chris King:

Good deal. So, Kelly, I appreciate you here. Now I know a little bit about your story, and your story is interesting in of itself because you you didn't just start out saying, hey. I wanted to do hair. Right?

Chris King:

You you started down one path, and then you took a detour. So help us understand a little bit about that path and what made you make some of those changes.

Kelly G:

Okay. I've always wanted to do hair. Even back in high school, I was doing hair, burnt up my parents' microwave a couple of times doing hair. But my parents wanted me to go off to college because I'm not gonna say, like, back in those times, but when my parents grew up, black entrepreneurship, that wasn't, like, really a thing. Basically, my parents worked corporate jobs.

Kelly G:

My dad retired from Delta. My mom retired from General Motors, so they worked big time corporate jobs. So they're like, having your own business, running your own business, or being, you know, a entrepreneur, that was kinda, like, unheard of for them. And, I mean, I get it as a parent. You want your kids to do a certain thing, and you want them to be stable in life, but I did not want to be caught up in the corporate world.

Kelly G:

I wanted to do hair. I wanted to be my own business person.

Chris King:

So if you didn't have that model, right, your parents were corporate, where did you learn where did you pick that up? Is that was that just something innate, or if you did you see other examples?

Kelly G:

Well, even though my dad worked for Delta, he also had his own painting company on the side. So and but that wasn't a full time thing. So I guess just kinda seeing him do entrepreneurship a little bit, but like I say, that wasn't, like, his only job. His main bread and butter probably was, you know, Delta Airlines.

Chris King:

And but in your family structure, though, you're not the only child. You have siblings. Right?

Kelly G:

I just have one sibling, my older sister.

Chris King:

Okay. So tell me a little bit about that dynamic. Because I know I I'm I'm the middle child. So I have an older brother, and I had to I was often I often say in his shadow a little bit, because what he did became the standard or what he failed to do became the rule. Right?

Kelly G:

Right.

Chris King:

So help me understand, like, what was that dynamic, and how did that shape you going forward?

Kelly G:

Me and my sister are, like, night and day. My sister her name is Dana. So she might be the cool, laid back one. Me, I'm like, I was the one on the school bus. If somebody mess with her, I'm the one jumping people that's, like, four or five years older than me.

Kelly G:

They used to call me that's they used to call me Dana, big little sister.

Chris King:

Yeah. So

Kelly G:

yeah. So me and my sister are, like, night and day. So with that being said, with my parents trying to say, oh, we want you to go to college, you know, because my sister, she did go to college. I was like, I didn't wanna go to college. And I was like, okay.

Kelly G:

Well, if I'm gonna go to college, like, let me go away to college. Oh, you can't go away because if you go away to college, you might come home pregnant. And I'm like, why why would you say that? You know? Because my sister did get pregnant.

Kelly G:

That's another thing that was kinda, like, a shocker because my parents, like, we didn't my parents, they got married, then they had kids. They didn't have kids before marriage. So that was, like, a shock to them.

Chris King:

Now were they in a church? Yeah. Okay. Because, like, I'm thinking about generations. Right?

Chris King:

Because generationally, you know, folks' parents was in the church, go to school, get a good job, you know, get married, have kids, and all of those. It's like those walls. Mhmm. Right? And there's strict rule followers on that.

Chris King:

Right? So that's why I was like, okay. They must have been in church too.

Kelly G:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They was in church. And I'm a be honest with you.

Kelly G:

A lot of times, people and I'm not gonna say my parents per se. I'm just gonna say people in general. Even being in that church scene, you know, people like, oh, well, don't do this. Don't do that. You know, sister so and so might look at us, you know, funny, but sister so and so got her own skeletons in her closet that she's hiding too.

Kelly G:

You know, eventually, years down the road, those skeletons, they do come out. But, yeah, like, I was like, I don't wanna go away to school. Well, no. I told them I did wanna go away to school, you know, so I can get that college experience. And he was like, well, now you might come home pregnant.

Kelly G:

So I end up going to Clayton State, which I hated, end up getting pregnant anyway. So I'm like you know? And it was even crazy, like, how my mom found out that I was pregnant. I'll never forget. I had a, Chevrolet Cavalier z 24.

Kelly G:

She promised me she was like, you graduate high school. I'm a buy you a car. And I was like, I was gonna graduate. I was kinda like that rebellious kid. I was skipping school, and back then, the report cards came with, like, the amount of days you missed.

Chris King:

Yeah.

Kelly G:

She was like, you've missed, like, over seventy days of school. Like, how are you still passing? I'm like, just because I wasn't at school didn't mean I wasn't doing my work. So, long story short, like, even in high school, I had, like, two or three cars. They would get mad, like, sell a car, then they got tired of, you know, taking me, you know, places I need to go buy me another car.

Kelly G:

So yeah. So, anyway, I ended up going to Clayton State. I hated it, ended up getting pregnant, and that's how I was able to put myself through hair school because my parents, they were like, we're not sending you to hair school. So I was like, okay. And I'm not gonna say I like, I didn't plan on getting pregnant.

Kelly G:

Like, who who wants to be pregnant? You know, at 19 years old, I didn't plan on getting pregnant, but that's how the story played out.

Chris King:

So So what was their plan after you got pregnant? Did they tell you, like, drop out? Or were they like, oh, I guess you gotta make I guess he's telling him, you gotta make an honest woman out of her now. You know?

Kelly G:

They didn't they you know, they didn't real they were just like, you're gonna have to figure this out. Like, of course, like, I came from a good home. Like, they didn't they weren't like, oh, you gotta get out. You know? Like, nah.

Kelly G:

They, you know, they helped me in every which way they could, supported me. My mom even joked with me. She was like, what kind of insurance you gonna have, like, to to deliver your baby? I'm like, I'm on your insurance. She was like, that's my insurance.

Kelly G:

That's not your insurance. So I was like, well, look. I had, like, a couple of homegirls. You know, they was kinda, like, ghetto. So they was like, girl, you go get Medicaid.

Kelly G:

I was like, babe, we're not being born on no Medicaid. So yeah. So it was crazy how it all worked out, but it was really a blessing. Like, I didn't understand, like, me having my son, it was a blessing because that made me set my own groundwork on how I needed to put myself through hair school. So somebody I was talking to, they was like, well, since you got your own kid, you're basically like your own household even though you're with your parents.

Kelly G:

So when you fill out your FAFSA, you could just put you and your son. So, of course, with me not making no money, think I was working fast food like Wendy's or McDonald's or something. So with me making that little amount of income and then having a dependent, of course, I was able to put myself through hair school. Like, I did have to get a student loan, but I did not have to add in my parents' income.

Chris King:

So what's the age gap between you and your sister?

Kelly G:

Four years.

Chris King:

Okay. And see, I I I'm feeling you right now because that's the same age gap between me and my older brother.

Kelly G:

Oh, wow.

Chris King:

Right? And so I was like the little big brother. Mhmm. And my older brother's six seven, so I'm I'm not that tall. You saw.

Chris King:

Right? And then also I was the one that would fight. Right? So Mhmm. The little big brother.

Chris King:

But with that, though, the rules as and and what they're saying, hey. We want you to stay here. We don't want you get pregnant, was basically the fear from what she did. Right? So now you have expectations based off of fear.

Chris King:

Right. Right. Don't do this. Don't do this. Don't and sometimes we talk about self fulfilling prophecies and all this other stuff.

Chris King:

It's like that what you're afraid of. You you you tend to perpetuate or whatever and bring into an existence. But what were they telling you it seems like everything that was being said was based off of fear. Was there anything that was communicated from an expectation standpoint that was like, Kelly, you can do this. Kelly, you're gonna be this.

Chris King:

Kelly, you're gonna you know what I'm saying? Outside of fear.

Kelly G:

It was never a lot, like, never set up. Like, it was never, like, those expectations. Like, nothing was ever, like, set up. Like, I was I'm not gonna say back then they would say Kelly was rebellious. Mhmm.

Kelly G:

But, honestly, Kelly wasn't rebellious. Kelly like, I tell my kids all the time. I'm like, look. Like, we don't take no for an answer. If somebody tells you no, somebody gonna give you that yes.

Kelly G:

And until somebody give you that yes, you just gonna have to keep on trying. Mhmm. So it's like old school, they'll say it's rebelling. You know? But is it really rebelling, or you just mad because I'm not falling into, you know, a category that you're trying to put me

Chris King:

And so now you go on putting yourself through hair school. Mhmm. Right? And you're like, okay. I'm a get a yes regardless.

Chris King:

I'm a push through, do my thing. And so what what happens during that period?

Kelly G:

During my period when I was in hair school?

Chris King:

Yeah. And and a little bit after, the the next few years.

Kelly G:

So during my period when I was in hair school, I was trying to figure out childcare. I ended up going down to DFATS and applying for TANF Mhmm. Or whatever. And they was like, oh, well, if you get a job or if you go to school, then we'll provide childcare for you. Basically, I think I was probably paying, like, $25 a week or something.

Kelly G:

So I was like, okay. Cool. So then the funny part about it is I went even though I was going to hair school, DFAST told me, well, that's not gonna really make you self sufficient. So hair school technically does not count as going to school. So like I said, I was working at Wendy's Mhmm.

Kelly G:

So I was able to use that income. Instead of me saying I'm going to school, I was working. So they was able to provide me childcare.

Chris King:

Okay.

Kelly G:

So, yeah, so I I pushed my way, made my way through school. Schooling was a year. I did it exactly in a year. Yeah. It kinda crushed me too.

Kelly G:

I'll never forget, like, the day of the graduation from hair school. It was in Conyers at the horse park or something. So traffic was really bad, and my parents and they had my son too. Like, they got stuck in traffic, so they didn't even get to see me graduate. So that was kinda like that was heartbreaking, but I still did it.

Chris King:

Did you blame them?

Kelly G:

I didn't really blame them, but I think because it wasn't like a college graduation, it wasn't like, you know, like, oh, she's graduating hair school.

Chris King:

Yeah. So almost like it may not have been a priority.

Kelly G:

Right.

Chris King:

Yeah. Right. Wow. So now you got your son. You're going through hair school.

Chris King:

What's next?

Kelly G:

After I finished hair school, I went and got a job. My first job outside of hair school was I went on Boothrain on Canner Road in the plaza, the McAfee Cannon Road Flea Market Plaza. I was up there. I was like, okay. Like, it was cool, but I was like, wait a minute.

Kelly G:

I need some steady income. Like, I got this baby. Like, I'm no longer at this point working at Wendy's.

Chris King:

Okay.

Kelly G:

So I gotta make it off here. So I'm like, I got this baby. I gotta make some money. I'll never forget. I was working.

Kelly G:

The name of the shop was the Allaganzer, and the first lady that hired me out of school was miss Barbara Presley. And it was a very well known salon. I came in, and she was like, well, I could start you out on commission. So I was like, okay. Cool.

Kelly G:

So commission is cool if you making money.

Chris King:

Right. You gotta get hustle, you gotta get it.

Kelly G:

Right. If you ain't making money, so I mean, I was handwriting out flyers, making copies of flyers, putting flyers on people card, standing outside the beauty supply store that was next door. You know, basically almost just doing half a free, just trying to make ends meet. And at that point, I was still staying at home with my parents, but I'm like, I got this baby. Like, I gotta really get some bread.

Kelly G:

Like so I'll never forget. One day, I was at work at the Allaganza beauty salon, and my mom called. She was like, you got a letter here from state board because I had took the state board test. So I was like, well, what it say? She was like, well, I'm a let you open it when you get home.

Kelly G:

So I was like, no. I'm a just go ahead and open it. Tell them what to say so. She was like, well, it say you passed. I was like, oh, okay.

Kelly G:

Praise god. So I was all happy. So I was like, you know what? Now since I passed, like, I need to get a better job, like, just, you know, with doing hair. So I ended up stumbling across this job at Fantastic Sam's.

Chris King:

Okay.

Kelly G:

End up getting hired there. I stayed Hold on.

Chris King:

Hold on. I ain't never met no black person to work at Fantastic Sam's. So Right. You you like a first, man. It's like, damn.

Chris King:

I'm just like, fantastic Sam. Right. Okay. Yeah. Right.

Kelly G:

And, you know, that job was actually a really that that job was a true blessing. That job was a true blessing. But back up, When I was working on Cannon Road, I had met my daughter's father, my little daughter's father. And we started dating and stuff, and I was like, you know what? I ain't gonna be able to work up here, date.

Kelly G:

Like, I ain't making no money. Like, I just need to, like, get away, separate the two. So that's when I started working at Fantastic Sam's. And Fantastic Sam's, it was a true it was a true blessing. And the reason why I say that is because it taught me a lot.

Kelly G:

Because, I mean, sometimes as hairstylists, we think we know how to do hair. What you do know how to do hair, but it's certain things that you just don't know how to do. Like, in school, not gonna teach you everything. Like, e even from, like, color correction to, you know, proper haircutting skills, School teaches you that, but you don't really get that true hands on. And even though you're doing hair on the floor in hair school, every people not walking up in the hair schools like that for a haircut.

Kelly G:

Like, they walking up in it for a roller set, something real cheap. So you're really not getting your feet wet too much in hair school. It's just a little bit.

Chris King:

Mhmm.

Kelly G:

So yeah. So I was working at Fantastic Sam's. I moved up the ladder very, very quickly at Fantastic Sam's. And granted, I was not making that much at Fantastic Sam's, but it was a steady income. It was a steady paycheck.

Kelly G:

I knew exactly what I was gonna get paid. Mhmm. They had benefits, which that was good. They also did franchises. For every year you worked at Fantastic Sam's, they'll give you, like, I think, like, hundred thousand towards your own franchise.

Kelly G:

Okay. So that was my goal. And they was like, well, it's, like, 500,000 to get started, you know, with your own franchise. So that was my goal. I said, well, let me keep on working here at Builder so I can get my own, you know, Fantastic Sam's franchise.

Kelly G:

But God saw differently. So yeah. And, I mean, I worked the first owners I worked for at Fantastic Sam's, they were two Caucasian men. Very nice. They treated me well.

Kelly G:

And I'll never forget they had just opened. They was running like this special. It was a $4.95 haircut that came with a wash. Dang. And right.

Kelly G:

And How long ago? Right. It was it was a while ago. But even then, was dirt cheap. The thing about it is they were still paying us $15 commission on the haircut.

Kelly G:

And I told the owners, I was like losing. Y'all losing. Like, even though y'all got money, y'all rich, y'all y'all losing out. And I said, then what's gonna happen? These people that y'all bringing in for $5, when you move it up to 25, 30 dollars, these people are not coming back.

Kelly G:

Like, this is not your target audience. And just with cutting Caucasian hair, when you talk when you offer a hair for 5 when you offering a haircut for $5, I mean, I've seen all kind of mess come up in. I've seen lice. I've seen I I mean, it's like it it was bad. I was like, look.

Kelly G:

Either y'all gonna raise these prices or I'm out. Mhmm. So I kinda helped them, like, with their business model or whatever. They ended up closing down because, of course, charging $5 for a haircut and paying your stylist fifteen dollars commission, they end up getting beat out eventually. So Fantastic Sam's moved me to another Fantastic Sam's location, and that one was in Conyers.

Kelly G:

So I stayed there for a minute. So then they was like, oh, we need somebody to run the East Atlanta store in Ellenwood. And I was like, Ellenwood? I was like, I grew up I'm from Ellenwood. So I was like, okay.

Kelly G:

Cool. I'll go over there. Man, when I tell you, like, working for us, like, working with black people, when I tell you, I was like, you know what? I ain't gonna mention his name, but, yeah, that was like the worst owner that I worked for.

Chris King:

Say what you wanna say, Kelly.

Kelly G:

Yes. That was the worst owner

Chris King:

I worked Come on. Get it. Yeah. Come on. Give it to me.

Chris King:

Say it.

Kelly G:

I ain't gonna say his name because he ain't gonna get no free promo, I believe. But, yeah, I was just like I mean, it it was bad. Like, he like, I I was running the store. I could never get, like, a day off. When I did get a day off, somebody wouldn't come in.

Kelly G:

Had to end up going in. And I was like, you know and I told him straight up. I said, you know what? You shouldn't even have this salon. And he was like, what you mean?

Kelly G:

I said, because you can't even run this salon. I said, I could walk away today, and you wouldn't even know how to run your own business. So then he tried to lure me in with like, oh, with this and that and do this for God. I was like, you know what? I was like, you know what?

Kelly G:

I'm out.

Chris King:

That's a will do.

Kelly G:

Right. So

Chris King:

gave Lord. Come on, Kelly. Good for the Lord.

Kelly G:

And I I was real professional about it. I gave him more than a two week notice. I gave this man a month notice because I'm like, I know it's gonna take you a minute to find some replacement. I mean, this man got a family. He own like some Sylvan Learning Centers.

Kelly G:

So I just ain't wanna leave him hanging like that high and dry. Because, I mean, I'm a true believer. Like, you gotta do right by people, you know, like, because that karma will come back on you.

Chris King:

Exit right. Right. Exit well.

Kelly G:

So I said, you know, I gave him a month notice. So then he I already told him, basically, I'm resigning. Well, he's giving me, like, a list of things that I can do because I'm telling him, like, look. I'm not making enough money. I'm not happy here.

Kelly G:

Like, you know what I mean? Like, I'm just not happy. So he giving me, like, a list of things like, dude, did you not read my letter correctly? I told you I was quitting. So, you know, so I did have by that time, I did have two kids because with the guy that I end up meeting on Kenilworth Road, me and him end up getting married and having a child together.

Kelly G:

So well, we got pregnant then, got married or whatever, but I shouldn't have did that. But yeah. So I was like, you know what? You know, I tried

Chris King:

to So hold on. Back up because I'm I'm I'm following you. I'm following you. That trifle

Kelly G:

a real

Chris King:

nice because that I'm a follow you with the trifle Negro boss. Right? Then I'm following you. You married now or divorced with a kid with

Kelly G:

two kids? At Fantastic Sam's, I was married. Was married then.

Chris King:

Okay.

Kelly G:

Yeah. I I was married then, but honestly, in my head, in my mind, I was like, you know what? This job right here ain't paying me enough money, and I don't really wanna be with this dude no more. So I got So you

Chris King:

you making a break from both Yeah. Mentally and and physically, financially, everything. Right. Alright. This trifle Negro boss Mhmm.

Chris King:

And I assume the

Kelly G:

The trifle Negro. Yeah.

Chris King:

Right.

Kelly G:

And I'm just like, you know what? I'm just I'm just tired of it because by this time I had

Chris King:

Kelly, how do you stop being around Triflinique? Get your weight up. How do get rid of Triflinique?

Kelly G:

Get your paper up. Let's turn

Chris King:

there we go. We're turn this around. We're gonna do a detour away from the triflemancy. Right. Folks.

Chris King:

Right. Here we go. Alright.

Kelly G:

Right. So but you know what? Even though going through it then, I was like, man. But I do thank God for sending me through what I went through then Mhmm. Because it made me who I am now.

Kelly G:

So, anyway, once I gave the guy, the owner of Fantastic Sam's, the Ellenwood location, once I gave him my month notice and he gives me, like, all these ultimatums, I was like, you know what? I was like, bro, it's gonna be less than a month. Like, because at this point, now you're trying me. Mhmm. You know what I mean?

Kelly G:

Instead of saying, like, hey. And then he trying to bring my family into it, like, oh, don't forget you got two kids. You got this. Now keep in mind, I came from a very, very good

Chris King:

home. Right.

Kelly G:

In the back of my mind, I'm like, if I got to divorce this dude now, I can always move back in with my parents. But keep in mind, I had a talent. So even though I was working at Fantastic Sam's, I was still doing people hair on the side at home, which, you know, it was it was a decent amount of money. And he was staying in my place, so I wouldn't have left. He was gonna have to leave.

Chris King:

So but I'm I'm seeing I told you I like to pull out themes.

Kelly G:

Yeah.

Chris King:

Coming up, you have expectations Mhmm. What to do and really what not to do. Right. Those expectations driven by fear. Mhmm.

Chris King:

Okay? Now you win the the relationship and the, I guess, the the job. Right? Trying to leave and somebody's putting ultimatums on you by by fear, really.

Kelly G:

Right.

Chris King:

And you also have trying to leave a relationship and somebody's putting expectations on you or trying to put fear in your head. But at this point, when did it switch to say, I can do all this shit on my own?

Kelly G:

Right. It switched when I knew that if I walked away from this man's salon, his salon would be nothing.

Chris King:

Mhmm.

Kelly G:

And I was like, wait a minute. Like, keep in mind now, I'm like the head person. Now, he basically just paying bills. I'm seeing the income and I'm seeing the outgo too. And I'm like, wait a minute.

Kelly G:

And I'm also seeing what I'm making.

Chris King:

Right.

Kelly G:

You know? And I'm like, me taking home a few hundred dollars a week, then I'm making this man thousands. I'm like, this not adding up. And I do understand he has other employees. He got other obligations.

Kelly G:

I get that. But I'm like, keep in mind, if it was not for me, his business could not run. You know? And that's why I tell everybody, do not ever open up or invest into a business that if everybody walk away, that you can't run it. I see a lot of people that own hair salons, and they end up losing them because people think, oh, hair salons, quick money.

Kelly G:

Let me invest into a hair salon. Let me get me 10 boosts in there. Let me run them out $2.50 a week. That's $2,500 a month. That's $10,000 a month.

Kelly G:

Well, guess what? If you don't got people renting them booths, you're gonna be paying out of pocket. Mhmm. You know? So yeah.

Kelly G:

So I was like, you know what? It was just time to go. And it was when I say it was a lot going on, like, when I was married to the dude, it was just a lot going on, like, physically, mentally. And I was like, you know what? I gotta I gotta get away from this.

Kelly G:

I I just gotta I gotta get away from this. So I kinda in my mind, I never really told anybody my plan. In my mind, I knew I was like, you know what? It's time for me to go. So when I left Fantastic Sam's, I was in the same area in Ellenwood, and I went on Boofred.

Kelly G:

I went on Boofred in the back of this beauty supply store owned by this African guy, and I told him what was going on. So he was like, oh, no. You'll do good over here. So I gave it a chance, went went on boo front. Because remember, I was on Boo Front on Cannon Road, and I really wasn't make well, boo front slash commission.

Kelly G:

I really wasn't making no money, but years down the line, you know, I got more experience So I'm like, okay. And it's like, this got to work. You know what I mean? It wasn't no choice. Like, this got to work.

Kelly G:

So I started advertising on Craigslist. And this one, like it this was before Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat. I started advertising on Craigslist. Like, no lie. Every morning, I would get up.

Kelly G:

I sit on the floor because we had, like, a downstairs area. It ain't had no furniture in it. So I would sit on the floor, get my computer. I post every day on Craigslist before I got out, you know, took my kids and went to work. And that helped me build a clientele.

Kelly G:

And with me working in a beauty supply store, that's what made me come up with a deal with sew ins with hair included. Mhmm. And it's not the same price, but I'm I'm I'm still known as providing hair with sew ins. Mhmm. I was one of the first people in Georgia to do that.

Kelly G:

Mhmm. Probably really all over the world because people be like, oh, well, go get your own hair. Go get your own Because people weren't smart enough to, like, well, how can I stock this hair? You know? Because inventory costs money.

Chris King:

Right.

Kelly G:

Right. Well, if I'm in a beauty supply store

Chris King:

They're care of

Kelly G:

dude done already paid for the inventory, so I just gotta walk to the front Yeah. And get it, you know, and pay him out at the end of the week. Mhmm. So yeah. So from there, I stayed there probably about six months.

Kelly G:

Business was booming. My ex husband, his aunt owned a hair salon where it was salon suites. So I was like, alright. Cool. Like, I'm a go up there, you know, give family a chance or whatever.

Kelly G:

And it was alright up there, but keep in mind, they seeing how many people Yeah. Coming in. You know? And

Chris King:

Man. No. No. I'm I'm listening to you. I'm I'm I'm listening to you and and seeing because I'm pulling I'm pulling out.

Chris King:

Right? Right. And it's like, you know, you got you you got your two kids Mhmm. And you you're really just hustling. Right?

Chris King:

Because it I don't hear any special formalized training on how to run stuff. You just know

Kelly G:

Oh, yeah. You know, it was trial and error.

Chris King:

Right. And you just and you're just really hustling. It's at a time when you ain't got social media or whatever, so you're just, like, getting Craigslist and everything like that.

Kelly G:

Right.

Chris King:

So were you now that you're without the dude, right, are you back at at home? Or

Kelly G:

No. So at this point, I was still with him. That's when I started working at his aunt's salon on on Sweet Rental. And, I mean, the marriage was bad. They knew the marriage was bad.

Kelly G:

You know, like, me and we could just get into it. I still gotta go to work because I got clients. You know? Then I'm up here with his family. I'm like, I already don't like him.

Kelly G:

Now I gotta deal with, you know what I mean, the family and stuff too. So I was like, you know what? I stayed up there for a time, but they was like, they could see the money that was coming in. And then how the suites were set up, everybody had their own well, it was wired for you to have your own phone line. Well, I paid AT and T or BellShop, whatever it was then to come in and put me a phone in there.

Kelly G:

And I would be off some days because thank God at this point, I'm making a good amount of money. I don't have to work every single day no more. So they would be at work. Now I come in the next day. You know your phone was ringing all day yesterday?

Kelly G:

I was like, well, dang. Y'all mad because it was ringing light. I'm still paying my boyfriend, so I'm like, okay. Whatever. So at that point, I was like, you know what?

Kelly G:

I gotta get out of here. And then it was like, you know, they have come to me, like, certain family members about to lose their house. And I was like, what? You know, how how much, you know, how much is is she behind? Oh, well, you know, her mortgage was like $5.65.

Kelly G:

I'm like, $5.65? My rent's more than

Chris King:

that. Mhmm.

Kelly G:

And I'm just like, well, I don't know what to tell you. You know? A couple of times, I would help out.

Chris King:

And this is his family?

Kelly G:

Yes. Okay. His family. Times I would help out, then I would talk to my mom about it. She was like, they using your ass.

Chris King:

Yeah. So and that's what I wanna I wanna come back to because his family, they using you. Yeah. Alright. Your mama was right.

Chris King:

You're right. So now so what is your relationship with your family and your mom like at this this particular time? Because she's giving you that that insight like, nah, you being taken advantage of. So how's that dynamic knowing that you're about to make this exit from them?

Kelly G:

Make an exit from who from?

Chris King:

From a dude and his family.

Kelly G:

I'm a be honest. I never really told my parents a plan. Like, my dad, like, he he couldn't stand him. Like, he wanted me to divorce him. Like, he was like, look.

Kelly G:

Pay whatever for you to get rid of him. And I was like, no. You know? Because I ain't gonna lie, like, who really wants to be divorced? I already got one kid by, you know, one dude.

Kelly G:

Yeah. Now I got another kid that's supposed to be by my husband at the time. And I'm just like, you know, so you, like, you to make it work. You try to make it work.

Chris King:

So did ever think that, okay. If I do make this exit because this is something that people often tell women. Right? You got two kids. You got a failed marriage.

Chris King:

Ain't nobody really gonna want you like that.

Kelly G:

That wasn't the case for me.

Chris King:

Okay.

Kelly G:

I want that girl. Okay. I want looking for I was the catch. Mhmm. So I don't care if two kids or not.

Kelly G:

By this point, I by this time, I got my own money, my own thriving business, my own house. So I'm just like, I could pick and choose who and what I want. So I want I want that. Anything like dude was holding me back. You know I mean?

Chris King:

So it wasn't a fear?

Kelly G:

No. It wasn't never I I didn't never question if I was going to like and at that point, I wasn't even worried about getting into another relationship. Mhmm. At that point, I was really worried about me and my kids having a better life inside the house. Like, financially, everything was good.

Kelly G:

But just being in a, like, an environment where, you know, parents are, you know, physically getting into it and stuff. And I'm like and I told him, I was like, dude, like, I I I'm a divorce you. And he was like, why? I said, because I don't want my daughter marrying a man like you, and I don't want my son to be no man like you.

Chris King:

Because because now your parents, they were still together, thriving household, but Yeah. They weren't it didn't sound like they were contentious and and fighting back and forth.

Kelly G:

Oh, yeah. No. No.

Chris King:

My parents not something you saw.

Kelly G:

That ain't that that was nothing I was used to. And when my dad found out about it, like, my dad really wanted to kill him. Mhmm. Like, my dad really wanted to kill him. He said some days he drove by the house, and my mama begged him, like, please don't go over there.

Kelly G:

So I was like, you know what? And then at this point, like, my son my son ain't no ain't no small like, he he was small then, but my son was a football player. He played ball at University of Florida. So he won no little, you know, no no little boy. I was like, you know what?

Kelly G:

This joker's starting to get big. He's starting to tall. I said, He's not end up putting hands on him and then, you you don't know how that's going to play out.

Chris King:

Right.

Kelly G:

So I was like, No, this ain't it's just not healthy. And I was looking at myself, so by this time, Facebook had not came into play. Because I'll never forget, one day we was in the salon. Well, I'm kind of going before my story because I didn't tell y'all about the exit that I made when I left the his aunt's salon that owned the salon suites. So when I left there, I gave her my two weeks notice that that just I gave the man a month's notice at Fantastic Sam's.

Kelly G:

And when I gave her the notice, she took they had, like, a kitchen area. So she took me in the kitchen area and talked to me real crazy. Was like, yeah. I heard about you leaving because you got a slum and all this other stuff. Just talked to me real crazy.

Kelly G:

My boo front was a hundred and $50, and I gave her two weeks notice. I had $300 in my pike. Well, I had more than $300, but I pulled out $300 out of my pocket. I was like, today is my last day. I paid you my boo front for two weeks.

Kelly G:

I'm out. And it was crazy how the salon I moved to kind of fell into my lap because one of my clients she was just like

Chris King:

That's the one you own now?

Kelly G:

No. That was no. That's not the one I own now.

Chris King:

Okay. So that

Kelly G:

was another This was my very first location.

Chris King:

Okay. Okay.

Kelly G:

So, one of my clients came in. She was like, girl, like, the tension is high for today. I was like, girl, I am so ready to get up out of here. I was like, I gotta get my own space or whatever. So, she was like, you know, one of my friends just lost her salons down the street.

Kelly G:

And I was like, where it down the street? So it was across the street from this sports bar called Dugan's, and she was like, it's a salon across from Dugan's. And I was like, girl, I just rolled back there the other day. And I seen that, you know, the open sign was on. She was like, no.

Kelly G:

The owner just got the lights and stuff on, but she's not in there. So after I did her hair, I went down there, looked at it, talked to the owner, mister Kim, one of the best people I ever met in my life, talked to mister Kim, and I told him what was going on. So he was like, you can move in here tomorrow. And I was like, well, what do I need to move in? So he was like, first and last month rent.

Kelly G:

So I was like, okay. So I had just got me an income tax check. I took my whole income tax check and moved. So, yeah, so when I told the aunt about me moving or whatever, it was like she wasn't happy.

Chris King:

So we we now going through transition, relationship, and when you say transition, detours because you turned away from some of those, like relationship, business relationships, and now you're in your own salon, and your parents are still supporting you and and things like that. And a lot of times when we see we talk about when all hell breaks loose. Right? Mhmm. You know, sometimes that's self inflicted.

Chris King:

Right? Right. But, you know, me knowing part of your story too, there were some some things that you had to deal with that just wasn't about my decision to do hair, that wasn't about my decision to leave Fantastic Sands with the trifling I'm a keep talking about that trifling Negro boss until you say his name. But that that trifling Negro or a bad relationship, right, or relationship choice. There's sometimes, man, it's just stuff that just happens.

Chris King:

Just, you know and, like, for me, I remember one of the big turning points in my life that caused me to detour was, my mother's my mother, she was, diagnosed with cancer, and I didn't know it. And I was taking her to chemo, and didn't even know it. And she so my mother used to, she used to lie down in the floor, and every Saturday morning, we would eat nachos. Right? And she would lie down on the floor watching Golden Girls two two seven and Amen.

Chris King:

Right? Golden Girls two two seven and Amen. But sometimes she would do her own hair. Mhmm. She would put a relaxer in her hair.

Chris King:

And this one time she laid down just she laid down in the middle of the floor in the living room, and she fell asleep with a relaxer in her hair. Now, she didn't wash it out and it's like, all the relaxer took out my hair.

Kelly G:

Mhmm.

Chris King:

But she actually was going through chemo and actually had already lost her hair Mhmm. In chemo. And so that was one of the turning points. And I I know about your story a little bit because, like, sometimes that's just stuff that we just, as young people, we don't plan on.

Kelly G:

Right.

Chris King:

Right? We never think about, we never plan on. And I know that was a part of your journey. Some something similar to you. Not exactly, but Mhmm.

Chris King:

Something similar. So help us help me understand you have a thriving home that you grew up in. Mhmm. Right? A supportive home.

Chris King:

And you have your mom giving you points like, hey. Look. These people taking kit you know, taking advantage of you Mhmm. And everything. But now as things go on, things shift because you start seeing them go through things that make you have to make some detours and changes as well.

Chris King:

So, you know, help me understand some of that that you went through as well.

Kelly G:

Seeing them go through things such as what? Seeing my parents go through?

Chris King:

Yeah. Your parents and and just, you know, your family. Your family life outside of relationship choices.

Kelly G:

Yeah. So I can remember shortly after when my baby girl turned one. She turned one in January of twenty eighteen, and I can't remember the dates exactly. But I do remember me and my current husband, we were out at this place called Crew. Mhmm.

Kelly G:

And my dad, he was like, yeah. We're at the hospital with your mom, and I think she just got, like, a bad stomachache. And I was like, what you mean? But I can remember she would tell me, like, she had really she was getting, like, really, really bad acid reflux. Well, my mom, she loves spicy food.

Kelly G:

She loved to do, like, all kind of health stuff. So I'm thinking in my head, like, maybe she not took too much apple cider vinegar Mhmm. You know, or whatever. So my dad, he joked. He said, the doctors are saying your mom done kinda caused an explosion in her stomach because she took apple cider vinegar and baking soda.

Chris King:

So Yeah. Boy, my mama was on that baking soda tub, man. Just sticking her finger in there. Right. Like, what are y'all doing?

Chris King:

Yeah. So anyway I was like, come on, mama.

Kelly G:

So anyway, they kept her because, you know, I'm out. Like, me and my husband, like, we having drinks. It's Saturday night. Like, we just kicking it. So I'm like, okay.

Kelly G:

Well, mama gonna be alright. So then the next day I called my dad, I was like, y'all still at the hospital? He was like, yeah. Because they still no more tests because they don't know what's going on. So I said, okay.

Kelly G:

So then a couple of days later, he called back. He was like, I need for y'all to come down here. So I was like, for what? So he was like, I need for y'all to come down here. So I went down, and it's kinda like a blur now.

Kelly G:

But he was like the doctor was like that my mom had stage four gastric cancer or whatever. So I had, like, this whole spring break trip mapped out. Like, I had rented this house in Florida for, like, me and my sister, her kids, her husband. You know, me and my husband, my kids, my mom, and dad, we was just gonna all go down there and kick it. So I'm like, I knew about cancer, but I ain't no, and because I never dealt with like, I heard people say they lost a loved one in cancer.

Kelly G:

I have never lost nobody to cancer. So I'm like, okay. Cool. So oh, you know what? Back up.

Kelly G:

I totally forgot about her breast cancer. So she had breast cancer. I forget what year she had breast cancer in. Well, she ended up beating that. She had the mastectomy, got the breast implants done.

Kelly G:

She was fine, like, you know, cancer free. Mhmm. But the cancer was in her left breast. So when she did get diagnosed with the stage four gastric cancer, your stomach is on your left side. So when I was doing research, I was telling my sister, I was like, I think when they went in there and did all that breast reconstruction and stuff, I think the cancer probably moved to her stomach.

Kelly G:

Yeah, long story short so back to that story, we went to the hospital when she had got diagnosed and I had the trip planned for Florida for the whole family or whatever, I asked the doctor. I was like, well, is she gonna be cool for spring break? And he was like, I'm not sure. So, you know, he telling me stuff, he was like, go home and do your research. Because, I mean, we all send it in, you know, in his face.

Kelly G:

Even though you deal with something like that on a daily basis, him being a, you know, a cancer doctor, how can you really look somebody's family in the face and be like, look, your mom is gonna die in a couple of months. Yeah. You know? So he was he he told me, he was like, get out the little pen and paper. He was like, write all this stuff down.

Kelly G:

He said, want you to go home and do your research. Mhmm. So when I went home and did my research, I was like, oh my god. Like, my mom is literally, like, on her deathbed. Mhmm.

Kelly G:

So we ended up she ended up going through chemo, and I went down there to chemo her for a couple of times, and I was just like just couldn't sit down there because even though my mom, like, on the outside, she, like, she was doing good just sitting in that room just watching, like, all these people families, like, go through it, getting all this stuff injected into them. I was like, I couldn't keep on going down to the chemo thing. So, and then I was I was a busy mom too. My daughter was cheering. My son was playing ball, and it was crazy because, he was playing high school football then.

Kelly G:

So her chemo would be, like, on a Thursday. But then they'll put this chemo pack on

Chris King:

her. Mhmm.

Kelly G:

Mhmm. So she had to wear that chemo pack to the game every Friday. She always would, like, wear, like, some clothing over it trying to hide it. Then on Sunday, she'll go and get the chemo pack removed. But through that whole point, like, she kept on fighting through, kept on fighting through.

Kelly G:

So even though they gave her a couple of months to live, she lived about three years after her diagnosis. And I think what when she started going downhill, I never forget, like and, I mean, I I had done because she couldn't eat then. Like, I mean, I had was giving her, like I had bought her some, like, expensive tea that's supposed to, like, kill the cancer and slow it down, which I think that probably helped. She couldn't eat, so I'm doing my research. I was like, look.

Kelly G:

One of my clients was making edibles. I was like, I think if you could make my mom some edibles, and she was eating the like, keep in mind, like, my mom, she was not, like, a drug addict at all. But at this point, we're trying to figure out how to keep her here, how can we keep her alive longer. So that's how she was able to eat. I got her, like, some CBD, THC, like, infused honey.

Kelly G:

She'll put that in her coffee in the morning. That made her eat throughout the day because they didn't want her losing weight. She had already lost a lot of weight. They didn't want her losing weight. So once she got to the point where none of that stuff was working as far as her eating, they was like, well, we gotta give her a feeding tube.

Kelly G:

Mhmm. So she went in for surgery to have the feeding tube put in, and they rolled her back out. They was like, she's not gonna be able to get the feeding tube. And we was like, why? They was like, we when we open her up, like, the cancer is just everywhere.

Kelly G:

So I was like, wow. So I'm like, what do we do now? So they kept her in the hospital for a couple of days, and her oncologist her name was doctor Reddy. I'll never forget doctor Reddy. She came down there telling us what was going on.

Kelly G:

Like, she was in tears. She was like, you need because at this point, my son, he was away at boarding school at IMG

Chris King:

Mhmm.

Kelly G:

In Branson, Florida. My nephew, he was away at Union College, both of them were playing ball. So they was like, you probably wanna get, you know, all the kids home. They kinda just see us. So I was like, okay.

Kelly G:

Cool. So my son and my mom had a really, really close relationship. So he was texting my mom, but I'm responding back to the text. And he's just like, this not this not your responding, grandma. Mhmm.

Kelly G:

This this not how you talk. So I'm trying to read back through their messages to figure out, like, how they talk in their conversation. So he's very smart, so he figured it out. So I sent him a plane ticket. I said, look.

Kelly G:

I need for you to come home. So he was like, grandma, okay? So I was like, yeah. I'll never forget. I picked him up from the hospital.

Kelly G:

He was like, mom, you've been crying. I was like, yeah. So I was like, it's grandma. And he just kinda broke down. So then when I took him into when we finally got to Northside and he just seen my mama laying in the bed, like, he just broke down, like, crying.

Kelly G:

So I was like, man, this is gonna be rough. So they were talking about hospice. And my dad was like, well, I'm not taking I can't take her home because every time I pass over to that spot, I think about it. And I'm like, what? I was like

Chris King:

So, like, as she's tran because, really, when you're talking about hospice, they're transitioning.

Kelly G:

Transitioning. Right.

Chris King:

Right. Now you're trying to make it the transition as comfortable as possible. And it's, like, our job to try and help family members deal with it, prepare, and plan for basically the inevitable.

Kelly G:

Right. Right.

Chris King:

And so, you know, that's also a time where many families start going at it. Mhmm. You know what I'm saying? It's like, you know, as a former pastor, I see when families act a fool the most Right. Is when loved ones, you know, transition.

Chris King:

Mhmm. You know? And so, you know, help me understand, you know, I because you're about to get into the conflict. Right? Some of the conflict.

Chris King:

But in that conflict, there's still so many sub subplots. Right? Like, we were watching a movie, there's, like, all of a sudden, it's like, your son, his his his experience

Kelly G:

Right.

Chris King:

Losing that. But being away, I can relate. That's how it was. I got the call from my mother. Right?

Chris King:

Wow. That's a way in college playing ball. Hey. You need to come home. Right?

Kelly G:

Yeah.

Chris King:

And then we have you sitting there going through your dad, all these all these different subplots. Mhmm. You know? So does that affect anything in you in regards to how you move now and how you operate with with business and how you raise your family and what you're like, how does that affect because those are big moments

Kelly G:

Right.

Chris King:

That you can't deny that they have some type of an effect. How did that whole experience affect you and what you do now?

Kelly G:

I know when because when somebody's on hospice, like, you have to make a decision quick, and I mean, like, within hours. Like, you can't be like, oh, well, let us think about it over a couple of weeks' time. No. Like Right. If they're saying we're going to release her to hospice, we need to know if y'all gonna do a hospice care facility or if y'all gonna do home hospice.

Kelly G:

And when my dad was like, I can't take her home, and I'm just like and, you know, I had to kinda come back. I was like, you know what? This is my mom. Like, by this time, I got this driving business. And it could be times when, you know, business was driving, but it was more money outgoing than it was coming in.

Kelly G:

My mama quickly turned over her American Express here, get what you need. You know what I mean? Pay me back whenever. So my mom was always there for me. Even with building my business, my mom basically raised my kids.

Kelly G:

Even though my kids live with me, my mom would pick them up from school, cook dinner for them. By the time I pick them up, they're ready to just go home and go to bed. So she played a very a vital part in their life. So I was like, there's no way even though she's my mom, this lady's been there for me during some of my darkest times. It's no way that in her ending of life, I'm gonna put her at a facility when we're talking about Atlanta traffic.

Kelly G:

You never know the time or the album when somebody's gonna pass. I want you know, it could be, you know, traffic jam or whatever because I think they said the closest place that they had was in Covington, Georgia. And I'm like, no way I'm putting my mom down in Covington, Georgia. Now now I'm thinking like Covington, Georgia. I'm thinking like, I'm my mom down in Covington, Georgia away from us by around a whole bunch of white folks.

Kelly G:

Like, nah. So, luckily, in my home, I had a full I have a full finished basement. Mhmm. So I was able to bring my mom home into our home on hospice care. It worked out good.

Kelly G:

We got a couple of bathrooms, couple of bedrooms down there. Worked out good. So the nurse was able to, you know, live comfortably for those for those two weeks that she lived, but it was just kinda like a blur when it was happening. I was like it was like I was almost in the in the twilight zone because it was like it was just one thing after another. So it was a lot to handle.

Chris King:

So you I'm hearing so many things where we connect. Right? Mhmm. One of the things when my mother passed away, the day she passed away, my my younger brother, he was in high school, and he had a football game that day. And he said, no.

Chris King:

I'm a play. Right? And I remember you telling me, like, the day, you know, when your mother left, you still had clients.

Kelly G:

Right.

Chris King:

And, you know, for my brother, it was a way to memorialize and honor my mother.

Kelly G:

Right.

Chris King:

And you continue to to go about your thing. You know what I'm saying? It's like, okay. No. And it wasn't about when I talked with you, it wasn't about the money.

Kelly G:

Right.

Chris King:

You know, it was like, you know, she helped me build this. So it's almost like an honor to continue to, you know, work while she was while she was transitional, while she had transitioned. Do you still look at your business today as a way to honor your mother?

Kelly G:

Always. It's funny. In the back of my business, it's a microwave back there. Right? Because now I pay a cleaning company to come in, but my mom was alive and thriving.

Kelly G:

My mom will come up there and clean. She would come because she was retired. You know? She'll come up there and clean. She ain't have she ain't have much to do.

Kelly G:

She'll come up there and clean. She might thread some needles. She might, you know, come up there and help me out, you know, do a braid down here and there, but it's a microwave. Microwave really need to be thrown away, but it's crazy. We still use it.

Kelly G:

Like, it's probably gonna blow up, like, any day now. But she got, like, a hand wrote letter on the microwave that says, please clean up after yourself when using a microwave and cover your food with the, you know, the paper towel with a lid so it don't splatter. So, I mean, the letter is faded and everything, but everybody know, like, don't touch that letter. Like, do not move that letter. But one of the last words my mom said to me, she was like, keep she she was laying down in the hospital bed, so she motioned me to come closer.

Kelly G:

So I did. So she was like, keep going. Those, like, the last words that she said to me. So she died February 13, '2 thousand and '20 right before COVID hit. And she died early, early in the morning, And I had a lot of clients on the book.

Kelly G:

It's the day before Valentine's Day. Every woman wanted to get their hair done for Valentine's Day. So I picked myself up. I was like, man, once they came and picked her up or whatever, they pronounced her deceased and they came and picked her up. Well, it was nothing that I could do at that point.

Kelly G:

You know what I mean? Because, I mean, the cemetery I don't even think the cemetery was open yet for us to go, you know, and handle the business at the cemetery. So I end up going to work, And my clients was like, oh my god. Like, how are you able to work? And I was like, I don't know.

Kelly G:

And if if it was to happen well, of course, it won't happen again because, I mean, you don't get another mama. But I don't how I did it, don't know. But I also know I could not let my clients down and my mom told me to keep going. And then dealing with this whole time when my mom was on hospice and in and out the hospital, I had an employee there. She was a good employee, but she was also a thief.

Chris King:

Mhmm.

Kelly G:

Like, she was doing a lot of stealing. I guess she didn't think I knew that she was stealing, but I knew she was stealing. But at that time, like, being with my mom and being able to kinda, you know, be there for my mom's, you know, last part of her life, it mattered way more than money. Mhmm. And I'm a firm believer that, you know, pharma is real.

Kelly G:

Like, you can call it pharma. You could speak on the biblically or whatever, but you can't do wrong by others and think rights gonna come back to you. And, you know, people be like, you got her up there. You know she's stealing. And I'm like, yeah.

Kelly G:

But at this point, what am I to do? Like, do I fire her and then work and leave my mom? Or, you know, what do I do? So I'm like, you know what? Forget about it.

Kelly G:

Like, I mean, I was still making money. So

Chris King:

You know, when I when I was first introduced to you, I said it's it's really funny because this show was, like, bringing out more purpose than me. Right?

Kelly G:

Oh, wow.

Chris King:

Because I said one of my purposes or one of my things is to find themes

Kelly G:

in

Chris King:

people's lives. And and I'm sitting here just listening. Just Mhmm. And I'm, like, just finding themes. And you, yes, you chose to do hair, but you that was something that was in you.

Chris King:

But and that's cool. Right? And, you know, I I think a hairstylist barbers as being a pillar in the black community. Right?

Kelly G:

You

Chris King:

got church, You got fraternities. You got and sororities, and you got the barbershop and the hair salons. Right.

Kelly G:

Right.

Chris King:

So I I look at that as being, like, one of the pillars of of the black community. That's where a lot of us get our therapy.

Kelly G:

Yes. You know?

Chris King:

And and I can just imagine all the therapeutic conversations you've had and and all and all those other things that had to fight through tension and helping people fight through tension. But your job is really making people beautiful. But what really solidified this theme is when I hear your story, you not only make people beautiful, you, you know, you make ugly people look pretty. Right? So I know you'd have, like, girl, you know, good and dog gone well.

Chris King:

This ain't gonna look right on your head, but I'll do it. But you make people look pretty when they don't feel like it sometimes. Because a lot of people out here just feeling bad, suffering from depression and all all kinds of things. But most often, you went in honor of your mother because your mother said, don't stop. She said, keep going Mhmm.

Chris King:

Specifically. You went and made people feel beautiful when your life was ugly.

Kelly G:

Right.

Chris King:

And so, I wanna take this time to speak because that is just now I was wondering why God was just giving me that in regards to when we talked earlier. It's like because you, you didn't worry about the the beauty and and all those other things. And there's a description where he says, I'll give you beauty for ashes. Right? And and and I just think about how you went during that time and say, look, y'all wanna look pretty for Valentine's Day.

Chris King:

I'm gonna pour my heart into my mama and say, keep going. I'm gonna help you look beautiful even when my life is looking ugly right now. Right. And so I had plans to do all this other stuff. I had plans to have my mama alongside and everything else, but and she's just transitioned.

Chris King:

But here, I'm here for you. So I say that to say that was a huge sacrifice. Mhmm. Right? And I pray that God just continues to bless you and honors that that that sacrifice and bless your business.

Chris King:

But on then on on the flip side, there's even more to that, and I mentioned this to you earlier that you continue to make people look beautiful. Mhmm. But I think the next step is to help outside match inside.

Kelly G:

Right.

Chris King:

Right? So with what you're doing, I just commend you. And it's not easy because you've taken some detours and I feel like that's your next detour, that outside is gonna match inside. Meaning that, okay, we've done this work out here. Alright?

Chris King:

Mhmm. And and I'm talking about the people that you your clients. Right? And I just really pray that, you know, you continue to embrace that challenge. Mhmm.

Chris King:

And because it's not always easy, it's not always rosy. In the environment, you got tons of women. You got I always say you put three women in a work in in a room together, you got conflict. You know? So, you know, two, they might get along.

Chris King:

Right. Three, nah. You got a problem. A lot of tension. Yeah.

Chris King:

So, you know, helping people navigate that, but, you know, you're just feeling so secure about, hey, Sometimes you gotta step out there. Sometimes you gotta keep going. Mhmm. And if there's anything I want anybody to get out of this conversation is keep going. Right.

Chris King:

And you mentioned that, and I'm like, okay. I'm just hearing Chris, you need to tell even Kelly, keep going. Mhmm. Don't stop. Keep going when it when you don't know what it looks like.

Chris King:

Keep going when, all hell is breaking loose. Keep going when, you know, the rug gets pulled from underneath you. Just keep going. And this next stage, yeah, you have a thriving business. Yeah.

Chris King:

You know, you wasn't that chick to where you, you know, was wondering about what knew you was the prize. Right? But I just say, just keep going. Don't stop. And I just wanna commend you just from the bottom of my heart to seeing all of that, the kids and everything else.

Chris King:

Keep freaking going. Now you're part of when all hell breaks this family. I'm be riding you, what you doing, Kelly? Keep going. Right?

Chris King:

Let's not quit. But I wanna thank you, Kelly, for all that you've shared. I mean, you've poured out your heart, you know, you didn't cry, great, all kept your lashes, you weren't doing all that. And so I just wanna, you know, just commend you and just say thank you for sharing all that and just giving me that message and just I just encourage you. But tell the people how they can find you.

Kelly G:

You can find me on Instagram at I am kariah, and, yeah, follow me. I do follow back.

Chris King:

Good deal. That is Kelly g. So for all of y'all out there, like, subscribe, tell your friends, tell your neighbors, even tell your enemies, but tell them we'd love to follow us on and subscribe on the When All Hell Breaks Loose podcast because life is worth living and so are you. And just like Kelly g and her mama said, keep going. Just keep going.

Chris King:

Sometimes it gets hard, but keep going. Don't quit. We're here for you. We wanna empower you. We wanna continue to encourage you, but you gotta subscribe, gotta follow, gotta like us.

Chris King:

When All Hell Breaks News podcast. I'm your boy, Chris King. Y'all be blessed.