Meet Monifa Caines | Non Conformist Veteran CEO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Monifa Caines and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Monifa, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Queen of Spades Style started first from a necessity I had and quickly turned into my passion. After a lot of contemplation, I decided to stop putting a chemical relaxer in my hair because it constantly left burns on my scalp. A chemical relaxer is a creme that is applied to the hair to make textured hair very straight. The chemical relaxer included lye and lye is even used to make battery acid – that’s how strong it is. I had this same creme applied to my hair every month for decades to hide my natural hair pattern, appear ‘professional’ and to assimilate into what the beauty standard is. One day, I decided I was not going to apply this chemical in my hair any more, I was going to stop hurting my scalp every month to make others feel more comfortable about my hair. While I was growing out my natural hair, I went to various department stores, boutiques, big box retailers and walked through aisles of accessories. After walking through all those aisles, I could not find one hair accessory that was made for thicker hair textures. I went to different stores and started to purchase supplies and started making my own hair accessories for my hair. I made head wraps, head bands, hair combs and hair pins that were colorful and celebrated my hair texture. I would walk down the street wearing hair accessories I made and women would come up to me and even cross the street to ask me where I purchased the hair accessories I was wearing. I realized a lot of other women had the same issue I had with finding accessories for their own hair texture, It was at that moment that Queen of Spades Style was born! I wan to help women accentuate their beauty regardless of their hair texture and live their authentic selves with a lot of style.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a creative person. I absolutely love art and the items I hand craft are all works of art. What sets me apart from other accessory businesses is my innovative ideas of accessories blended with my use of bright colors and patterns. I design and hand-make what I sell. I am most proud of making sure I have options for different skin tones and hair textures. I not only work with women with all hair textures but I also work with cancer survivors. I love speaking with them and hearing their stories. I ask them how they are feeling, where would they wear the head wrap (everyday/event/activity), if they get hot flashes or feel cold? It’s important to me to tailor the fabric that is best suited for them regardless if they want skull and bones or a butterfly pattern. Since I used to be a registered nurse in the United States Air Force, working with survivors blends the art of nursing with my creative side beautifully. I always wanted to start my own business but I never knew the type of business I wanted to wake up and do every day. Life events helped me find my passion and I am excited for each customer and each day. It was not easy to start my business because being a business owner was foreign to me. I take a business course at each stage of my business because I have new questions, new problems, new projections, new plans to navigate as I grow. I believe the more you know, the less mistakes you can make and that equates to less money you can lose. I have made some mistakes that cost me money but I have learned to always have a plan B, C, D and an ‘if all else fails’ plan. Fail fast and recover quick! All the courses I have been taking help me to talk about and work through the challenges as I am going through them. I am also a part of a village of entrepreneurs and I can also call anyone in my village too ask advice or for their thoughts.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in Las Vegas and there are plenty of things t do and get into. I definitely suggest a tour of the Las Vegas Strip, one f the many restaurants. I am still trying to get tickets to Hell’s Kitchen. Seeing one of the current shows. There are creative dance shows, Cirque de Soleil and singers. I would hope someone would like to see Usher with me. The Shark Reef, High Roller Ferris Wheel, the Mob Museum and of course Allegiant Stadium for an exhilarating game. There are wonderful places to go off of the Las Vegas Strip. There is a wonderful club that has a live band sometimes and it is called Blue Martini. There is the Arts District where you can see performers, artists, plays and other interesting things.
Freemont Street should not be overlooked. It is more old Las Vegas and there are tons of things to see and do there.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I definitely believe one does not get anywhere by themselves. I have so much help in my journey. I definitely want to shout out all the staff members and my cohorts in the entrepreneurial business programs I took that continues to make Queen of Spades Style successful. Dog Tag Inc, Service2CEO, Project Opportunity, The Workshop at Macy’s, Bunker Labs Veterans in Residence and IVMF Entrepreneurial Bootcamp for Veterans.
I especially want to thank Joe Giordano from Project Opportunity who has walked step by step with me and shared his guidance and support on my journey to success. I want to thank Meghan Ogilvie for inspiring me and having a program that started my fire to share my gifts and turn it into a business. I want to also thank the Dynamic Duo, Brenda Warren and Lisa Ducharme. They believe in me, counsel me to continue to be better and they want to see me win.

Website: https://www.queenofspadesstyle.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queen_of_spades_style/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/queen-of-spades-style

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/QueenofSpadesStyle

Image Credits
0.jpeg Ronetta Jones 0.1.jpeg Francis Raybaud 0.2.jpeg 0.3.jpeg Mikayla Pittman 0.4.jpeg 0.5.jpeg Monifa Caines 0.6.jpeg 0.7.jpeg Akua Devall