Damienne Flagler is a beauty boss and CEO of hair and skincare brand Denine Defined. She has a roster of high-profile clients including: Love & Hip Hop Atlanta’s Shekinah Jo, infamous model and wildly popular influencers Bhad Bhabie, Woah Vicky, Kung Fu, Deelishis, recording artists Asian Doll, Molly Brazy and others. The popular Atlanta-based entrepreneur will host her annual $250,000 giveaway for Metro Atlanta beauty enthusiasts and the local community on Saturday, November 20th from 9 am – Midnight. This year’s event is a Candyland-themed giveaway called “Laceland Free Fest: a Damienne Flagler Game of Lace Slay Adventures”.
Fans and patrons will come from miles around to stand in line for free wigs, installations, styling services, makeup, massages, and tons of products to help instill a sense of inner beauty, outer beauty, and self-love amongst Damienne’s clients and surrounding communities.
Tell us about how the hair ministry went from your side hustle to a multimillion-dollar business.
I’m from Clearwater, a very small, I would say kind of country city in Florida. My mom was a stylist so I grew up in the salon – when I would get into trouble my mom would “punish” me by having me wash and detangle her client’s hair. So growing up I never wanted to do hair, I dreamed of becoming a doctor to rescue and resuscitate people. This is how I actually earned the nickname; “Dr. Flagler”. Once I got into doing hair as a career, I realized that doing hair is still a form of saving lives – it became a form of “ministry” to serve people in my own unique way.
My specialty is installing and styling lace front wigs and custom hair units, so I came up with the motto: “Slay a Lace, Save a Life” because so many of us are dealing with confidence, self-esteem issues, and stuff like that. The way one looks I feel like I was called to this industry, to not only help boost the confidence of the people but to also help understand my mother from the past, because I’ve never really understood her. She was always doing hair to the point where she actually built a salon in our garage. When I would come home from school, she would have clients lined up in the garage and so there is like a type of stance where I can say I was born into it.
That’s where my ambition was first sparked as well. I started off selling butt cream initially and I learned quickly that the beauty industry is one of the most thriving, lucrative, and growing businesses – over the years my products have expanded into full hair care and skin care product lines.
What does it take to build a successful brand?
Building a strong and successful brand takes consistency, a clear understanding of the brand’s identity, and lots of hard work! For me, it is also about remaining relevant and relatable to my client base. They love feeling like I’m one of them, and I am!
Tell us about Denine Defined.
I definitely believe Denine Define is unique because we make people feel good. We remind them of the queens and kings that they are, and we do a lot of giving. Aside from giving them the services that we offer, we give back to those who believed in us. For example, with the Free Fest that I have coming up, we’re doing, free wig installations, we’re giving out free wigs, we’re doing free makeup, nail designs, eyebrow tinting, teeth whitening, massages, and so much more just to give back because not everybody can afford to come into the most sought after salon.
Also, it’s not just a one-time a year thing (like with the Free Fest), I have something every day of the week. The mission is to try to give everyone a chance to get that celebrity look or to feel like a celebrity. Everyone thinks I’m a celebrity stylist but I don’t feel like that. I feel like I’m for the people. If you want to feel like a celebrity, I’m gonna make you feel like a celebrity but we don’t care about the status. We don’t care if you have zero followers, or a million followers, you’re going to come out feeling like the celebrity you want to feel like because that is our job.
Your famous clients include Love & Hip Hop Atlanta’s Shekinah Jo, infamous model and wildly popular influencers Bhad Bhabie, Woah Vicky, Kung Fu, Deelishis, recording artists Asian Doll, Molly Brazy, Jhonni Blaze, Cuban Doll, and many more! Why do they love Denine Defined?
My high-profile clients love me and I love them back but they’re less like celebrities, and more like family to me. It means a lot to me because I know that they can choose whoever they want to do their hair and they choose to sit in my chair. Atlanta has no shortage of amazing stylists so to be considered as part of their glam squad and ultimately their part of their image is a responsibility and relationship that I don’t take lightly.
What will people notice when working with you?
My clients will come and experience a fly hairstyle but they will also experience my personality. After that, they come back for the energy, the vibes, and they come in there to be saved for the day.
Tell us about your popular Denine Defined skincare line and the waterproof and sweat resistant wig adhesive, G.O.A.T. Glue.
The G.O.A.T Glue is the secret formula. Clients love coming to me because they’re going to get a confidence boost and a long-lasting wig install. Not only will their energy be boosted, but their lace is gonna be secured. When I say my clients can go swimming, they can sweat while working out, they can go through snow or sandstorm and that wig is gonna still be installed. That is the secret formula. My G.O.A.T Glue is a product I created and I want stylists all over to have access to it. I have a whole line of products that not only just me but stylists all over the world can use. Cardi B stylist recently reviewed it on Instagram saying how amazing it is.
Giving back is important to you Tell us about your annual $250K giveaway event, LACELAND FREE FEST” on Nov 20, 2021, in Smyrna, Georgia.
Each year I host a $250,000 giveaway for Metro Atlanta beauty enthusiasts and the local community. This year’s event is a Candy Land-themed giveaway called “Laceland Free Fest” is produced by Trea Day CEO, Trea Davenport, who is also my brand manager – and Akia Brown of Bringing Memories Back.
Laceland is a play-on lace front wig, which is my specialty! My Denine Defined stylists and I will be giving away lace front wigs, installations, styling services, makeup, massages, and a ton of products to help instill a sense of inner beauty, outer beauty, and just general self-love. It’s EPIC!
Last year, there were over a thousand people lining the street from her salon all the way to the freeway – the line literally starts forming at 4 am! This year, we expect the number to be nearly doubled. It starts at 9 am and goes all the way through midnight!
Tell us about the fun-filled day.
You can’t imagine seeing the sea of faces of beautiful people lined up to receive free beauty services and products, there will be life-size games, specifically a custom 10ft x 24ft Laceland game board designed by an incredible local artist, and other activities that will engage the attendees in a socially distanced fun, outdoor environment.
There will also be a colossal tent that houses vendors, food, and other goodies – as well as a tent for braiding. Live performers will take the stage between 12 pm and 6 pm featuring some local and national celebrities and aspiring artists. Laceland will be live-streamed so everyone can tune in!
What excites you the most about the event?
What excites me the most is seeing the reactions of the people’s faces getting the free products and also giving the upcoming artists a platform in front of a large crowd and to feel the rush of broadcasting live for a global audience.
I’m also very excited that Denine Define has flourished in spite of a national pandemic – so being able to sow into my community on this level as such as young age is really exciting.
Share your vision as an entrepreneur and philanthropist for 2022
I plan to expand my locations to the west coast, teach more classes, facilitate an overnight branding retreat, and secure national distribution for my product lines.
Instgram: @damienneflager
TikTok: @damienneflagler
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