Dream come true: Iraq War Navy veteran opens Lafayette's newest Black beauty supply store
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Right outside of the Super Walmart on Veterans Memorial Parkway, eagle-eyed shoppers may have noticed a new sign in the distance.
Holley’s Beauty Supplies – Lafayette’s newest Black beauty supply store.
As guests walk into the store, they are welcomed to a myriad of colorful hair extensions and wigs that hang along the wall of the store, as well as rows of beauty care products. The inventory is aimed at ethnic hair.
Behind the counter, guests are greeted by the bubbly and excited owner, LaShai Perry, who has worked tirelessly to make her dream a reality.
More: Attica community embraces wounded veteran, who will receive donated custom home
Perry credits the Community Investment Fund of Indiana for making her dreams come true. A loan from the fund helped her make the dream a reality.
“CIFI furthered my process in becoming a business owner by believing in me. CIFI reminded me that sometimes even the sky isn't the limit for those with determination and drive,” said Perry.
While Perry initially opened the store to give the community another option with competitive prices, the store has also been a blessing for Perry.
On top of being a business owner and a single mom, Perry is also a Navy veteran from the Iraq War. For years, she’s struggled with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from her time at war.
More: Lafayette's Lincoln Neighborhood a focus of community enhancement plan
For years, the act of raising her kids kept her motivated and her mental illness at bay, but as her babies started to leave the nest, she found it harder and harder to stay motivated.
Ever since she opened Holley’s Beauty Supplies, though, the daily struggle has become easier, in large part, because, “this store has been keeping me busy and not dwelling on my thoughts,” said Perry.
Behind her bright smile hides the struggle Perry had to endure for years before she opened her own business.
War stories
Before Perry had any roots in Lafayette, she was lived with her mother in Chicago. She grew up in a rougher part of Chicago, Perry said, where it was common to hear about a shooting on the nightly news. Although she loved her family and her community, at age 17, Perry knew she wanted to leave.
She joined the military in 1997.
As her first stint was ending, Perry considered if she wanted to re-enlist and make a career out of the military. Then Sept. 11, 2001, happened, and that decision was as clear as day.
“After 9/11, I re-enlisted in '01. There was no way, I couldn’t say good-bye,” said Perry.
Although she was serving overseas, Perry decided she wanted to start a family. At 21, she got married and had her first child. She wanted to be there to raise her kids. Since she was still enlisted, though, Perry's primary duty was to her county.
For years, Perry served on different ships. During her last trip of the war, her life took a sudden turn.
Perry was aboard the USS Wasp, which is a multipurpose amphibious assault ship and the lead ship of her class. They were in charge of dropping Marines at the battlefield.
During one of her missions, Perry received a Red Cross message that her mother had lost contact of Perry’s then-husband and children, and her home was going into foreclosure.
“My mother said she didn’t know what was going on. So, I called my nanny and she told me that my ex-husband had fired her. I didn’t know what was going on,” said Perry.
“I was flown home. And I was one of the very lucky ones because, unfortunately, 90 percent of military go through that when overseas and not many can go home.”
Upon arriving home to Virginia, Perry found out that her ex-husband had taken her children to Maryland to live with his family.
On top of finding out that her children were in Maryland, Perry was also served divorce papers.
Although Perry wanted to get her children and move forward with her life, she ran into a major hurdle. Since she was actively serving overseas, Perry had lost custody of her children. For the next year, she stayed in Maryland in order to fight to get her children back.
“I come from a world of single mothers and the children are with them. So, the thought of me not being the primary parent for my children scared me,” said Perry.
Her time in Maryland eventually led to Perry getting an honorable medical discharged from the military, in large part due to her PTSD.
This was a major blow to her, because she wanted to make a career out of the military to support her family. At the end of the day, her children were more important to her than the military.
After getting custody of her children and settling the divorce with her ex-husband, she eventually moved back with her mother in Chicago. This time things were different.
“When I first I got back to Chicago, I though everybody had changed. It took me a while to realize that I was the one that changed. I left at 17, I was now a 25-year-old grown woman, divorced with little babies and we were homeless. We didn’t have anywhere to go.”
With the support of her family, she tried raising her kids in Chicago. She would have her mother watch her kids as she went to work. But unfortunately, it was difficult to hold onto a job – not because she was lazy, but because of her PTSD.
During this time, she’d have a hard time getting out of bed and there were a few moments where she even contemplated committing suicide.
Through the Department of Veterans Affair, she found the help that she needed, receiving therapy for her mental illness.
Perry also wanted to create a better future for her children and used that goal as her primary motivation to get out of bed every day.
She did receive public assistance and, as a disabled veteran, moved to the front of the line. She had public-assisted housing, but Perry knew that it was not where she wanted to raise her kids.
“The community there was tough. I didn’t want to raise my children the way I was raised. And the door opened up to move to Lafayette. I had never even heard of it, but I felt like the spirit was leading me here. And when we came here, each of us had a shopping bag. And those were the only things that we owned. Just a couple of shopping bags,” said Perry.
For awhile, Perry and her kids lived in an apartment with no electricity. She didn’t have that much money, and her benefits from the VA hadn’t kicked in yet.
Members from River City Church, formerly known as First Assembly Church, helped keep the family afloat until her benefits kicked in.
“In those first several months, that was our only source of help, and little by little I was restored. Over the years, I started getting 10 percent disability, then it was moved up to 50 percent, and now close to 100 percent,” said Perry.
Before, everything Perry did was for the future of her children. Now she’s facing that empty nest part of her life. Her two oldest boys, ages 20 and 18, have moved out and are starting to begin their lives.
Perry’s 15-year-old daughter still lives with her, but her youngest will eventually leave the nest, too.
Perry’s daughter saw the dread written all over her mother’s face at the thought of her last child leaving home. That’s when her daughter recommended Perry open up a store, possibly where they could both work together.
“I’m almost at that empty-nest stage, and my daughter and I plan on just having a blast selling hair, make up and accessories before she leaves for college,” said Perry.
When Perry heard this idea, she knew she had to make it come true, but she ran into an unexpected hurdle.
As she made calls around town, looking for assistance, she kept running into dead ends.
Perry searched online if Lafayette had some assistance for minority business owners, but her search at first resulted in no answers.
It wasn’t until Perry found out about Community Investment Fund of Indiana, an organization out of Indianapolis, that aims at assisting small businesses get off their feet.
“We like to assist small-business owners who are driven to succeed and dedicated to serving their community. LaShai Perry is such a person. She and her business are a perfect match with CIFI’s mission to help, through a loan or other assistance, get new businesses up-and-running,” said Phil Black, CIFI’s executive director.
Through CIFI, Perry was able to develop her business plan with the state-run Indiana Small Business Development Center. Once everything checked out, CIFI gave her a loan to open up her business in the Concord Plaza.
Prior to opening her store, all of Perry’s credit cards were paid off. In order to make her dream a reality, Perry has maxed out all of her credit cards.
“I know business has been slow recently due to the weather, but I am hoping once people find out about us, they’ll start to see that we’re here for the community,” said Perry.
Holley’s Beauty Supplies is located on 3575 Promenade Pkwy #1000 in Lafayette, and operates from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 12 to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
Noe Padilla is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email him at Npadilla@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter at 1NoePadilla.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Navy veteran opens Lafayette's newest Black beauty supply store
