The power of faith and hard work
Busta’s Person of the Week
By Busta Brown
We can only imagine this happening in a movie. You’re the product of a prostitution exchange, so you never met your father; your mother is on drugs, so she buys you a car to traffic cocaine to support her habit; and you’re only 11 years old.
As a teenager, you’re homeless and living in your car, and your faith was tested daily.
“I wasn’t brought up in church; in fact, my mother was married to a Muslim. We had a Buddha on the TV, but when my mother’s husband was incarcerated at times, we went to church, so I was raised kind of confused.”
K Pearl made light of her situation, “When my mother’s Muslim husband went to jail, that’s when we broke out the pork chops.”
It’s a true sign of deliverance and confidence, when you’re able to laugh at real life, especially when it’s yours.
“I was a restaurant manager making pretty good money, but I was living in a state where the cost of living was high, so I couldn’t save up enough money to get ahead.” K Pearl said she was also tired of living in group homes, so she decided to get a $150, 24-hour fitness membership. “It was all I could afford. I utilized that membership to bathe each night; I slept in the parking lot. It was 2 to 3 degrees, so I kept my van on all night to keep myself warm.”
K Pearl constantly had to find the strength to inspire and encourage herself daily, “I told myself this is not the end. It’s not going to end like this.”
Pearl said after her marriage failed, no family in North Carolina, and 3,000 miles away from home, she did something she never thought she would do. “I had to come up with a plan. I decided to move to the projects and get public assistance. I determined that I wasn’t going to stay there.”
As I listened to K Pearl, I thought about something the Holy Spirit said to me during the times I wanted to give up. God said to me, “It’s not what you go through, but how you choose to get through. Choose me,” and I did.
The successful Winston-Salem entrepreneur chose God as well, and she took two huge leaps of faith, and erased every excuse we use to quit or fail. As a single mother of two, the only work she could find didn’t pay much; she made $1,000 a month, so she put the power of faith and hard work to the test. She began tithing $400 a month of her salary, and then sowed most of her $8,000 income tax refund as well.
You’ve heard the saying, “You reap what you sow.” Pearl is reaping big time. She’s the owner of Gifted Hands Hair Bar and Gifted Hands Academy in Winston-Salem, and a graduate of Carolina Christian College. “Spirituality was one of those things that balanced, God kept me grounded. It kept me stable, when I didn’t know what the next step was.” I forgot to mention she was a high school dropout and failed the 4th through 10th grades, but through it all, she never stopped dreaming beyond her circumstances. When Gifted Hands was born, her five-year goal was $100,000; she did it in six months.
Pearl took paying it forward to another level. “My first semester opening, I went to Trade Street, I went to Bethesda Center for the Homeless, and I went to the local shelters, I did just like God did for me. She gave the first 16 students a full ride. Everything was free.
“I believe in seeds. I said we’re not going to take a dollar. Let’s put seeds in the ground first for God to position us.” Gifted Hands also provided transportation, breakfast, lunch and dinner for students as well. “If you’re willing to eliminate the excuses that you could use, and then we’re willing to take a chance.”
Gifted Hands Hair Bar and Gifted Hands Academy is licensed and accredited by the State Board of Cosmetics. They specialize in natural hairstyling, education in blood exposure, they have two state approved natural hair curriculums, which are natural hair care specialist and natural hair care instruction, both allows you to open your own salon or academy. For more information call (336) 422-9427.
