Meet Founder Joi Dreams featured in AEDP’s holiday series celebrating local entrepreneurs
Introducing our new series, 12 Days of Small Business, highlighting homegrown businesses to check out this holiday season and beyond. Meet Founder Joi Dreams of Joi Dreams Salon and Ward Avenue Style Parlor located in Del Ray. Read on to learn more about Dreams’ businesses, her perseverance in overcoming breast cancer during the pandemic, and what she’s most looking forward to this holiday season.
Name: Joi Dreams
Business Name: Joi Dreams Salon & Ward Avenue Style Parlor
AEDP: Tell me a little about your business.
Joi Dreams (JD): Joi Dreams Salon is a one-person boutique salon in the heart of Del Ray, Alexandria. It will have been in business for 15 years this coming July 2024. Joi Dreams Salon is Black-owned and women owned. I have clients of every ethnicity and gender. For almost 30 years my goal has always been to help all clients see the beauty in their hair texture and themselves. Teaching my clients to love and work with their natural texture brings me joy.
I also own Ward Avenue Style Parlor, a unisex boutique that was established in October 2022 and offers a diverse selection of consignment and new clothing, along with shoes, and accessories for all genders and body shapes. It is located in the heart of Del Ray right below my salon, Joi Dreams Salon.
We do our best to be sustainable. Using old clothing to create customized garments is an option we offer our current and prospective clients. We will be using Levi’s to create a new look to an old pair of jeans by reshaping, adding layers and other fabrics to create skirts, dusters, bags, customized jeans and more. We also will be offering tailoring services soon.
The purpose of Joi Dreams Salon and Ward Avenue is to help people feel good about themselves and to see the beauty within.
AEDP: What is the biggest challenge your business has faced?
JD: My biggest challenges as a business owner have been COVID’s impact and being diagnosed with breast cancer the same year the COVID pandemic began. Many clients stopped coming out of fear when COVID began, and after my double mastectomy in January 2020 only a quarter of my clients came back. It has been a struggle to get back to before COVID.
AEDP: Favorite thing about the holiday season in Alexandria?
JD: My favorite thing about the holiday season in Alexandria is the way residents and businesses decorate. From the ones that are subtle to the ones that go all out. It is wonderful to see their creativity and personality shown through the way they show their love for the season.
AEDP: Highlight of the year (personal or business related):
JD: While I love being a hairstylist, the highlight of 2023 for me has been getting back into fashion. From a young girl, I had prepared to attend fashion school and was accepted to the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC.
How people can find you (website, social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn):
Instagram: @Joi.dreams.salon @Ward.Avenue
Facebook: Joi Dreams Salon, Ward Avenue Style Parlor
LinkedIn: Joi Dreams