My name is Damian. I was born in Brookfield, Wisconsin. I moved from Milwaukee to Madison at the tender age of 10 with my mother and two siblings. During this time, my mother was a single parent so I was co-parented by other family members between the neighboring cities of Milwaukee and Chicago. Our family constantly moved around. I was never able to settle into a school for more than a year. Every year, it was a new school and new crowd. Being a mixed child, I always felt the pressure to pick sides if I wanted to fit in. Changing schools so often was a big adjustment. I was compelled to just be me. I became creative by using my style as an outlet to convey to my peers, such as changing my hair or mixing and matching clothes to my taste, not to the latest fashion criteria.
Growing up in the inner cities was tough. There were nights where my mom could not afford for us to have second helpings. Although I wished we had more, I was grateful for my mom’s effort to keep us fed. As the eldest at 12, I became the man of the house. I cooked, cleaned, and put my siblings to bed while my mom worked and attended college at night to better our lives. One of my duties was to get my sister up and dressed for school. Although my sister was a bit too young for hair extensions, it gave me brave pleasure at such a young age to style her hair and what was even more rewarding is that she actually liked it. This ignited a spark inside of me.
Through all of my hardships and growing up in poverty, I always remained optimistic that my creativity and my talent would prevail someday. Growing up watching the impact hair extensions had on the women in my family and on television, I was captivated by the art of hair extensions.
Today, my passion and desire as a hairstylist has led me into a new venture as the proud business owner of Lunerbaby2020. I thoroughly enjoy making others feel beautiful. I am so proud that I have come from a childhood of despair and turned it around to become a successful business owner. I also feel proud to have been able thus far to bestow my creativity and talents along with out-of-the-box thinking to make this business a reality.