A native of Clearwater, Florida Damienne Flagler always dreamed of changing lives. She found herself called to the hair ministry in college and has since transformed what once was a side hustle into a multimillion-dollar beauty empire that includes but isn’t limited to her styling practice, masterclass series, her Denine Defined skincare line, salon suites, and hair care product portfolio that’s anchored by her hugely popular waterproof and sweat resistant wig adhesive, G.O.A.T. Glue.
The famed international hair slaying savant, educator, and influencer is delighted to announce her annual $250K giveaway event “LACELAND FREE FEST” taking place on Saturday, November 20, 2021, from 9 am to Midnight at her Denine Defined Salon at 2443 Spring Road SE Smyrna Georgia 30080. The adult-only fun day commemorates the opening of Flagler’s salon, which has quickly risen to become one of the Atlanta Metro’s most sought-after hair spas.
“LACELAND FREE FEST” attendees will enjoy a whimsical, Candy Land-themed day of first come, first serve giveaways. Guests are sure to get carried away in Laceland’s life-sized game board and interactive experiences where they will get their hands on free wigs and hairstyling services, makeup, wig installations, massages, teeth whitening, and cavitation treatments as well as a host of freebies including free G.O.A.T. Glue, silk scarfs, and bonnets along with complimentary food, drinks, and live artist performances!
FWM: You found yourself called to the hair ministry in college and have since transformed what once was a side hustle into a multimillion-dollar beauty empire. Share your background.
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. To actually be doing this now and to see where God led me to is a wow factor.
FWM: Tell us about Denine Defined Salon, one of the Atlanta Metro’s most sought-after hair spas.
I definitely believe Denine Define is most sought after because not only do we get a lot of new and consistent clients, 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.
FWM: Your motto is, “Slay a Lace Save a Life!” Explain.
My motto Slay a Lace, Save a Life” came about because of a really touching story. One day I had a new client come in and usually, my clients are very vibrant or excited. They’re excited because they’re getting this new look or this new touch in the seat of Damien Flagler (mainly because they feel like I’m the celebrity stylist) However, this particular person was really quiet and I didn’t know if she was shy but I knew the energy was dim with her. So I really focused on her that day, because I wanted to make sure that she was okay and know that she feels welcomed. So I’m trying to spark conversation with her to make her feel comfortable, I got her some free wine, all types of things to let her know that she’s noticed and appreciated. Once I was finished and she looked at herself and saw how beautiful she was, I made sure I told her she was beautiful and everybody in the salon (employees and my regulars) told her she was beautiful. She did hype up a little bit before she left and that made me feel good because I knew not only did she get her services but she left happy.
She came back the next day in tears to say thank you and that she just wanted to tell me that I made a difference the day before. I’m thinking it’s about looks and telling her how great she looks and I’m glad she likes it and she cuts me off to tell me that it’s bigger than that. She then explained that she came to me yesterday because I was the last thing to do on her bucket list. She has been going through some things in her marriage and that her husband hadn’t told her she was beautiful in over seven years and she didn’t feel beautiful and she didn’t have friends. She said she went home and her husband told her she was so beautiful so many times. She was planning on going home to kill herself and she wanted her hair to be done by me in her casket. I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing like, and when I tell you, she brought me to tears! I felt like it was nothing but God. God had me pay attention to her, He sent her my chair because I love people so much, I don’t ever want to see someone looking down in my chair.
FWM: What is the greatest challenge you have faced and how did you overcome it?
It was definitely my grand opening. That was a really, really big challenge because, for one, I’ve always been the one giving throughout the years, but me opening up my own store was something for me for once. It was right after COVID and my “Free Fest” was something I came up with because we were shut down for so long and I just wanted people to feel alive again.
I had the grand opening around Thanksgiving time, used the hard-earned money that I saved up through quarantine, and decided I’m going to give it back to the community. I got my stylists on board to help me and put a lot of teams together. I got a makeup artist and had got a stylist from New York and one from Florida, who come to help me give back to the community where I was at.
On the day of the grand opening, there were thousands of people lined up. I predicted about 200 people but from 7 pm the night before people were lined up down the street and to see so many devastated faces and so many people who were not able to be serviced or get anything free. This was the biggest obstacle I ever faced. I overcame it by remaining positive, ignoring the backlash on social media, I took 2 weeks to get my mental health in order and I told myself that I’m going to do it again and be more prepared. I’m not one to ever give up, especially when it is to help people.
FWM: Your star-studded client list includes Tameka ‘Tiny’ Harris, rapper Yung Miami, reality star Blac Chyna, Love & Hip Hop Atlanta star Shekinah Jo, Pretty Vee, to name a few. What do you enjoy the most working with celebrities? (What are they looking for when they come into your salon?)
What I enjoy the most when working with celebrities is that to me, they’re not celebrities, they’re family to me. That’s the most exciting thing about that because they can choose whoever they want to choose in this world to do their hair and they chose to sit in my chair. Atlanta is the hair capital so to choose me to be a part of your image and to enhance your look and to be a part of your brand, supporting my brand. That’s a relationship I will never forget.
I think they’re coming in there for the same thing non-celebrities come in for. They come in there to get their hair done but also for my personality, for the energy, for the vibes, and they come in there to be saved for the day. They come in there to say they feel alive again.
FWM: Your expertise in custom wig installations earned you the nickname “The Lace Doctor” aka “Dr. Flagler”. Share your work with us.
The secret formula to my work is my G.O.A.T Glue. The G.O.A.T Glue is the secret formula. They love coming to me because they going to get long-lasting confidence and a long-lasting 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 stylists recently reviewed it on Instagram saying how amazing it was. It speaks for itself. Aside from making people feel good, I experimented a lot during the pandemic coming up with the perfect ingredients for G.O.A.T Glue and those 2 things are reasons why I am Dr. Flagler.
FWM : What is your key to success?
My key to success is being true to myself and not losing and forgetting where I came from. A lot of people start getting followers, they start getting notoriety, and they just become this person that they were never before. I feel like my key to success and being where I am today was because I continue to be true to myself. I never forget where I came from, who started with me, who poured into me when I didn’t have anything, and I always keep God first. I have a list of six P’s that keep me grounded.
My first P is prayer. I keep that first I pray before I go into work to touch people because we’re dealing with their energy and energy is very real. My second P is patience. I have to have patience with myself, with my growth, and patience with my clients, especially clients coming into the salon for the first time. My third P is practice and I practice every day all day. I learn new ways to do baby hair, learn new ways to install, and even learn new ways to interact with people. The fourth P is products because I have to make sure I have the right products that are going to complement my talent. I can slay hair all day but if I don’t have the right product, it’s going to work against my skills. My fifth P is promotion because I have to make sure people know what I do and they don’t know Damienne, then they need to know Denine Define, if they don’t know Denine Define then they know about my G.O.A.T. Glue. I want to make sure I’m getting my name out there so that the world knows what I have going on and so that I have I leave a legacy when I’m gone. My last P is perfection. I’m perfecting myself every day by perfecting my brand and perfecting my products, every way I can think of.
FWM: Tell us about your $250K giveaway event “LACELAND” “FREE FEST” Candyland-themed.
Each year I host a $250,000 giveaway for Metro Atlanta beauty enthusiasts and the local community. This year’s event is a Candyland-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!
In addition to the free beauty services and products, there will be life-size games, specifically a custom 10ft x 24ft Laceland gameboard 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!
FWM: Why is giving back so important to you?
Giving back is so important to me because I once didn’t have much and I know how it feels to not have much. I know how it feels to want more and can’t get it. I know what it feels like to be capable to do something and not have the means to pursue it. I’m actually in a place where I’m able to be that bridge to overcome something so slight such as your look or obtaining something to maintain your hair, or your teeth, or something for your face or skin. I try to give and pour out as much as I can because I feel like God didn’t put me where I am today for nothing. He didn’t put me here to just gain everything myself. He put me here to reach my hand back and give, give, give back.
FWM: What excites you the most about your upcoming event?
What excites me the most is to see 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 (I’m only 27 years old) – and this is only the beginning!
I love bringing awareness to my brand, Denine Defined, by offering my products free of charge it will introduce many people to my products who had never purchased before. Once they fall in love with a product that they received at Laceland Free Fest they can re-up by visiting www.deninedefined.com.
FWM: For new clients, what will they notice first about you?
New clients are going to see me smiling and full of positive and affirming energy. I am always smiling and might approach you first or speak to you before you even see me! And I do hope to see you at Denine Defined in Georgia, one of my new locations on the West Coast, on my TikTok or Instagram feed – it’s always POPPIN!
Instgram: @damienneflager
TikTok: @damienneflagler
