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How her brother's search for a barber led this hairstylist to learn to code and start her own business

Donna Omoregie is the founder/CEO of FreeStyle, a word of mouth platform that connects customers to hairstylists and barbers.

WASHINGTON — In 2008, Donna Omoregie took her newly acquired Howard University degree and decided to take on the world of business and finance, transforming herself into a self-starter entrepreneur. 

Even at a young age, Omoregie taught herself the art of hair and started a braiding business out of her parents' living room. She wanted to help people become more confident by looking suave and beautiful.

“One of the things I’ve always believed in was if you look good, you’ll feel good," she said. "If you go to the wrong hairstylist or barber it’s costly. It can cost you the money in your pocket, but it can also cost you your confidence.”

Confidence was something Donna never lacked in. Yes, she had bad days, weeks, even years sometimes, but she wanted to instill her confidence in the world whether it be through health and beauty or using her degree in business and finance.  It wasn’t until 2016 that those roads converged and her worlds collided.

“My younger brother moved to D.C. and he no idea where to find a barber," Omoregie said. "So I asked around to all my guy friends do you have a barber that you trust?”


That simple question birthed an idea that would keep her up all night and thinking all day. Why is there not an app for that, she wondered. The idea that time is money and spending that time looking for the stylist that could end up not being the one for you or worse give you a cut and style that could eradicate your confidence, haunted her. The idea continued to grow and eventually, the FreeStyle app was born.

“I didn’t have a background in tech or a ton of money," Omoregie said. "I have this idea that won’t let me sleep. What are you going to do with the idea? I decided to take a step and learn how to code.”

With a laser focus she joined a class in D.C. called “Hear Me Code” and after some collaboration with her peers in the class found out what her route would be to taking her app idea and making it a reality. She needed a team, a team with a certain skill set to make this happen.

“I took the step to go to coding classes to learn how to code," she said. "I discovered that avenue to look for developers but then the question at that level was what do you ask, what do you ask developers to do?”


Question after question continued to stir in her head and one by one she researched and found the answer. The FreeStyle app was becoming more and more of a reality, but there was still one large obstacle in her path to success… the App Store. 

Of course, all you have to do is just make it and throw it up in the store for people to buy…right?

“I submitted the app for Apple’s review and it got denied," Omoregie said. "It actually got denied three times. It’s kind of a little shocking at that point once you’ve been creating something to get that pushback.”

Omoregie said her options at that point were limited, but she wasn't going anywhere. She could go back to the drawing board and start from scratch with money she didn’t really have or she could appeal the denial. Appeal she did, but that came with its own anxiety. 

What would she say? What would she do to make her app become something viable for the App store? 

Those answers came the night before the appeal as she was scrolling through her phone. She stumbled upon notes that she wrote in the first few weeks of the conception for the idea of FreeStyle. 

“This note was all my thoughts, it was my why," she recalls. "It was everything. The thoughtfulness and intentionality of the app. It all was there.”

The morning of her appeal, she woke up and had the conference call with Apple. She nailed the pitch simply by understanding her own why, and creating buy-in with others. 

“You have to clap for yourself on days when you might be the only one clapping,” Omoregie said. 

Today, the FreeStyle app lives in the app store, and Omoregie runs a successful business. All because she took a jump into the unknown. 

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