The Chief Executive Officer of Hair Planet College of Cosmetology, located in AshalleyBotwe, Mrs. Ernestina Crankson, has suffered many challenges in life to achieve her dream of building one of the best institutions that provide quality training to its students.
Very focused and determined, Mrs. Crankson sacrificed her garage and sold her family’s only car to achieve this grand success she had always fantasized.

This occurred when she lost her saloon she left behind in the care of a worker she trusted and traveled to London.
“When I came to Ghana, the person I left my saloon to London was nowhere to be found; she had mishandled everything, all my equipment was destroyed, utility bills were left for me to pay and re-renting the place again the landlord had demanded a lot of money. So I decided to use the little equipment that was left behind to start all over again, which included selling my car and using my garage.”

This was money she acquired by working tirelessly in some minor jobs abroad.
Being a beautician today came as a surprise to Mrs. Crankson during her days in London with her four lovely girls. “After my secretarial school I got the opportunity to travel abroad. I got there, got married and started having kids. Fortunately, all my four kids were girls. Before, they had long kinky hair, and teachers were always complaining, and I had no idea of what to do. So I forced myself to keep their hair clean and kempt. The hairdressing career started for me with my children.”

She explained that there weren’t many black saloons in London, so she decided to do her children’s hair by herself.“Gradually I began to have interest in it, even when my kid’s hair was not scatted I forced to do something with it, the few blacks around also started bringing their kids for me to do their hair. It became so professional, and I started to receive recommendations when I went to pick my kids from school. This grew into a passion, so I advised myself and registered for an evening hairdressing course in Tower Hamlet College in London.”

The course consisted of the best hairdressers, and of course, the best hairdressers know how to work on all types of hair, so she learned a great deal. She graduated from the hairdressing, got the certificate but couldn’t use it in London because she had wanted to take good care of her kids. Her family relocated to Ghana and she realised that the kind of hairdressing is different from London’s so she enrolled in Excel College of Cosmetology, graduated and all her money into the hairdressing saloon but to go back to London and return again to meet nothing but to start all over again.
Mrs. Crankson was not discouraged from her passion, but rather garnered more courage and got an idea to establish a beauty school. As determined as she was, she decided to sell her family’s only car and use the garage as the teaching room. She placed an advert in the Mirror newspaper, and within the week, she had four students s.

“Here in Ghana, we don’t have a lot of these beauty schools around and normally when students are learning hairdressing it’s purely apprenticeship, so I decided to establish the beauty school to share the ideas and skills that I have acquired in the UK.”

With a challenging foundation, Hair Planet College of Cosmetology has developed into an ultra-modern beauty school that meets international standards. They offer courses like Nail Technology, Beauty Therapy, and Hair Dressing. Currently, the college has about 150 students, of which some 35 will be signed out in its 5th-year graduation come September.
The hair and beauty collegealso has a scholarship scheme for needy and students with financial difficulties. It is currently offering free training in the Adentan Municipality.

The mother of four has accepted that obstacles are bound to come, but how onehandles it will determine their ability to succeed. “I’m already aware that there would be obstacles, soif they come, I just ease down, and most times, I find a suitable song that I love just to de-stress myself.”
She, however, advised that, when young people encounter obstacles, they must use it as a step and move to the next level. “Young girls must set a goal and make sure to fulfill them, but must also learn to be courageous, organized, humble, and responsible.”

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