For Le’Mica Daigle, the lessons behind her business are shaping how she teaches money at home
The 36-year-old Houston-based barber has spent more than 20 years doing hair. Today, she uses Cash App(1) and Afterpay(2) as part of how she runs her business, manages her money, and teaches financial literacy to her two teens.
After more than 20 years doing hair, Le’Mica Daigle knows the value of listening. When she’s not with her two teens, her barber chair keeps her connected to her community, where conversations can shift from life updates to business advice.
Some of the most useful lessons she’s picked up along the way have come from the people passing through her chair and fellow beauty professionals she trusts, including financial insights that have helped shape how she manages her business.
“You never know who has the knowledge that you’re looking for,” Le’Mica said. “You never know where it’s coming from.”
For an entrepreneur whose income comes from the work she does every day, those conversations can turn into practical lessons about running a business. And just as Le’Mica has learned from the people around her, she’s become intentional about passing what she learns forward to her kids.
Houston barber and entrepreneur Le’Mica Daigle uses Cash App and Afterpay to manage her business, balance family expenses, and teach her teens about money.
Business lessons from the barber chair
Working for yourself means thinking about more than the service you provide. There are clients to manage, payments to track, bills to budget for, and supplies to keep on hand.
For Le’Mica, keeping track of money is part of the work. Between client appointments, household expenses, and supplies for the shop, she pays close attention to what comes in, what goes out, and what needs to be set aside. Cash App has become one of the tools she uses to help stay organized as money moves through her day-to-day life.
Her community has helped her discover other financial tools, too. A client introduced her to Afterpay, allowing her to grow her financial toolkit so she can stay focused on scaling her business.
“Never be afraid to ask for help and just speak out. You never know who has the knowledge that you’re looking for.”
As Le’Mica put that knowledge into practice, it began shaping not only how she gets paid, but how she thinks about putting money back into her business.
Making room in the budget for what her business needs
Running a barbershop means Le’Mica has two budgets to think about: her family’s and her business’s. Alongside everyday expenses like rent and groceries, she needs to keep products stocked so she can continue serving clients. That means balancing what she spends at home with what she puts back into her business.
Afterpay now helps Le’Mica manage that balance strategically. She uses it for smaller personal expenses like her phone bill and utilities to help spread out payments over time, leaving more room in her budget for business essentials, including replenishing her inventory.
For Le’Mica, being able to manage those expenses on her own has also brought a sense of independence.
“I didn't have to ask anyone else to borrow money,” Le’Mica said. “I was able to do it on my own, and that freedom alone just did so much to my heart.”
That flexibility has changed how she thinks about budgeting and planning, from what she spends to when she spends it.
“Being able to borrow against myself on my own time has opened up a whole new thought process and spending process for me.”
Over time, those everyday decisions have become their own kind of financial education. And the lessons Le’Mica has learned while building her business aren’t staying at the barbershop.
She’s also bringing them home.
When money lessons become family lessons
When Le’Mica reflects on how her approach to money has changed, she comes back to financial literacy.
“[Cash App and Afterpay] definitely helped me a lot with budgeting and planning. It just teaches me even more financial literacy.”
What Le’Mica has learned for herself, she wants her children to start learning earlier.
Her son is 17, and her daughter is 15. And like plenty of teenagers, they know how to ask Mom for a few dollars, whether it’s for fueling their hobbies like gaming or fun trips to the store with Mom.
But in Le’Mica’s house, that request can become another opportunity to talk about money.
Both teenagers use Cash App Sponsored Accounts(3), giving Le’Mica oversight into how they’re spending. “I can track what they're spending, and I really like that [so I can tell them], hey, I'm teaching you about [budgeting]. Money does not just come from anywhere. So, if you use up all your allowance, I'm not going to give you any more. They're enjoying it, too. They're able to track their spending as well.”
What Le’Mica likes most is that the lesson isn’t theoretical. Her family has visual proof of their financial habits through Cash App Sponsored Accounts, which helps her have more informed conversations with her teens about money management at home.
“I’m glad that they can see how to learn to budget visually as opposed to just someone telling them,” Le’Mica said. “They can see for themselves on their own phone. I only have this much left. Maybe I should just wait a little bit to buy.”
It gives them a measure of independence while Le’Mica is still there to guide them, the same learn-by-doing approach that has shaped her own career as an entrepreneur.
Her daughter, Le’Mica jokes, is still learning that Mom is not “a money tree.” Her son, meanwhile, is beginning to understand his mother’s lessons from a new perspective.
After growing up watching Le’Mica earn a living through her own work, he has now started working and earning money himself. With that firsthand experience came a realization.
“Okay, Mom, now I see what you’re saying,” Le’Mica recalled him telling her about his new understanding of financial responsibility after starting his first job.
For Le’Mica, it was proof that some lessons only really click once you experience them yourself. After more than two decades earning a living with her own hands, she has learned that money represents work, choices, and trade-offs.
Now she’s focused on giving her kids the financial tools that allow them to discover those lessons for themselves, while staying engaged in their financial journey, so she can step in. After all, mothers know best.
- Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App's bank partner(s).
- Afterpay is offered and managed through your Cash App account - no Afterpay account needed. Eligibility is based on several factors and is not guaranteed. Afterpay is not available in all states. Afterpay loans issued by First Electronic Bank, serviced by Square Capital, Inc. View state licenses at sqcapitallicenses.com/us/en/legal/capital/capital-licenses
- Teens 13 to 17 can use Cash App with sponsorship by an eligible parent or guardian. To view the eligibility requirements for sponsoring a teen, please visit the Sponsored Accounts section of the Cash App Terms of Service at cash.app/us/en/legal/tos#sponsored-accounts
