Juanita Lacy-Larry doesn’t slow down very much.
“I have a lot of irons in the fire,” said Lacy-Larry, 49, the owner of Nita’s Glamorama, Juanita’s Bridal and Juanita’s Floral and a co-owner of L&L Bail Bonding, all of which are housed at 1813 Carrollton Ave.
The Glamorama began in 1987 at the home of her parents, Maggie and Frank Lacy, and just grew and grew. In the days before chemical relaxers, pressing combs heated on a stove eye were used to straighten African-American hair.
“I was a born hairdresser,” she said. “I learned to do hair at home at the age of 9, watching my grandmother press hair from the stove.”
A 1985 graduate of Amanda Elzy High School, Lacy-Larry completed her cosmetology degree at Grenada Beauty College in 1986 and became a licensed beautician that fall. She worked with a man briefly in the hairdressing business before going out on her own in 1987.
As her hair clientele declined — and Greenwood suffered a number of high-profile job losses — she opened Juanita’s Bridal in 2000. That was followed by Juanita’s Floral in 2003.
Lacy-Larry is the sole beautician in Nita’s Glamorama.
“The bridal boutique came about because I have a passion for special occasions. I love special occasions,” she said.
Floral arrangements, decorations, entertainment, makeup and gowns and tuxedos constitute the bulk of her bridal business.
A trusted employee, Bessie West-Journey, serves as floral arranger and can also do measurements for dresses and tuxedos.
In 1998, Lacy-Larry began working as a soliciting agent for a bonding company. That eventually led to the opening of L&L Bail Bonding in 2005. She co-owns the business with her husband, Albert Larry.
Lacy-Larry said she initially learned of the bail bonding business simply by reading the Commonwealth’s daily arrest docket. The number of people going into and out of jail motivated her to learn more. Today, bonding is her No. 1 business.
Her business philosophy is simple: “I always have a Plan B. When Plan A falters, I have a Plan B to fall back on.”
At the time she became a bonding agent, it required only a one-day class. Today, it requires 40 hours of training.
“I’m very busy with the bonding company. I have six soliciting agents,” she said. Today, her father and husband both serve as soliciting agents.
If bond for someone charged with a crime is set at $1,000, the defendant or his her family will pay the bondsmen 10 percent or $100, plus processing fees to be released before the court date. The bondsmen derive their income from handling of paperwork and the processing fees.
“On court day, if things don’t go right, we need to find that body,” she said.
Often it goes beyond the defendant. “You really need to know details,” Lacy-Larry said. “Normally, I require co-signers to make those people responsible for the liability if that person fails to show up in court.”
In her 19 years as a bonding agent, she has a great track record of getting her defendants in court, she said.
“Hard work and giving has been my key to being successful,” she said. “Everybody that goes to jail is not a bad person.”
Lacy-Larry completed a degree in social work at Mississippi Valley State University in 2012 and a theological degree at Abundant Blessings Theological Seminary of Tchula in 2014.
She serves as a minister at New Green Grove Church of Faith under Bishop Milton Glass. There, she teaches Sunday school and perform altar calls with 11 other ministers. She also regularly ministers to juvenile detainees at the Leflore County Juvenile Detention Center.
Lacy-Larry has three children: Joshlyn, 25; Alexis, 18; and Alex, 11. She said she wants to serve as an example to them and others regarding persevering in challenging times.
“Please don’t sit around and wait for something to fall out of the sky with your name on it, because chances are it won’t happen,” she said.
She said she wanted her children to “get a good, solid education and be productive citizens wherever they choose to live in this world.”
Her grandmother, Teola Totten, 96, is also the grandmother of former Mississippi Valley State University football player and coach Willie Totten.
Lacy-Larry says Luke 6:38 sums up her philosophy of life: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
•Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
