The first thing you’ll notice about Tina Sia Mamaise Turner is her million-dollar smile, which radiates warmth, strength, and quiet confidence. Those traits have helped her as she’s grown from an Oakridge Neighborhood resident to a budding entrepreneur. 

When Tina arrived at Oakridge Neighborhood as a young single mother with a newborn son, she was stepping into unfamiliar territory. Fresh from beauty school and navigating life on her own for the first time, she had never paid bills or managed finances independently. “It was my first time being by myself,” Tina explains. “Learning how to pay bills and all of those things, I had no clue.” That’s when she heard about Oakridge Neighborhood, a place that offered not just affordable housing, but something even more valuable: a safe place to learn. 

Tina’s journey to Des Moines began in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where she grew up in a three-story home attending private schools. At age seven, she moved to Nashville with her aunt, seeking better educational opportunities. The transition was jarring; the neighborhood was far from the America she had imagined, and at school, she faced painful stereotypes. Her classmates would ask, “Do you wear shoes? Have you seen lions?’” she recalls. Determined to challenge these misconceptions, Tina brought photos from home for show-and-tell, showing her classmates a side of Africa they had never seen. 

Years later, after moving to Des Moines to be with her father and enrolling in beauty school, she found herself pregnant with her first child Jahvoni, and needing to make it on her own. 

A Foundation for Success 

Living at Oakridge Neighborhood for three years, Tina took full advantage of the financial literacy classes offered. “You can come in not knowing anything, and they’ll start with you from the beginning,” she says. While attending beauty school and working part-time at the mall, she learned to budget and plan for her future. “Oakridge was really a time for me to save, time for me to learn,” Tina reflects. “I knew I wasn’t going to be here for long, but I wanted to learn the basics of living on my own and what that looked like.” The stability and support she found gave her the confidence to move forward. “I knew if I couldn’t do it, Oakridge would have programs that can assist me,” she says. “It’s not like they’re going to kick me out, right? It gives you the confidence.” 

After graduating, Tina rented a booth at a top salon on Sixth Avenue for $125 a week. “I’m used to working. I’m used to earning and putting forth the effort completely,” she says. “I wanted to go to the top Black salon in town so I could learn.” She studied every technique, took on walk-ins other stylists couldn’t handle, and steadily built her skills and clientele. Within a few years, armed with the financial literacy she gained at Oakridge Neighborhood, Tina moved from Oakridge into a new apartment. “Because I took those budgeting classes, I was able to look at my finances and say, ‘Okay, I can move out and afford this,’” she explains. 

Building Business 

In 2015, after eight years working in salons, Tina opened Paparazzi Hair Studio. The name came to her in a dream after praying for inspiration. “I was like, ‘God, I need something. I want people to ask my clients who, what, where, and when. Every client is my billboard,’” she remembers. Her father, a construction worker, helped transform the small space. 

Three years later, she launched Lifestyle Juices after realizing she needed quick, healthy fuel during her packed salon schedule. True to form, Tina researched juice bars in New York and called to ask if she and her husband could learn from them. “I told them, ‘We can work for you for free. We just want to learn.’ They said, ‘Sure, no problem. When do you want to come?’” Now in its ninth year, Lifestyle Juices is expanding into a larger location offering clean foods, wraps, and salads. This year, Tina is launching her third venture: Paparazzi Fragrance Oil. On a typical day, you can find her at one of her multiple business on University Avenue in the Drake Neighborhood. 

Along the way, Tina married Nico McQuist, had a second son Jayden, adopted Tre’jore from the foster care system, and opened her home to Ruben, her oldest son’s friend who recently started college. All the boys work in the family businesses. “My father taught me the value of work,” Tina says. “I have to make sure my kids understand: you have to work and earn what it is you want. When you get the opportunity to come to the United States, you have to utilize it to the fullest. Somebody else could have come in your place.” 

Looking back, Tina is clear about what Oakridge Neighborhood meant to her journey. “It was a safe place.” 

Families like Tina’s have turned to Oakridge Neighborhood for support for nearly 60 years. From secure housing to youth programs nurturing potential, to workforce and family services building brighter futures, our reach continues to expand because the need has grown. Your support ensures that hope, opportunity and belonging remain within reach for thousands of Central Iowans who count on us every day. Learn more.