When did you start your journey?

I have been a hairstylist for 20 years, I have been a hair extension educator for 16 years, and in October of 2023 I will celebrate 3 years as a salon suite owner

Did you get any time to reflect on how far you came?

Only recently have I learned to stop and process the journey.  We are all training just to keep pushing but forget to look back.  I never knew this would be the path my career would have taken.  I am so proud of how this little girl carved her own diverse path in the beauty industry.  Not many stylists have the huge diversity in clientele and students that I do and that makes me proud that the way I communicate my message is relatable to all.

What’s the hardest part of your job?

Do you have anything new to tell the upcoming professionals who do what you do?

I would tell anyone starting out as a hairstylist to learn how to work on all textures of hair so that you can cater to all clients in whatever you specialize in. Your chair will always be full if you work with every nationality.  For anyone wanting to start a business, I would say find a business coach or a mentor because you don’t know what you don’t know

What does collaboration mean to you and how does it relate to you and your brand today?

Collaboration is such an important thing because if you’re passionate about what you do then you tend to flock to those who are like-minded.  When there is a common goal and mutual respect of what both parties bring to the table then collaboration helps both bring a different aspect to their business as well as their follower communities.  Collaborations are meant to help both parties grow in a way they may not have been able to alone. With my specialty being in hair extension application, I try to collaborate with hair extension companies and tool supplies companies to bring my followers, students, and clients the best products to work with.

Why did you get into your niche?

There is thin hair on both sides of my family.  When growing up I watch women allow professionals and no professionals to apply damaging hair extensions to their hair without any care for their natural. hair. Even in hair school students would pass along bad advice to each other with the only care being how much hair can we apply to one person’s head.  While loving hair extensions I wanted to service my client from a place of knowledge always keeping the health of their natural hair at the top of my priority list. So I learned multiple hair extension techniques to gain the experience I needed to be able to advise someone on what may or may not be a good fit for them. Working with different hair extension applications and textures has made it so that I am comfortable calling myself an expert.