Girl Behind the Hair

I consider myself to be a pretty open person, and I know that I am different than the average girl you might meet. But I do think it takes time and effort to truly get to know a person on a deeper level.

In my life, I have found that if you learn about someone’s story or background, you can appreciate them more as a person and understand them better.

My story isn’t tragic nor dramatic, but rather, pieces of a puzzle that made me the person I am today.

I grew up in Temecula, California - the suburban valley between San Diego and Orange County. And while my brother and I never went without, we definitely didn’t live in abundance like majority of our friends and neighbors. My parents worked extremely hard to make sure that we had a great life, and to them I owe everything. They lived humble lives, and taught us the value of money and hard work at a very young age. To me, looking back, the values they instilled in me are worth more than any amount of money or material things they could have given me.

I made my way pretty normally through my high school years. I wasn’t an outcast, but I wasn’t popular by any means. Right away, I knew I was different because I wasn’t good at any of things the world tells you “matter”. I didn’t play sports, or dance, or sing. I worked hard to get good grades, but I wasn’t exceptionally genius. To be honest, I always felt a little out of place as a kid because I felt like a “mini adult”. I was always very observant + aware, and could pick up on subtleties of those around me. I often found myself wanting to socialize with adults more than kids my own age- except when I was with my husband.

Yes. You read that right.

I knew my husband as a kid. We grew up together! I still remember seeing him on the blacktop at school. Matthew and I have been together since high school! He was (and still is) pretty much the exact opposite of me. He is totally my other half, and pushes me to be my best. His path was much more “typical”, but he was by my side while I figured things out. He also helps me with all things “tech” when it comes to my business ideas!

Now I did have other interests and skills besides being good with people and working hard. I was always very crafty, creative, and artistic. Growing up, I was constantly drawing, painting, sewing, or doing hair for all the little girls at my brothers baseball games. But one thing I have always loved was CLOTHES. In fact, for a long time I thought I wanted to be a fashion designer! I loved expressing myself through clothes. Now unfortunately, shopping isn’t considered an extracurricular and we didn’t have the money for it anyway. So I would often draw the clothes I wished for. In high school I took Fashion as one of my electives and strongly considered going to FIDM- Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising- after I graduated.

It was in that fashion class, that a girl in my group told me about her Hair program. She was going to High School half the day, and training to be a hairstylist the other half. She talked about being able to make money right away and working as much or as little as she wanted, with a flexible schedule. I remember thinking “wow. That sounds pretty cool, maybe I could do that.” It planted the seed, but I continued considering FIDM.

Fast forward to my senior year… Everyone was concerned with grades, the SAT, and applying to colleges. I felt SO UNCOMFORTABLE. Everyone around me was getting on a bus to a destination that I wasn’t sure I wanted to go to. I knew college wasn’t for me, and that for any job I would be happy doing, a degree didn’t seem necessary. But this was 2012. So I’m sure you can imagine my parents confusion and worry when I told them this.
I started looking into anything that could take me the other direction. Photography, Interior design, Fashion… But the economy wasn’t great at the time, and none of those fields were particularly promising when it came to providing and making money.

That’s when I thought seriously about doing hair.

I was so nervous because I knew next to nothing about the industry + training, and at the time, college was just what everyone did. As you probably guessed, my parents were not thrilled with the idea. Like all parents, they wanted the best for me, and questioned my commitment to this and the validity of making enough money with a career as a hairstylist. Which of course, only made me want to prove them wrong even more. (Thanks Mom and Papa for being motivating!). They supported my decision, helped me through hair school, and I made it my priority to be a success.

I moved out, worked my way through hair school, and got my first job as the owners assistant at a salon in Orange County. Shannon taught me how to do hair, and how to use my people skills to position myself as a professional in this field. I remember she said “If you take yourself seriously, others will too.” I also learned so much about business and how to run one. I realized I had a pretty good business sense! It just made sense to me! My love for the industry grew immensely, and I’m so glad I pushed myself to go outside the mold.

Now I have been doing hair for over 5 years (2020). My husband and I live in Arizona, and I work at the beautiful Jess Salon in Gilbert. I love my salon, my coworkers, and the amazing example of hard working women.

I can truly say I LOVE what I do. I’m so excited to break more molds and see where this takes me in the future.

Thanks for listening + being a part of my story!