How My Journey as a Hairstylist Started
- ingridyoung
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Trust the process
I was eight years old, the youngest of 4 and the only girl. I taught myself to braid my hair. Once I entered the 8th grade, I wanted to switch things up (like I was still rocking a Jerry Curl in the early 90’s those needed to stay in the 80’s lol). Nevertheless, I began to do hair for my neighbors and church members. By the age of thirteen, I had clientele charging them $5.00 for a shampoo and set. (Boy did they get over on a youngling) This was some of my best work, especially by the time I was 17. The year of 1997, finger waves were waving, I made my best French rolls and curly ponytails etc. I knew then I loved doing hair. Needless to say, I was taking cosmetology in high school, and I was one of the best in my class.
Once I became a licensed cosmetologist, I knew it was time to learn more things because I didn’t feel confident in all things hair related. Sure, I was good at styling and cutting women’s hair, but not good with men’s. So, Fantastic Sams was the first place where I learned to cut men’s hair and became more skillful with women hair as well.
A year and a half later, I became Assistant Manager for various Great Clips in Indiana. After viewing numbers and understanding management I decided to start my own business. I always felt like it was more for me than just Great Clips, I missed styling hair so much, and working with all hair textures made me happy. This is where it all began, working in a salon as a booth renter and getting involved with education. My business began to grow, and I was thriving in education. Once again that feeling of something more came back around.
Next, I decided to move to California and get into the film industry. Fortunately, that wasn’t successful however your girl did work with some dope people for photoshoots and events. Ok, I will name a few Paris Hilton, Ashley Tisdale, and Macy Gray. These ladies were nice to work with, and I would do it again. Meanwhile, I was still working in education, and I opened/ managed a Great Clips store in Palm Springs. We set records and I had a great team of hairstylists. Then moving towards renting a suite as I develop clientele which is no easy task in the desert, very seasonal. Afterwhile that didn’t grow as expected so I closed my suite and moved my clients over to JC Penney’s. I loved my coworkers at JC Penney’s let me tell you, we had fun at work and enjoyed it. Once again that feeling came around like there’s more for you.
So still working in education as a Regional Education Manager I reached out to one of the Educators based in Atlanta Georgia and inquired about the film industry. Within that following year me and my daughter drove across country, moved to Atlanta and I began working in film. I won’t name all the films I’ve worked on you will just have to view my IMDb:
Meanwhile, I had the opportunity to work internationally as Head of Hair department (HOD), by looking at my IMDb can you name that location? Looking forward to your response as the Journey continues to unfold for us all.
Until the next Newsletter, I’m Hair for it…
Comments