The Real World of a Hairdresser

it isn't all glamour and beauty behind the chair

[therealworldofahairdresser]

New Year

With the new year only a day away, and one last work day before a two day break. Next year, after two years of a 4 day work week, I will return to a regular 5 day work week. The decision came easily. By working an extra day a week, I would be able to earn more and save that extra income. I think would be a good plan for the next year. But I won’t have that extra day off with my children. I’ve actually gotten quite spoiled with 3 day weekends every week. But I need to create a better life for my children and a stronger career for myself. I’m fortunate that we could live comfortably with a 4 day work week, but I want to do more. 

[therealworldofahairdresser]

It’s been way too long and many things have changed in my life. I am still a hairdresser, and to give myself some credit, a much more successful one. I was re-reading a few of my previous posts. It brought back many memories of my beginnings as a new and younger hairstylist. It reminded me to never forget where I started and how you had to work hard to succeed and improve not only yourself, your skills, and your business. One of the main motivating factor of why I’m back is that while my business plans are changing; I still go through the same cycle of being a businesswoman, being creative, maintaining clients, keeping up with trends, making sure you value yourself, etc. During my absence, I built up more clientele, created a hair extensions line, had a long time friendship fall apart. got married, had one child, then had another, moved twice in between...life doesn’t stand still. Our lives as hairstylists are very demanding and I cannot be the only one who experiences this. I hope that my experiences will inspire other stylists when they lack motivation, encourage when stylists are losing faith, comfort when they are down, and remind them that their work is valuable.

[therealworldofahairdresser]

[therealworldofahairdresser]

I’m a Slave to My Job

I stumbled up on this article during my usual morning routine of coffee and Facebook. Titled “3 Signs You’re a Fake Entrepreneur”. But something really stuck me when I read this section: 

1. You’re A Freelance Rockstar

Oh the millions of freelancers… The creatives who believe working for themselves doing what they love is entrepreneurship. But throughout history, this career path has always been referred to as a “merchant”. A self-employed individual who trades their craft for money.

Unlike freelancers, entrepreneurs don’t trade their time for dollars. With this model, you can only make as much money as you have time. It’s a losing structure.

The goal of a freelancer is to have a steady job with no boss, to do great work, to gradually increase demand so that the hourly wage goes up and the quality of gigs goes up too. You’re a freelance for hire, not an entrepreneur.

I was faced with the reality of my job. I am trading my time for money. I can only make as much money as the time I have and in order to make more I have to give up more personal time to work. And the only other way is to increase the my cost, but that only works if people are still willing to pay. 

I want to do something more than just work to survive. I’d like to own some property or land where I can just collect the rent checks. Or I’d like to have a patent that everyone needs so I can just collect my “mailbox money”. 

PS. I don’t know if you should actually buy into the products the link takes you to. I mean it’s great that he’s making money telling others how to make money (hmmm new business idea for me, LOL).

[therealworldofahairdresser]

Reading this quote and trying to not be jealous. I’m not necessarily jealous of one particular person, but just jealous in general. I’m jealous that despite working hard, I feel like I don’t have enough. I feel like for some people everything just falls on their lap. And then I see random people on instagram always posting pictures of themselves and all their nice things on forever vacation. I know, totally materialistic of me. Also, maybe their lives on line are projected to be better than reality. But still feeling green with envy.  

[therealworldofahairdresser]

Everyone has that client or those clients that need to guide you in every step of the cut. With the patience of a saint, us hairstylists keep our mouths shut and do as we’re told. Some clients are only happy if we do it exactly how they say; even if we have a better suggestion. 

And then there’s that client who has no clue on what she wants. They want something and you want to help. But somehow no matter how you try to figure out which direction to take the client isn’t giving any feedback. Today, one of my clients wanted to grow her hair but wanted a cut but didn’t want me to cut anything. In my professional opinion she really didn’t need a cut and the shape was perfectly fine. Her last haircut was a month ago. So I tried to be more proactive and find out if there was something specific that she wasn’t liking about the haircut. I asked: are the layers too long? Are there not enough layers? Not enough body on the top? Too flat in the back? Too stringy? Every answer was: I don’t know. I kept trying to find angle to figure out what I can do as a stylist to help her out. But with no feedback, I can’t really get a feel. Also, I genuinely felt her hair was in great condition, the ends didn’t need to be cleaned up. Sometimes I feel like I just need to pretend I’m doing something on their hair. 

[feministlisafrank]

Quote by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

[therealworldofahairdresser]

BEING AN INDEPENDENT WOMAN

Sometimes a girl just has to have her fix. For me it’s that occasional splurge: a designer handbag. After all, you do work hard, so what’s the point of all that hard work if it’s not fun. Anyway, for my big birthday, the almost 3-0! I splurged and bought a beautiful designer bag. I felt so happy. But the husband’s feelings weren’t the same. He felt I should take the bag back. This was a bit upsetting. 1. I worked a lot and saved for this bag. 2. I didn’t use household funds to purchases this bag, and my splurge will not affect my ability to contribute to the household needs. 3. My choice to spend my own personal money is my choice.

I felt upset that he couldn’t just let me enjoy my achievement. (I know it’s not a physical or goal achievement, but I did have to work very hard for a long time to make this huge purchase). He felt my purchase was “stupid”. Shouldn’t I be the judge of what I purchase is “stupid” or not? I don’t understand how an independent purchase that has no affect on him nor the household finances would be such a big deal. I didn’t jeopardize our credit nor max out our credit cards. I used my own personal money that I slaved away and saved.

People always say that young women should always have their own career and life together so they are able to be independent. You won’t need to rely on a man or anyone to support you and to deny you of things you place value on. Being independent meant being in control to make your own choices. Yet, why does my husband still want to control my choices? 

[therealworldofahairdresser]

Time Off

I look back at times where I have put work before myself and my family. I’ve missed out on countless family gatherings, birthday parties, bachelorette parties, outings, vacations, fun. But I’ve also missed on the important but sometimes sad times, funerals for loved ones, family in need, difficult times with loved ones. But what I have really been missing was the memories and time I could have spent with the people who I care about. 

I used to think that in order to feel successful, these sacrifices were necessary. I no longer want to make those “sacrifices”. Yes, you do have to work very hard to build a full clientele and long lasting business. Yes, you do have to put in long hours. Yes, you will have less time for yourself. But the point I’m trying to get at is: when it does matter and count; you should take the tine off and do what you truly want to. 

This Saturday (I know, a SATURDAY!), I will be leaving work early to go to my friend’s birthday party. I will have fun, and I won’t even think twice about the potential “work” I am missing out on. WORK WILL ALWAYS BE THERE. But also, I’m making up for it by working (just a few hours) on Sunday (LOL). And since I do have to work Sunday, it proves my point: work will always be there.

[therealworldofahairdresser]

When You Need to Drop a Client

I’ve dealt with the clients deciding they want to leave me. But more recently, I am dealing with the reverse. This client, who is sweet, has been MIA for the last couple of years due to financial instability. The first time she returned, I recommended and ombre so she could still have the blonde but minus the costly maintenance. She refused (which is fine, she’s the client), so I did the all over bleach blonde. She then went somewhere else and they ruined her hair. They did lowlights which were too dark, so they tried to bleach them out and they turned pumpkin orange. She came back (of course) and wanted me to fix it. I couldn’t because her hair was so fried and broken. I recommended some masks to help her hair in the meantime, but she refused due to the high cost of professional products. But what’s aggravating for me is: if a client is seeking me out for my professional advice, yet they still refuse to follow through, then what is the point of seeing me? On top of that the client is going back and forth between different stylists and salons, so there is no consistency. I cannot keep color correcting a client each time I see them. The hair never gets better and it still looks like a hot mess! It’s time I explain to this client that if she wants her hair to look good and stop getting damaged she needs to commit to seeing me and following my recommendations. If she cannot then, I cannot do her hair. It brings me too much stress and the hair never comes out good if I’m constantly fixing someone else’s mistakes. To be honest, I don’t even want to go this route; I just want to tell her that I cannot give her the look she desires and there’s no point in continuing to see a stylists that can’t do what she wants. It’s time to say GOODBYE!

[kylestrope]

one more cat, as animated by me, sander van dijk with the assist

[therealworldofahairdresser]

Anyone every have that blonde client who decided to go dark? (I know you all have!) And you know how challenging it is to take them back to their original color, right? Well, two days ago, I was THAT CLIENT. Our salon had an in-salon color class with Goldwell. Since I was up for a change I volunteered to be the model. My coworkers and I formulated and applied the color with the guidance of the instructor. I was a beautiful, rich, golden brown, level 7 brunette.I was happy with the result...until I get home. The more I looked in the mirror, I started feeling less and less like myself. (FYI: I was a whole head bleach blonde toned to a level 8 gold). So, I became one of THOSE CLIENTS, and called my dear friend and fellow stylist and said: PLEASE MAKE ME BLONDE AGAIN! I DON’T RECOGNIZE MYSELF IN THE MIRROR!! Thank goodness he was able to do it the next day. So here I am blonde again. Not, whole head golden blonde again, but at least a whole head highlighted ash blonde.

[therealworldofahairdresser]

All Clients are a Little Insane!

I’m starting to believe all my clients are a bit nuts! (It only took me nearly a decade, LOL). One client tells me she hates her hair, blah blah blah, but 4 weeks ago (when I first did it) she loved it and everything was awesome. Crazy Client #2 tells me she needs her Brazilian Blowout done and she can’t stand her frizzy hair, but 2 months before, she complained that she didn’t want to do the Brazilian Blowout again because her hair didn’t really benefit from it. Crazy Client #3 tells me she’s going to get her haircut with someone else. (Fine, whatever...) She comes back and complains about how that stylist cut it so short, blah blah blah. 

So when you start thinking it’s you, it’s actually them. 

[therealworldofahairdresser]

Not Feeling Confident

So, despite having a great day at work; it ends with a client from two days before complaining about her hair. Makes you feel like such a failure. I know I need to fix it. But a part of me just doesn’t feel like I can. I mean the easy solution, that I think it is, is that it just needs toner. But the side of me who’s losing confidence just feels depressed. I feel like I’m not a good hairdresser. I even feel helpless. This is just one of those terrible weeks. Right now, all I feel like dwelling on is the negative. I keep telling myself that I will learn from this. But a part of me wants to give up. Like, why bother? Every time I do get something right, I always make new mistakes over again. I tell myself that I will take more advanced courses to improve my skills. But the other side tells me that I continue with what I learn.

[therealworldofahairdresser]

The Driving Force

I think most hairstylists will try to say they "love" their jobs because they make their clients happy, please their clients, meet their clients expectations. I, on the other hand feel that it's so client-centric. I mean, I already have to small talk and be overly accommodating to them in every other way. It takes so much out of me to please them. But you know what keeps me going and motivated? It's that amazing feeling of accomplishment and the realization of how far I have improved from each time I do hair. I don't do hair because I love making my clients happy and blah blah blah. I do it because I love it when I can see each time I do an updo, haircut, haircolor, hairstyle, I see and improvement. After completing a beautiful head of hair, I can reflect back on my skills and just revel in the that feeling.  When I feel satisfied and happy with the work I have created; I am loving my job! 

[therealworldofahairdresser]

I Still Can Never Get Used to It Pt. 2

So I've had a few hours to mull over what just happened. I think what makes me upset is that I spend so much of me: my time, my effort, my passion, my everything, into "helping" clients and then there is no loyalty on their part. The one time that I couldn't accommodate them, they up and leave you. It's just so frustrating. I know I should understand and be used to the fact that this is just the nature of the business, but it's still very upsetting. It's very disheartening, because you really do put your heart and soul into providing the best service for the clients. I'm thinking to not care so much about them and to look out for number 1 (myself). I'm the one who suffers. My time with my own family and friends are cut short. And not to mention personal time. And all for what? These disloyal and demanding clients? I understand that as the customer it is their choice to see whomever. but they up and change in a heartbeat. Just 'cuz. I seriously need to make a new career for myself. I don't want to just depend on clients to support myself. There must be something more I can do to make a better career for me. I want to work smarter not harder. I hope there is a plan for me. I hope that with this one client leaving; ten more will take her place. 

[therealworldofahairdresser]

I Still Can Never Get Used to It

It's still so difficult to process when a client decides to leave you. And it's over something so stupid too. I had to leave out of town and this client called last minute and I had to set her up with another stylist. Fast forward, now she wants that other stylist to do her hair again! I'm mad at myself for setting myself up for this! I hate how this is a part of our industry but i still can't get used to this. But if this client ever decides to see me again, I'm raising her prices. Which brings me to another point: raise client's prices when you have to and don't just be nice and let them keep paying the original prices. They still end up leaving you one way or another,