08/06/2020
“I am a hair dresser”
“Oh how cool! I would love to sit around and play with hair all day”
“Thanks I really love it”
“I wanted to do that too but I had to get a real job”
I chose my profession, yes I said profession. I have an education; believe it or not I am not dumb.
I have a license that probably looks similar to the one in your accountant’s office.
“So in beauty school they just teach you how to braid hair and stuff?”
“Yes, we did learn how to braid, along with all the bones and muscles in the body, along with chemistry, electricity, along with business, along with anatomy and physiology”
“Oh wow, I don’t see why you need all that just to cut hair”
I was taught how to properly help you achieve the look you are wanting while maintaining the integrity of your hair. But I have also dropped my head in defeat because I couldn’t get Sara’s hair to move from black to white in two hours. Then drove home in tears because I knew Sara was a walking un-happy billboard for my business. And although I did everything I knew to do Sara isn’t happy. In tears because I knew Sara would tell everyone who would listen about how “that stupid hairdresser” ruined her hair, while leaving out that she was dishonest about the history of her hair.
I do get upset when I hear “I’m going to hair school; I already know everything so I just need to be certified. Since I’m so good I might as well get paid for it” If you are that good I am happy for you. But having the “I already know everything” mentality is going out the window the first time a screaming 2 year old sits in your chair. When he moves and screams louder with every cut you make. I have walked out the back door of the salon more than once wondering if his mother was going to put a review about me on Google, or Yelp or if I would get my own Facebook rant. Because her little boy looks terrible because of the “horrible experience” he had with “that stupid Hairdresser”
I have cried with clients while touching up their roots for their parents, or worse their child’s funeral.
I have curled little girls for the Daddy/Daughter dance listening to them tell me how they are going to look just like Cinderella! While I hope to get home in time to at least get a picture of my little boy and daughter before they leave, let alone have time to do there hair.
Im att work at 7 and Just because we “close” at 6 doesn’t mean we leave at 6.
I hear “I would come to you but your prices are too high”. Again I have an education that wasn’t free. I have booth rent, I have to pay for any and every product I use on your head. If my thinning shears pull your hair it’s because they need sharpening, that’s not free. And I have to use Ken to sharpen them because the last time Dave did it they got bent, and had to be replaced. Those aren’t free.
I can’t turn away a client because they are sick I just have to pray I don’t catch it. Health insurance doesn’t come in our lack-of-benefits package. And it’s a good thing that in school we stopped playing with each others hair long enough to learn business because I am the only one looking out for my retirement.
So the next time you may be in a hair chair think of the person helping you. The person who had the courage to bet on themselves and walk away from job security, guaranteed income, insurance, a 401k plan, and family dinner to stand behind you.
I am a hairdresser
I have the crooked fingers, scared knuckles, burnt fingertips, and sore feet to prove it!
- Not “Just a hairdresser”
Your stylist
