It’s true... I get by with a little help from my friends...

How I ROSE above the fear within myself, turning career goals into a dream come true...

I really don’t know when or why it happened but about 15yrs into my hair career, working in a larger salon than ever before with a mix of stylists, some new & some seasoned, I suddenly found myself stepping up to the plate when anyone had that “I’m in over my head” look. I like to think, as a stylist myself, that it can only be recognized by other stylists. Maybe I’m wrong, but either way, I know the look because I had that look many times when I began first working in the industry. I would turn to my mentor/seasoned stylist/salon owner/friend & say “I was thinking of doing.....”. We would collaborate on it, she would offer up suggestions and guide me through each step so my client would have the best possible results ever time.

I still have days I feel like I may be in over my head. I surely don’t know everything. I am still growing as a stylist and I am grateful for that. Now though, knowing what I know, having the experience & understanding of my craft, I can usually lay out a plan of attack or pick the brain of one of my stylist friends.

Sharing what I know, freely giving any advice or guidance to another stylist or simply suggesting tricks or tips to make a task easier on them or their client’s hair is to me very fulfilling. I love to see the end results. I love to see the smile on their face and their clients. I would never be the stylist I am today without all the knowledge, guidance and help freely given to me throughout all these years.

And so it began, or at least Rose did... She was the new stylist to the salon where I was currently renting a hair booth. With only having a few years in the hair industry, coming from a salon where color was available for purchase in-house as needed for client, she was searching for a brand to commit to that would best accommodate her as a stylist & her growing clientele. As an independent stylist the choice was all on her to decide. Purchasing a color line is costly. It’s a huge decision and you have to go with what feels right and makes sense to you as a stylist. However, it’s easier to pick what the salon majority uses, just in case you ever run out mid head or take on a challenge needing extra guidance.

Of course Rose, being Rose, wanted to know why I was the odd man(woman) out at the salon. I used a different color line, almost everyone else seemed to use the same brand.

I had used other lines early on in my career, then I found my match, 15 years and PM hasn’t let me down yet. My loyalty to Paul Mitchell is a whole story in itself, aside from being number one in professional beauty products, one BIG reason I love PM is because they are a company committed to education & truly believe doing good makes the world a better place. #GIVINGISMYSTYLE #iheartPM

So yes PM is more than a brand to me... It’s a lifestyle.

I told Rose the same I tell all stylists when I’m asked about color line preference. No matter what color line YOU choose make sure to EDUCATE yourself and LEARN everything there is to know so when using it you can always ensure the best results for your clients. If you understand the line, if you use it as directed, if you follow the guidelines of YOUR line, and use the corresponding developer meant to formulate best with it. You will most likely always have success. It will also make your life much easier and be better for the clients hair if you are faced with a corrective color, re-pigmentation, or just need to formulate the 6N you don’t happen to have on hand.

It didn’t take her long to decide what color line she was going to make her signature of success. I wasn’t at all surprised when she too decided to be different than the salon majority. I was THRILLED! I had years and years of experience & knowledge waiting in my brain for her to pick at.

With her eager need to start storing everything she could in her own stylist brain and me in awe of how she would formulate tones and colors I hadn’t yet successfully even done myself, our bond as stylists grew fast. She was immediately who I texted to share anything about hair I read or came across via instagram or Pinterest. She was, hands down, my favorite stylist to work and collaborate with in all my years of hair.

Rose was passionate, smart, and born to be behind the chair. Her people skills were on point and her loyal clients were proof of that. She cared. She cared about them, their hair, and she gave her best to each and every person that sat in her chair. Watching her consult with her clients, layout her plan, mix and measure each formula & chart it down for future reference made me so proud.

I was trained to always measure, mix, and have the developer meant to correspond with the color line in use. Finally! Some one else was doing all that too! I was working along side a stylist with the same mindset. Who, like me, cared enough to pay attention even to the smallest details. I was beyond excited.

Rose wasn’t just an amazing stylist. She was an amazing person! Her smile was contagious and her fashion fit that of a true professional in the fashion & beauty industry. I adored her. She made me truly love MY career all over again. She taught me new things. My passion for hair was in full swing working with her in the salon. She would talk with the clients in my chair. Complement their hair, ask the formula used, what technique then why I decided on that plan of attack. Clients sitting in my chair loved her just as much as I did. She was a face they asked about if she happened to be gone the next time they were in for an appointment.

We grew to be out of the workplace friends. She was by my side through court when dealing with my ex. I didn’t even have to ask, she just showed up, she was the only one that showed up! She was sitting in the court room, I could barely speak so overcome with fear and anxiety. She was taking notes, writing down everything said. She was my calm through the storm. I remember saying “You didn’t have to come...” and her caring eyes looked at me and said “I NEEDED to know you had someone with you for moral support”. Rose was that kind of friend, she needed to be there to know I was okay, she needed to be there if I was falling apart to hold me together. She was single with 2 teens and 2 littles. She knew nerves of a mom trying to protect her child. She had faced it all herself. She didn’t do it alone though, so I wouldn’t have to either. Rose would make sure of that. Being the kind of friend she was, she had the support and care of many others. She had her very best friend, Jacquelyn, and she was just as rare of a human as Rose.

Being a single mom of 4, Rose worked whenever possible. Her best friend, Jacquelyn, helping out so she could take evening appointments and work on weekends when no one else would. She, like me, loved being a stylist.

Jacquelyn would stop in so the littles could see Mom, do morning coffee runs for anyone working at the salon and when she cooked she would make sure I had a fresh homemade meal right along with Rose.

Rose treated me as family and anything I even mentioned I needed to get done or was stressing over she was there to help lend a hand. And again, so was Jacquelyn. The two of them were cleaning the house my family was moving to while I worked a Saturday. Baseboards, bathrooms, tile & even inside the cabinets! It was like new! Why? Because friends help each other even when not asked. Simple as that. We were moved that same afternoon thanks to their help and hard work.

Rose is type you wouldn’t even second guess to trust with your life. She is solid. She is loyal. She is the kind of friend you know will always be there regardless of the situation. She is the kind of friend I am always striving to be myself. She was planted in my life with purpose. I knew it right away. I didn’t know at the time how much she and her kiddos would impact my life.

After a while working alongside Rose, I started to set new career goals. I was coming up on 17 years as a stylist. I was fortunate to have a great clientele. I was usually busy. I was good at my trade. I’m sure many stylists would be happy and content with all of that. I wasn’t. I needed more.

So I set out to find just that... and it seemed like every idea or plan was a dead end road.

Being told “No” is not easy to swallow, it’s even worse as an adult! Rejection is hard. Not everyone shares the same point of view and some won’t even consider looking from another angle. “It’s not meant to be...everything happens for a reason....” words you hate to hear when in the pursuit of your career goals. It’s hard to keep going when continuously being shot down. It’s hard on the ego...

I was beginning to think maybe being a “booth renter” was as far as my career was meant to go. It was depressing, even more so knowing the chain salons were charging more for services then local stylist and those chain salons were also where my clients had to go if they wanted to purchase professional hair products.

Things at the salon I was working at were changing but not in the same direction I was wanting to go. I wanted and needed more. We seemed to have less and less. Speaking my mind was frowned upon and quickly made me even more of an outcast. Luckily, I still had Rose. She was there to build me up, she was positive & had faith everything would work out for the best. She kept me centered and focused. I made the best I could of my work place but the tension in the salon didn’t go without notice. I hated being there, but I loved doing hair & when I had a client in the chair I set my own worries aside and gave their hair my very best.

Still I couldn’t help but feel like I was out of place. Some days I dreaded the thought of going to work. I felt defeated and lost. I wasn’t sure what to do. I couldn’t continue working there feeling how I did forever. I wasn’t willing to leave without finding a place that offered what I needed for me and my clients. I definitely didn’t want to leave Rose. We had a bond, we shared the same salon values when it came to serving clients.

I needed something new. I felt stagnant. I was never going to move forward standing in the same exact place. I had to change my surroundings. Change my day to day routine. Give my clients something to look forward to besides the same old thing. Sure we could change up their color or go with a new style. That was where it ended though.

The salon didn’t carry retail. I couldn’t send them out the door with the needed hair product to achieve their salon style at home. I could write it all down, hope they would stop and grab it for themselves elsewhere. I couldn’t expect them to be using quality products on their hair when we didn’t even have it on our shelves to sell... It didn’t seem to really bother the majority of the other stylists . Maybe I was asking for too much. Maybe I was crazy... Maybe not though, my clients deserved the BEST! MY best and the BEST experience while sitting in a salon chair. They were like family, that meant I needed to take care of them. After all, Without their support and care where would my career be? These clients, their loyalty, it was how supporting mijo and myself had been possible all these past years.

I gave up watching TV. My blogging was put on temporary hold. I spent my evenings reading everything about “what a client wants from their stylist”, “salon atmosphere”, “why stylists leave salons” “why clients leave their stylist” “when and why to raise prices” blah, blah, blah... I needed to know if I was expecting too much or if what I wanted for myself and my clients was to far fetched.

I kept questioning myself thinking “Is it crazy to love doing hair? Is it weird that I want to send my clients home with everything they need to achieve the same style they have when walking out the door. Should I just think of it as a JOB?” Is it just a “job”? Should I come to work, do hair, make my money and just leave my love for hair at the salon when I exit out the door....

I spent all my evening hours researching, reading and following my favorite stylist in the industry on social media learning everything I could about salon business, client care, setting yourself apart as a stylist, how to create a salon experience, why it’s important to offer something different, the key to never having to compete with other salons. I would fall sleep mid article and wake up in morning weighing out whether I had time to finish reading or if it was going to make me late to the salon...

I was finally able to understand my struggles. I could see it all so clearly and it made perfect sense to me. It all came down to salon values. Different things are important to different stylists. Not all clients want the same thing in a salon. As a stylist you have to decide what type of clientele you want to service and market to their needs.

I would bring up my findings on everything I read about to Rose. We would chat about it all. No surprise to find we were very similar in our views about customer care, teamwork, quality of service, running a business, life, kids, dressing for the job, the importance of giving back, and how amazing it is to share your own & also celebrate other’s success.

Randomly one day she said “I would love to be part of a salon someday that shares in all the things we are about and has everything I need to serve my hair and skin clients! Would you open your own salon again? I would work for you....”

That’s when I knew... If Rose was willing to go with me without any guarantees, willing to tell her clients she was relocating again, risk her livelihood and possibly lose clients when she has her kids depending on only her, I HAD to do it. I had to stop making excuses and start making a plan.

I WAS going to make it happen somehow. I knew with Rose committed and my years in the hair industry we could create something different. Something of our very own, oringinal in style, experience, a different approach on booth rental for stylists, a slim service menu only for offering what we do best.

Rose didn’t even hesitate when I asked “could you afford to pay more rent?” She was all in and if you know Rose, all in means exactly that!

Next I prepared myself to present yet another one of my spur of the moment, no time to waste, crazy ideas to Rio. I would say lucky for me he was on board and more than supportive when I asked if he would be game for a business adventure... but he’s always on board with whatever I come up with. Which is why we have had a hot tub in our yard for nearly a year that has never been used and has no electricity to it...

As for mijo, Salon life is the only life he knows so he definitely understood the commitment. It never seems to worry him unless I’m home at 3pm and then it’s “mom are you sick? Did someone cancel? Is it Sunday?”. Just one of the many reasons I love my boy, when it comes to salon life... HE GETS IT! He’s the one famous for saying “Mom, just open your own salon”.... He’s the best thing I ever helped create. He’s been a walking advertisement for my career his whole life. He’s never shy when it comes to handing a stranger my business card or bragging about his mom being the BEST stylist in town. ❤️

So it was settled and we started to prepare for our adventure into the world of business ownership...

We decided best to form an LLC. We wanted to ensure Rio, Rose, Jacquelyn & Me were all on same page when it came to what we were about to take on and had a stable plan in place. Rose & I had a vision of what we wanted in a salon for ourselves and our clients. Rio had the credit and sold off stock to fund it.

Jacquelyn had hidden talent that would ensure our salon one of a kind style and save us a TON of money when it came to buying furniture and finishings.

Our plans started to come together. It was going to be a lot of work but building an empire is hard work, especially if you want it to be worth something when you’re finished. We would need stations, shampoo bowls, mirrors, and salon chairs... we would need everything!

But before anything we would need a name for our salon, a name that we could trademark with the Arizona Corporate commissioner, those are the rules the State board of cosmetology requires before you can even apply for a salon license.

The first salon I owned 8 years prior was FOCUS -The Salon-, it was short lived. Building sold, my lease was revoked. It was a great place, I always said maybe one day when mijo was older I would own my own place again so I did have a name in mind. PhD. Professional hair Doctor. We all agreed and liked it. It was available for use. We picked a font and had a few logos in mind.

But I was secretly second guessing it. I felt like it just didn’t seem to really fit the salon concept we were striving for. I was afraid it would be intimidating to new stylist... would it imply we wanted only seasoned stylists working our salon chairs? That wasn’t at all the vision we had in mind. We wanted a welcoming place where we could serve our clients, share our knowledge and help each other to grow. A salon that would appeal to new stylists who still may need extra guidance. A salon with a supportive team, building up each other with confidence, celebrating each other’s accomplishments, sharing knowledge and success as a team. A salon that inspired new and seasoned stylist to continuously strive always giving their best.

What I REALLY wanted was a salon that radiated the passion I had for my career, my love for hair and the pride I felt when working alongside my sister stylist ROSE...

ROSE inspired me, she made me want to grow...

Rose is why OUR hair house was given the name BLOOM...

Thank you universe for planting Rose exactly where you did...

Rose thanks for never giving up on me... for giving me support always and for that push I needed to make a lifetime dream reality. Without YOU, BLOOM wouldn’t exist. ❤️