Katherine Smith

I've been an artist all my life. Becoming a hairstylist was supposed to be something that felt creative that I could do while attending art school. Fortunately for me, I was educated in Ohio, where at 750 hours, a student is encouraged to go be mentored or gain an internship. It was embedded in me the importance of support and guidance for young stylists. The average life span of a stylist is a tragic 4 years. I truly believe this is because most states don't offer that opportunity, and then it's not known to seek it out, or the importance of it. So a lot of fresh stylists never feel confident or happy with their work, don't learn how to brand themselves or retain clients, even how to do books so if they want to booth rent At some point. I have been so fortunate that I've had so many stylists grow with me because I was able to teach them what was so vital to my career. I'm even more grateful to the stylists that showed me the way and taught me quality over quick and quantity, and it's ok to make mistakes, you just have to learn to correct them, and handle clients properly. This is a hard industry, everyone needs support, especially when first out of school. At the moment I own my own salon and have 6 young stylists that I'm currently training. I love what I do, from behind the scenes of building up the next generation of talent, or that moment when a loyal client gets turned around, eyes all lit up, because for that moment that truly see themselves as others do.