Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather Hall.
Heather, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I originally went to college to become a music teacher. That didn’t pan out and I graduated without a plan. In college, my friends always thought it was a great idea to color their hair at midnight or later, and I was the person in the morning to fix it. My grandmother was a hair stylist once upon a time, so I used to listen to her stories, but I also grew up in a time when there were a lot of hair stylist shows on tv. I would watch them obsessively. I had naturally curly hair that no one could ever cut or style nicely or to my liking, so that was also a big motivator that there had to be someone out there that knew how to do it, right? My roommate after I graduated from college put it in my head that I should just go to cosmetology school, so I did. That was in 2006 and I’ve never looked back! It wasn’t until 2012 or so that I began to really specialize in curly hair.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I don’t think being a hairstylist is ever a smooth road. There are so many options we can choose from. Do we work for others or for ourselves? For independent salons or corporate salons? How do we build clientele and maintain that in a healthy manner while also having a life outside of the salon. Most hairstylist develop some sort of physical ailment due to the job at some point in their career, and I was no stranger to pain. I have spinal stenosis and other spine issues. I’ve also had carpal tunnel surgery and an elbow surgery. We need our bodies to work at all times. Then in 2020, Covid happened and we weren’t allowed to work in the salon for a period of time. We didn’t know how long that was going to be, so that was very anxiety inducing. What would it look like when we came back to work?
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I specialize in naturally curly hair. I found that most cosmetology schools fail to teach about textured hair and that is doing a disservice to the future cosmetologists. I have curly hair and just wanted to learn how to love it. I wanted to leave a salon and not have to leave straightened, still with wet hair, crunchy, frizzy or stringy hair. I found the book written by Lorraine Massey called “Curly Girl the handbook” and began to read. I started to understand that it wasn’t just about how you cut the hair but also what you put on it. Cutting and styling curly hair is completely different than cutting straight hair for me. I’m always learning new techniques and about new products and bringing those to clients. I want to problem solve with them but in a scientific way that will make sense. I always want my clients to know that I’m human and I’m right there with them in their hair struggles. I want to help them with their life styles and live their hair dreams within their hair expectations. The curly method can be so “cult” like and I’m not into their “rituals”, if that makes sense? We talk about products and ingredients and what will work for their hair specifically, but I’m not making them use 20 different products and dip their hair in rice water and turn 2 times to the left on the full moon. Online influencers are great but some can get silly and a lot can get away from common sense or science. If we approach hair in a scientific manner and even use math and physics, you can get some pretty great curls or waves out of it. I tell my clients that I don’t care what their hair looks like, my job is just to get their hair as healthy as possible. If their hair isn’t healthy, I could give them the best curly cut in the world, it still won’t look great.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Sometimes without risk, there’s no reward. I took a couple risks in my career. I moved a few times. Every time a hair stylist moves, they have to start a clientele over again from scratch. I’ve switched from corporate salons to independent salons and that can be a risk for stylists as most independent salons can’t offer a lot of perks, like healthcare. I risked working in a salon to go out on my own as an independent contractor and open my own salon loft. I lost almost 60 percent of my clients when I did that and I only moved from Clintonville to the Short North. It showed me that parking was a huge factor, but the ones that followed me were mostly my curly clients. That’s when I truly decided that I needed to solely focus on curls only. I started to mostly post curly pictures on my social media and curly clients spread the word. The risk was paying off. I now own my own salon in Clintonville and love every day I come to work. Curly hair is life!
Pricing:
- New Client Education Appointment is $200
- Cut wash and style is $90
- Dry cut is $44
- Children’s cut is $27
- Barber cut is $33
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Heatherjhall.glossgenius.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heather_hall_curlwhisperer/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherHallSalonLofts/
