I got my start with hair in my Grade 10 Cosmetology class, thinking it would be easy as I always enjoyed playing with my own hair. Immediately after high school, I went to hair school. I didn't have an interest in anything else and figured I could cut my friend's and family's hair. From there everything kind of snowballed! I moved to the UK in 2005 where I worked for the AVEDA Institute. I worked in Sydney, Australia, where I worked under the winner of the Australian Hairstylist of the year, and in 2010, I made the shift to self-employment and opened my own salon. In 2014, I moved to Calgary and made a complete restart, solely using social media.
I've been with Great Lengths since 2012. I had always known they were the best in the biz and wanted to work exclusively with them.
Great Lengths has had a huge impact! As a fine haired gal myself, it was a game changer and being able to offer my clients solutions to their lack of hair growth and volume is very rewarding.
I love how natural they look; that they don't look like you are wearing extensions, and that they feel like your own hair.
Just as a good camera won't make you a good photographer, or a good oven won't make you a chef, it’s super important to use your skills and to keep adapting and learning with Great Lengths. The course will give you the foundation, but remember to practice, practice, practice.
Don't order hair without first taking a deposit!
Do: When colour matching I like to take just a small piece of the swatch, the size of a bond, and put it against the hair, rather than using the entire swatch. Using a small piece of the swatch makes it easy to see how extensions will blend into the client’s natural hair.
I don’t manage it very well, haha! I have learned I need to hire out and pace myself. I definitely tend to bite off more than I can chew sometimes, because I get so excited about sharing with people.
As someone who has struggled with mental health since my teens, I've found that there are so many “creatives” out there that silently struggle as well. I wanted to create a space where people can feel understood, valued, and take something away from it.
Similar to why I started the podcast, mental health is something people are often scared to share and so they silently struggle. I figure if I can be open about my personal struggle, it may encourage others to push through and to be gentle on themselves. Community is big for me. I want to create a safe space, be it online or in my salon, where people can express themselves and be 100% real. My go-to technique for dealing with anxiety is slowing down. I’ve realized that I can't do as much as I want to, as quickly as I want to, and that practicing self-care will help me to achieve my goals quicker than overworking myself and burning out.
I love low maintenance, natural looking hair. Something that draws the eye to the person wearing the hair.
I think balayage and hair painting are here to stay for a while longer!
I don't really have a style icon! With social media the way it is, I really admire many people for different reasons.
I gain inspiration from conversations I have with others, hearing how they speak and what they feel and how they express themselves is very inspirational for me. I also find inspiration in getting out into nature, turning off my phone, and being still. It's amazing what can happen when we do!
My ability to hear beyond the words of what someone is saying. To hear what's behind it. Often times, people project internal things onto their hair and once I am able to figure out what that might be; I can help them love their hair and themselves a bit more.
Connecting with other women and helping them better understand their worth and value. Hair is just the medium that I use to connect.
This has helped me a lot with my anxiety. I can't control what others think, so why concern myself with it?
I’d really love to have more freedom with my time. I don't want to stop doing hair, but having the ability to have a more flexible schedule is definitely something I’d like to work towards.