How Hair Extensions Changed My Life…And How They Could Change Yours Too
In April, I’m celebrating 20 years of working in an industry I love and that I’m so passionate about. While there have definitely been some ups and downs, I’m so lucky to have been able to build a successful business, help clients leave the salon looking and feeling good, and train others to start their careers as hair extensionists.
That’s why to celebrate two decades in business, I want to give something back. If you follow me on social media, you will have seen that I’m having a huge giveaway in April. I’m giving two lucky winners the chance to win either a full head of hair extensions or hair extension training with mentorship from me.
If you want to feel glam going into the new year, or you desperately want to switch careers and do something you love, here’s the story of why I’m so passionate about hair, how the industry has changed my life for the better, and how it could change yours too.
My Journey Into The World Of Hair Extensions
I was working full-time as a floating support worker and at the time, I thought it was my dream job. Then after a visit to the hairdresser, everything changed. My husband had asked what I wanted for my birthday and I told him I wanted hair extensions. As I sat having them done, I had a brainwave-I thought ‘I could do this!’
That was the beginning of my journey into a career in hair extensions. I enrolled on a course soon after, and I soon learned that not every application method suited every client, so I did more training courses. Armed with the knowledge, I felt confident enough to start advertising and went mobile, doing hair extensions at weekends. I was travelling all over from Manchester to Liverpool, and I soon decided I hated that, so I started working from my living room. Turns out that wasn’t the best idea as my family were living at home, along with my two playful dogs!
Nevertheless, clients kept coming, and as I got more recognised, I got busier and began working evenings in the week while working in my full-time job.
As soon as my daughter left home, I turned her small bedroom into a salon. That was the best thing I ever did, as now I had a separate place to work from and it made my little hair extension business look more professional. As I got busier and busier over the years, I moved from the small room to a bigger room in my house, then eventually, I moved out of my house into a room in a building.
Things were so busy but one day I had the realisation; now that I was doing something I really loved, I’d lost heart in my permanent day job. I had hesitated to give up my job to do hair extensions full-time because I was on a good salary, but it just wasn’t floating my boat any more.
Taking The Plunge
In 2011, I took my redundancy from my full-time job and decided to take the plunge into building a hair extension business. I got my first high street salon and kitted it out. The very same day I left my day job, I walked into my salon and opened it to the general public.
It was definitely scary but so exciting at the same time. Before long, I had a self-employed hairdresser and a nail tech working there. In 2011/12 I completed level 2 hairdressing at Bolton College and did further training in hair extensions as my ultimate dream was to become a hair extension educator.
Over the next few years, I closed my salon as it wasn't for me. I liked providing the personal touch and I’m all about the 1-2-1 private confidential service. So I decided to move my business back home and work from there. I completed more training courses and improved my skills, and I was busier than ever.
In 2016, I improved my skills further and trained in hair loss systems, which is definitely a passion of mine. Unfortunately, I broke my collar bone and had to have 10 weeks off work which wasn’t ideal, but it did give me the time and space to reflect on what I wanted for the future. I decided I would like another salon, but it had to be the right one, and I only wanted to offer hair extension and hair loss services.
The Covid Bombshell
In February 2020, I found the perfect place. But little did I know that after only four weeks of trading, Covid would hit and we would go into lockdown. It was the hardest time I’ve ever had; being self-employed and having salon bills to pay when I had no income was terrifying.
I did a lot of crying as Covid spread quickly and lots of people died. It was such a sad time. Like everyone else, we couldn’t see family and had one hour per day to go out. I talked to my husband about how I felt and shared my thoughts on social media which really helped. It helped me remember that I wasn’t alone in feeling like this.
On one of our daily walks, I said to my husband that I wanted to do the qualification to become a hair extension educator and open my own training academy. I started the course, put my heart and soul into it, and completed it within 6 weeks. It wasn’t easy; I cried a lot during the assessments because I found it hard going. But once I got the qualification, I was so happy and it was worth the struggle.
After lockdown, I was worried about clients not returning and whether they would be able to afford hair extensions at all considering how many peoples’ finances had been hit. But eventually, we did get back to normal and I soon got new clients and became busier than ever.
But my love for the salon just wasn’t there any more and I closed it and went back to working from home. I have been back working from home for two years, I have a lovely space to work in, and I am busier than ever.
I absolutely love what I do; my passion for it is bonkers! I love the transformations, I love the clients, in fact, I love everything about it, even after 20 years.
This is why I want to do run this fabulous competition; to offer someone else the chance to do what I love and to experience the glam feel good factor of having hair extensions themselves.
If you want to change your life, work for yourself, and start your own business just like I did, you have nothing to lose by entering.
How to enter the competition
To be in with a chance to win either a full set of hair extensions* or a hair extension training course**, just join my Facebook groups.
To win the hair extensions, join the group click link below
To win the hair extension training course, join the group here www.facebook.com/groups/hotlockstrainingacademygiveaway/
