20. NOT JUST A HAIRDRESSER.
Delving into the mind of our creatives and how they see themselves in the mirror. We did not expect this.
Reality is that a lot of the time our freelancers have been made to feel not proud of their careers… ‘I’m just a hairdresser’ is something that may not come out of our mouths but it's something we feel like we should say? The truth of the matter is, there are so many harmful stigmas surrounding the word ‘Hairdresser’ and what it means to be one.
Almost always assumed as ‘the easy way out’, Hairdressing is often considered a profession for school drop outs - a last resort for those who can’t (or don’t want) to do anything else. When actually for most, its countless years of hard work, studying, continued education, training, apprenticing, blood, sweat, and tons of tears to get where you are. How great would it be to live in a world where you don’t have to feel like you have to justify your career choice to people… to strangers, to your parents, to friends?
Our founder of The Studio Upstairs Jess, remembers being told that ‘she would never amount to anything in life’ because she was chasing hairdressing as a career. Our salon manager Corey was told to make sure she has a plan B for when she needs to change careers because she will be ‘broke’. Michael explains that he feels like he has to give every person who asks a full career break down before they’ll consider him successful.
The seriousness of the judgemental responses are detrimental to any hairdresser whether they’re established business owners or just starting out in the industry. It's concerning when people assume the career of a hairdresser can only be justifiable when they’re dubbed as ‘therapists’, when in all seriousness it just like every other career path. Making someone feel better on the inside and out, spending years perfecting their craft, being a successful business owner, maybe an educator. A person who has chosen out of creativity and passion to pursue a career that they know even the smallest thing they do can make the biggest difference in someones life. It's probably about time the same congratulations are given to those that chose this path, as those that embark on a four year university degree.
We are proud of what we do, and feel like the old world opinions should be put to bed. We love coming into The Studio every day and knowing we’re going to make even the smallest difference to our clients day, we love learning and perfecting our skill, we love striving to be the best that we can be.
You are creative, you are successful & You are not ‘just a hairdresser’.
