Putting the scissors down…

I haven’t blogged in a while, lots of new stuff going on in my life but that’s a whole different blog to be written.

Today is a good day to write after being on hiatus because this day marks the first day in almost 13 years that I will no longer be a hair stylist. Pretty bittersweet!! Bitter in the ways that I will no longer pamper people on a daily basis. Make them feel happy and relaxed. Make them feel beautiful! See the smiles on clients faces when they leave my chair. Daily, I have met new people, heard new stories. Incredible ones like the mothers who stand by their children’s risky dreams of living abroad with support and love or taking care of their children on their own with no help. Women who faced adversity and came out the other end stronger, from cancer to divorce to losing a loved one to illness or old age. Strong men who support their families while their wives stay at home with the children. Incredible travel stories, to wedding days, to graduations and pregnancy. People are incredible and it’s been a pleasure to even be able to listen to their journeys. My favourite times are the “psychiatrist” times of hair dressing. The moments where a woman sits in my chair, vents out all her struggles and I try my hardest to give some words of wisdom and help out in any way I can, even just by lending an open ear! Those have been the best times of my career. Also being in this business for so long, you see your clients grow. From bad jobs, to horrible dating stories, to graduations, meeting a new love interest, getting engaged and doing their hair on their wedding day. To the happy news of them expecting. You grow up with your clients and it’s been an honour to be a part of their lives.

The tougher parts are the competitive side of this industry. A lot of “i’m better than you” attitudes, which is by no means part of my personality! That has always been a struggle for me. I’m a supporter, you might excel in colour while I might excel in cuts. We all have our strong points and i’m a firm believer of lifting people up and working as a team! In this industry there’s a lot of cattiness, narcissists, stylists who think they’re superstars and yes confidence is a great thing to have but cockiness is not! I will NOT miss that! I will not miss working on Saturdays either, never got used to working on the weekends. The TGIF’s would give me some serious fear of missing out!! Having to leave an outing early on a Friday night to be able to get up the next morning for work. Working my butt off on Saturday, going home and falling asleep to wake up at 10pm, seven missed calls later and my friends were already out and about. Bye bye working on Saturdays, hello normal weekends!! I wont miss the physical side of the job, sore backs and shoulders. Throbbing feet and wrists. I salute all you stylists who have been doing it for 30 plus years, you are definitely rock stars in my books. My aunt is one of them. My friends used to always say hair dressing is like construction work for women, it is definitely true!

All in all, I have been able to go abroad for hair shows, be a part of fashions show, hair competitions, styling hair for an album cover, been a part of photo shoots, met and made some great friends…. This industry has let me do some pretty incredible stuff and make memories that I will never forget!!

Last but definitely not least I want to thank my mentors, Dino Tolentino & Ernesto Domanico. You took this hot pink haired, funky styled, twenty one year old just out of hair school and shaped her into the hard working thirty two year old she is today! You taught me how to be professional, a strong woman, a team player, kind to my coworkers. You instilled in me a great work ethic. To never be lazy, help my coworkers when needed and to believe in myself when I thought I couldn’t do something (yes Ernesto that’s for you, for helping me overcome my fear of haircuts) You taught me how to do some amazing hair. I’m so grateful that I learned what I know from you two incredibly talented hair stylists. I always felt thankful when I lived and worked in different cities/countries, served my clients and they would tell me they could see in me the difference between a good hairstylist to a great one. That’s all because of you guys and that is why you truly deserve being Toronto’s Best Hair Salon! Now don’t let this go to your head :p The twelve years I worked for you were the best years of my career and on many levels personal wise! I’m sad I couldn’t retire in your salon but I made moments and friendships of a lifetime there and many memories I will hold in my heart forever! Thank you both so much!!

I am very excited to see what happens next in my life and just wanted to show my appreciation for the great industry that I have been a part of for so long! Onto the next chapter….

Peace, Love & to new beginnings xoxo