Blessed behind the chair, indeed.

What an honor to be asked to be a part of such an inspiring platform.

My name is Nicole, I am 29 and I have been a licensed cosmetologist for 11 years.  What a ride these past 11 year have been.  I am blessed behind the chair for countless reasons; family, friends, opportunities, creativity.  But if I had to sum up the countless blessing of my career, the two words that call to me most are connecting and uplifting. I am blessed to connect with people in the chair and uplift them by enhancing their confidence through their hair as well as giving them a place to be heard and validated, to uplift them to be their best self.  I am blessed to have worked under and alongside so many amazing people, connecting and uplifting one another, because let’s face it, what we do can be really hard at times and we have all had moments where we want to quit.

I could say that from the moment I got behind the chair everything fell into line, but I would be lying.  I fell into cosmetology using at as an excuse to escape the tortures of high school.  I was an awkward kid who struggled with anxiety and depression since I could remember and always used creativity as an outlet.  Cosmetology seemed like the most natural fit through the regional occupation program at the ripe age of 16.  I loved it, then I hated it, then I loved it again, then I hated it again.

Then somewhere in between the beginning of my career and now I lost someone I loved very much, and as life would have it I fell into a string of poor decisions and depression.  I had never been so lost. I don’t know if I have ever told anyone this, but I prayed, possibly for the first time.  I didn’t know what I was doing, but I prayed a lot and I prayed hard.

Over time I felt myself getting pulled back in, falling in love with doing hair like never before. The industry has always had a way of calling me back and keeping me in line before I could stray into the dark too far. What became very clear to me as I began to heal is that I am incredibly blessed. That no matter where I am at with myself, I hold an immense amount of accountability every time I step behind that chair and have the opportunity to connect with people and impact them in a positive way.  In a lot of ways, I could say my clients saved me.  Even though I was helping them, they had no idea they were helping me.  Then to make things even better I learned that the industry isn’t as scary and competitive as it used to be.  The industry is full of professionals who also want to connect and

uplift with other beauty industry professionals. Who knew!

Now I am as happy as I have ever been, married to the man of my dreams with an amazing young daughter in a beautiful town with a wonderful career.  I am the business owner of a sweet little studio salon in Roseville California.  I love my life, I love my career, and I love my journey.

Bless you all.  Thanks for reading.

Nicole

@nicolevanycreations

xoxo