Today we’d like to introduce you to Gina Pickett.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Gina. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am the owner of Style by Gina Studio. I am a California native and have been a hairdresser for 15 years, starting my career right out of high school. When I received my hair license, I took a leap of faith and called Jonathan Antin Salon in Beverly Hills, Ca. to apply for a job. Jonathan was known to me because I watched his reality television show on Bravo. The name of the show was called BLOW OUT. I was hired as a general assistant while still living at my parents’ home in Orange County and drove two hours each way in Los Angeles traffic to study under the best celebrity stylists around. It was a grueling but rewarding experience working as an assistant, taking apprentice training classes, and also being on the television show. In addition, a celebrity extension specialist named Kiara Bailey who was employed there hired me as her personal assistant. I spent the next two and a half years assisting Kiara with her clients while also traveling for photo shoots, fashion shows and press junkets. Kiara became like an older sister to me and always treated me with love and respect while teaching me the art of hair. I left my job with Kiara and started my own career at Lukaro Salon in Beverly Hills and had the opportunity to put my training, experience and knowledge to work for award shows and actors. Lukaro salon was a glamorous environment and I was very fortunate to be hired by three great owners who always treated me as an equal. A year later, I started traveling to salons up and down the west coast as an onsite extension specialist and worked in Santa Monica and Newport Coast in Orange County. In 2008, my husband received a job promotion that brought us to DFW and we both waved our families goodbye as we looked forward to a new adventure in Texas. I will always be grateful for the experiences I had in California but I now consider myself a Texas girl. The women in DFW are the kindest, warmest people I’ve ever met and they have embraced me as a sister, daughter, mother, and friend. I feel truly blessed to have developed the relationships and clientele that I have now and wouldn’t give them up for any amount of sunshine or celebrities.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There are always struggles that pop up in life and business, especially when the two collide. At times, I struggle with the balancing act of owning a business, being a wife, and being a mother to my six-year-old son. My passion for hair has fueled me to reach further as a business owner and constantly pushes me to become better at what I do. Five years ago, I made the decision to become an independent salon owner and opened Style by Gina Studio. Since then, I have enjoyed the flexibility of owning my own business and creating my own schedule. The struggles I’ve experienced along the way have helped me both personally and professionally to become the stylist that I am today. I can honestly say I wouldn’t change a thing about my journey. It has been quiet an adventure.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Style By Gina Studio – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I think there is a lot of pressure in today’s world to look beautiful. Unfortunately, this leaves many people feeling as if they don’t measure up when they sit down and stare in the mirror. So I have one of my favorite bible verses enlarged on the door of my salon that says “You are altogether beautiful my love, there is no flaw in you” from Songs of Solomon. I put it there to remind people that while I am there to enhance their natural beauty to showcase their uniqueness, they were already beautiful before they walked in. I feel it sets the tone of what you will experience in my salon.
As a salon owner, I am most proud of the relationships I have formed with my clients. I feel I have created an environment that allows anyone to come in sit down and just take a breath…So very much needed in today’s world. I do not work on more than one client at a time, because I am the type of person that puts all of my effort into my craft and all of my focus into my relationships. I realize that today clients want more than just a good haircut and they will drive any distance to get one. Even though I am in a private studio, I offer high end services and use high end product lines usually only available in large salons. It is the best of both worlds. I am recognized for my expertise in doing hair extensions and balayage work.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I know an amazing group of women (who are also my closet friends) in the beauty industry and we regularly team up to collaborate. Last year, we used our combined skills to bless several deserving women in our local community with complete makeovers. Our dream is to one day take this concept of beauty blessings and make it into a national non-profit organization so every woman has the opportunity to feel beautiful inside and out.
Contact Info:
- Address: Sola Salon room 17
5611 Colleyville Blvd #240
Colleyville, Tx 76034 - Website: Stylebygina.com
- Phone: (817) 823-3837
- Email: stylebygina@aol.com
- Instagram: Extensionsbygina
- Facebook: Style By Gina Studio
- Twitter: @stylebygina
- Yelp: Style By Gina Studio
Image Credit:
Lindsay Walden Photography
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