Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Wilson
Hi Katie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My story starts at Walmart, I worked there diligently for 8 years, promoting to a salary manager. Life was alright but I craved creativity and the ability to express myself through something I had loved since I was little. Growing up, my grandparents always told me cosmetology was not a safe career to pursue. My mother was pregnant with me as they moved across the country from CA to TX, she excelled is the art of hair cutting and critical cuts. However building a clientele with a new baby on the way was not as important as having money to provide for her family.
In grade School, I loved playing with makeup doing my hair and of course, all the other things that come with being a girlie. Even on my class ring, I put the emblem for cosmetology, knowing that it would always be a dream I would try to pursue one day.
I tried college several times going down many different avenues and different majors, but none of them suited me.
One day, my boyfriend asked me, was Walmart really the job I wanted to pursue, my answer was no, I want to do hair, I want to make people feel beautiful, I want my art out there! That night he told me to pick out a school and we would figure out the rest.
I tried to coordinate with Walmart at the time being a manager. I had to work 12 hour shifts and the schedule of going to cosmetology school and trying to work there Full-time was not going to work out.
I quit my job scared and shaking in my boots that I had just messed up my entire life, but it wasn’t long before I found a job at a professional store RDA Promart, and started school that July.
Cosmetology school is like being in high school all over again, but it came so natural to me. I guess you could say it was in my blood. Halfway through cosmetology school I found out I was pregnant with my first son. I was still due to graduate that October with my son being due in November, but my pregnancy took quite a toll on me and I had to stop going to school as frequently. I took a one month break from cosmetology school to have my son and recover and I was back that November and graduated that following January.
In cosmetology school, they tell you booth rent right out of school is never a good idea, but what they didn’t know was I had the drive to make sure I did not fail and the support system that wouldn’t let me!
I interviewed at several salons, but nothing seemed right at this point. My son was six months old and I needed to find somewhere to go to start my forever career. I had made really good connections working at the professional store and one connection I had made was with my current salon owner Becky. I reached out, thinking that starting as an assistant would be a good job, but she had bigger plans for me. Pushing me to start as a booth renter giving me all the back up I could possibly need with walk-ins and encouragement. I was never left standing alone.
I have built my small business from the ground up. The Hair Witch co. was born from my love for hair and making everyone feel beautiful and their own bodies with their own uniqueness. Constantly putting myself out there at an annoying rate, always posting in local Facebook pages and talking to everyone I pass by about how good their hair looks. I have a deep love for creative color, but I love the classic looks as well. The goal is to create my own salon one day to see my business name on a neon sign. That is a manifestation that will come to life one day!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not a smooth road at all to get here, from giving up a career I thought I would have forever to Covid happening in the middle of it and getting pregnant with my first child while going to cosmetology school.
Life always throws you curveballs, but I truly believe there’s always a reason for everything that happens.
The struggles I faced were for a reason whether it was timing or to teach me something along the way that I did not recognize at the time. If I had gone to school too early, I would’ve not met the beautiful ladies that I did. If I did not get that job at the professional store when I did, I would’ve not made the connections that I had made with Becky.
Now I get to show all my beautiful artwork to my son who gets more excited than I think I do!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize and creative color and alternative hair. When I created my business name, I had a vision in my mind of what it was going to create. I think that I am most known for my creative colors from rainbow prism hair to vibrant balayages, and color blocking.
Going into an appointment it’s always important to have a game plan, but knowing that game plan will most certainly change depending on your clients hair, sometimes people do not lift as well as you’re planning and layout for color can change. You need to be prepared in the moment. All I can say, is to be prepared for those moments and have a back up plan.
I think what sets me apart the most from other stylist is me, Who I am as a person is unique in every sense of the word no one can replicate me or my artwork because it was handcrafted in my mind and executed on my clients and I think that for every stylist around me, there is no competition in our business, the client will always find you!
Who else deserves credit in your story?
My mother Tammy will always be my biggest supporter always making sure that when I brought something home from school, she would explain it to me and help me better understand it
My son Emilio is my driving force and always will be
My boyfriend Pablo, for pushing me to leave a job I was unhappy in and pursue something that would forever make me the happiest person
Becky my Salon owner or believing in me and creating a space for me to thrive
Lastly the other ladies that work at the salon with me, Tori and Jenny for always being an amazing mentors.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehairwitchco?igsh=MXhtMGNhdndhNDlkeA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550223453349&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@thehairwitchco?_t=8ow4YG0OAXu&_r=1
