Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Ayala.
Hi Danielle, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I have always had an interest in hair, and looking back at my childhood and teenage years, it makes so much sense that this is the area of business I ended up in! My sister is 7 years older than me and I think she is the one that lit the spark for me when I was a kid because I always wanted to be just like her. She would do my hair in all sorts of fun styles growing up and she taught me how to curl, straighten, and braid hair. I was her little barbie doll for sure! I also used to play with the tassels on the curtain loops and braid them when I was younger for practice, haha. As I got older and was in high school, I would do mine and my friend’s hair for proms or banquets.
My friends and I used to color our hair out of a box in the bathroom ( I know, yikes!). I played competitive soccer all through grade school and worked at Sonic on and off in between seasons. I wanted to be a soccer coach and math teacher when I grew up so I enrolled in my local junior college right after high school. School was fine and I made good grades but I just didn’t feel passionate about it. My sister called me one day and told me her hair salon was hiring a front desk receptionist. I desperately wanted to get out of Sonic and thought a hair salon would be fun, so I quickly applied and got offered the job!
Once I started at the salon I quickly realized how much I LOVED it. I had never considered being a hair stylist, and just thought college is what you do. Once I realized how cool it was and how it really could be a successful career, I knew I needed to dive deeper. My parents have always told me to take my time figuring out what I wanted to do in life so they were super supportive of the idea and my mom and I went to tour Paul Mitchell. I fell in love with it and knew it was exactly where I was supposed to be. I enrolled in night school, so I could continue working at the salon during the day. I transitioned from receptionist to apprentice and got to work with the stylists during the day, which allowed me to really be front and center to watch how things run behind the scenes in a salon.
The stylists would teach me things and let me shadow them and ask questions. I also got to do their shampoos and get comfortable working with clients. Once I started taking clients at school my books quickly filled up with family, friends, members of my church, and referrals. I graduated from Paul Mitchell as Salutatorian in October 2014 and took my practical test two weeks later. The day after I passed I started taking clients at the salon as an official stylist! I grew an amazing group of clients and made some amazing memories over the years. Fast forward 6 years and I decided to take the next step in my career and got a suite of my own at Novak Hair Studios in downtown Fort Worth. It has been the most amazing ride and with every down there were a thousand more ups. I truly could not love this industry more if I tried!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has most definitely not been a smooth ride, but I would not change a thing. I went through a really dark time in my personal life between the ages of 20-21. I moved out of my parent’s house during this time, and went through some personal heartbreaks. It was a really dark time in my life, but I poured myself into my work and it became my safe space. It’s a beautiful thing when your hobby and coping mechanism becomes your job. I could tune out the world behind the chair and just focus on doing what I love. This also makes it very easy to burn yourself out. I love my job more than most things, and if I’m not careful, I could easily be at the salon 7 days a week for 12 hours a day.
When salons got shut down in March of 2020 I was out of work for 10 weeks. During those 10 weeks, I quickly realized just how tired my body was. I take vacations, but my husband and I are adventurous so our vacations consist of hiking and exploring and lots of physical activity. I had not actually stopped and just rested my body in a very long time.
Prior to the shutdowns, I was working 5 days a week and over 40 hours a week, and consistently coming in early and staying late. During those hours I was doing at least 2-3 people at a time all day. My husband and I don’t have kids, so it was very easy for me to justify the long days and hours when it didn’t always feel like work. When I made the decision to get my own suite I started really making an effort to have a better work/home/life balance. It’s given me the ability to make my own schedule and have the freedom of taking off more and focus more on my life outside of the salon.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Danielle Ayala Hair?
I am a hairdresser in Fort Worth, TX specializing in color and extensions, and am known for doing dimensional colors. My goal with every client is to offer a full experience and build connections and relationships with each of them. It is so much more than just hair! Most of my clients have been with me for 6+ years, and I consider them my family. They have seen me find my person and eventually get married. I have seen them fall in love, get married, go through divorces, have babies, have miscarriages, lose family members, survive cancer, and become grandparents. I believe that my purpose on this earth is to wholeheartedly love and put good out there.
I am proud of what I have built and the connections that I have made. I am also proud of the charity fundraising that I started in April 2021. My clients and I fundraise every month for a different local charity and have raised over $1000 this year! Helping bring awareness to these amazing organizations who are doing some incredible things in our very own community helps fuel my soul. I am excited to see where the future takes me and my clients, and I want people to know that I offer a safe space where anyone and everyone is accepted and loved. It’s a space where you can be your authentic self without any risk of judgment. Not only will you leave the salon with great hair, but my goal is to help you leave feeling refreshed and revived not only physically but mentally as well.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I believe everyone should have a mentor. I have two. My coworker Jessica, who worked at my previous salon and now we both work at the same salon in Fort Worth. She pushes me to be my best and challenges me to step out of my comfort zone. Her passion for color and wanting to constantly learn new things is what initially made me gravitate toward her. My former boss, Carrie, is my other mentor, and she taught me how to be professional and have high standards and challenge myself to meet them everyday. She taught me how to lead by example. Without these two women, I would not be where I am today. I was lucky to find them through my salon at the very beginning of my career. When looking for a mentor, I think you should find someone whose life and values align with what you want yours to look like, career and/or personal. Find someone who has achieved some of the goals you wish to achieve. I am super introverted naturally so I don’t know how easy it would have been for me if I had not already worked with them. Something that Jessica has always said to me though is you never grow inside your comfort zone and I would say that same thing to someone looking for a mentor today.
Contact Info:
- Email: Info@danielleayalahair.com
- Website: Danielleayalahair.com
- Instagram: @danielleayalahair
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Danielle-Ayala-Hair-292362937988945
Image Credits
Texas Eve Photography
