Today we’d like to introduce you to Quia Querisma.
Quia, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Before I got into cosmetology, I spent ten years in corporate America. I graduated from SMU and began working in digital media which eventually gave way to online marketing. Even though marketing was my bread and butter, I always kept some kind of creative outlet on the side. For many years, it was freelance writing. I favored lifestyle topics like travel, fashion, and entertainment and have been published in the Huffington Post, Forbes Travel Guide, and the Dallas Observer. Then, in 2014, things changed for me. I was bored with my life. I’d been laid off from my job, and struggled to find a new office environment that stuck. Over the course of four years, I bartended in between trying to find a new online marketing job that made me feel the same passion for the work that I had before my layoff.
By February 2018, I had to be honest with myself about what was important to me. I enjoyed the personal interaction of bartending. I liked meeting people and hearing their stories. Most of all, I loved not being trapped inside an office all day. I finally realized what had worked for me in the past wasn’t going to work for my future so I considered the things that I have always been passionate about: travel, writing, and hair. While I did support myself during a layoff in 2009 as a full-time freelance writer, work was inconsistent. I suddenly remembered that I wanted to do the cosmetology program in high school but was discouraged by my family. I didn’t have anything stopping me from doing it now, though. My daughter was already in college, and my son was in his senior year of high school. I was about to be an empty-nester, why not embark on a new career? And so, I quit my office job and enrolled at the Toni & Guy Hairdressing Academy in Plano.
A year later, I graduated hair school and landed an apprenticeship at Form Salon in University Park. I fell in love with Form because of the incredibly talented people working there, the structured haircutting education program (because let’s face it, no one is 100% confident in their skills straight out of hair school), and the fact that while the salon is in Park Cities, it doesn’t feel snobby. Apprenticeships usually last a year, but I was fast-tracked once the owner and senior stylists saw that I actively brought in models to practice on my own time. I was determined to get better and not wait around for the salon to hand me clients.
I feel very fortunate that I have the benefit of my marketing career behind me because I often leverage that knowledge to promote myself and find freelance work. Also, the networks I’ve built in professional and service industry environments have given me a steady stream of interested clients. I have several friends from my days behind the bar who have let me cut and color their hair since school and they share in my excitement seeing how my talents improve, the more I learn and practice.
I’ve also started networking my way into editorial work. I styled hair for Harlem’s Fashion Row at New York Fashion Week, and for the Fashioned 4 Freedom gala here in Dallas. I’m looking forward to doing more shows and photoshoots. Working behind the chair is definitely my daily bread but the editorial and commercial jobs keep things spicy and allow me to really be creative.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I worked in restaurants while I was in school, but it wasn’t nearly enough money to run my household anymore. It was humbling to move back home with my mother to get my new career off the ground–especially since I was able to support myself through two separate layoffs in the past. I spent all of 2018 and part of 2019 depressed. I hid it for the most part and worked hard in hair school, but I constantly questioned my decision and wondered if I had foolishly blown up my life chasing something that wasn’t meant for me. Still, every so often, I’d get a sign that I was on the right path. I won a small scholarship toward my tuition, and I placed in the student color category at the Toni & Guy Photographic awards.
Please tell us about Quia Loves Hair.
I’m a marketer first, and it was important to work on my personal branding from the very start so my clients will always be able to find me no matter where my career takes me. Quia Loves Hair is very simple, honest, and to the point. I *do* love hair, and I want you to love your hair, too. Right now, I’m loving a variety of hair types and textures at Form. It’s a departmentalized salon so I do cutting and styling, while a separate team does color.
As far as my personal specialty, I do “Bombshell Hair.” I like glamorous, dramatic looks that make my clients feel like movie stars.
My proudest moment so far was finding two of my models from the Harlem’s Fashion Row show on Getty Images. I assisted in a variety of ways styling hair for that show but finding two models that I personally styled was pretty amazing.
What sets me apart from others is my range. It’s not a secret that the salon environment is involuntarily segregated and it stems from people not being exposed to (or not wanting to learn) how to style different hair textures. I work with all hair textures, and I pride myself on that.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have adopted better financial habits earlier in life. Being financially reckless for the first 20 years of my life has made it especially hard for me to exercise discipline now.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.quialoveshair.com
- Phone: 469-213-0497
- Email: quiaquerisma@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/quialoves_hair
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/quialoveshair
Image Credit:
Personal photo by: Kamau Ozain, Others by @quialoves_hair
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