Issue link: https://www.ahpindiestylist.com/i/1498691
46 indie stylist Volume 4 Issue 1 is that she wouldn't dare judge you for anything you've shared with her. It's all thanks to Beauty's humble beginnings. She started like any other hair professional trying to make it fresh out of school in 2009. After working in cosmetics for a while, she took a part-time job at a salon. The salon's lack of diversity deterred her, and Beauty quickly found an assistant opportunity at a different high-end salon. That's where she got to experience it all: extensions, cuts, colors, blowouts, perms, nails, and more. She immersed herself in the hair industry. In no time, she was ready to have her own chair. The thought of starting her own business crossed her mind. But life at the time had other plans. Her husband's grandmother fell ill with cancer, so the couple packed up their lives and moved to Florida to care for her. Beauty saw this as an opportunity to start over and carve a name for herself in a new state, but the road was bumpier than expected. Even with the opportunity to transfer within her company to a salon in Florida, the work was slow since it was a newer branch of the company. Beauty found she was barely making an income— just enough to pay for the essentials. She left the company and decided to give her career everything she could to succeed: She took on two new jobs, did early-morning freelance work, and added weekend gigs for friends and family. The hustle worked for a short while, until Beauty received a phone call from one of her mentors. "They told me they believed I was so talented, and they could not understand why I was working for pennies when I could just work for myself and be more profitable," Beauty says. That flipped the switch. Beauty quit her job and rented a suite through My Salon Suite, creating her business, the Beauty Smith Hair Studio. It took years of hard work and dedication, but not without a huge reward. "I made about $10,000 in just six months, which was major for me because I was making $15,000 for an entire year on my W-2 before renting my suite," Beauty says. "After one full year of FPO