Issue link: https://www.ahpindiestylist.com/i/1547346
60 AHP Indie Stylist Volume 7 Issue 2 1 NO. 1: EVOLVE WITHOUT LOSING YOUR IDENTITY How do we evolve without losing our identity when we're constantly being told to follow trends, create content, build a personal brand, and fi nd the next thing? Evolution doesn't mean abandoning the skills you built your career on. It means keeping your ear to the ground and paying attention without feeling like you have to follow every trend. Look at what brands are doing. One brand takes hold of a trend and suddenly other companies zoom in on the same thing. We saw it with blush earlier this year, particularly cream and powder blush combinations in the same pan. Now we're seeing competing dry shampoos. ey're paying attention to consumer behavior and following it wherever it goes. As beauty professionals, we should be paying attention, but that doesn't mean we all have to move the same way. ere are professionals who simply want to be behind the chair—they don't want to become content creators. ey may not want to sell retail or build a personal brand, or maybe they do. e point is that your evolution should make sense for your career, not someone else's. It also means assessing what you want to maintain within your practice. If you know you're strong at color, maybe the pivot becomes educating your client on the best time to make changes to their color. Maybe there's something you need to learn. Perhaps you're moving toward greater sustainability and want a product line that aligns with that. at means educating yourself on new brands or ingredients and understanding how they can fi t into your business. We should absolutely be aware of what's happening in our industry, but that doesn't mean we have to participate in it. Sometimes evolving is knowing what to embrace, what to adapt, and what doesn't make sense for you. WE SHOULD ABSOLUTELY BE AWARE OF WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OUR INDUSTRY, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE HAVE TO PARTICIPATE IN IT. UNSPLASH