Frank Notes

It’s official: I can finally share what’s going on in my life without fear of having someone find out who shouldn’t find out before he/she needed to find out.

I’m leaving education and am going back into the hair industry!  (It feels so good to be able to share that with you all!)

I haven’t been happy this year back in the classroom, and if I’m really honest with myself, I wasn’t happy when I was in the Counseling Office.  What made that slightly more bearable was feeling like I helping to lead our school and was having a positive impact on students and staff.  But I still didn’t really enjoy what I did.  I normally didn’t look forward to coming to work and wasn’t feeling fulfilled.  Education is a rough place to be on a good day, but in our current atmosphere of budget cuts, contract negotiations, layoffs, etc, it’s even worse.  Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely some advantages, like the wonderful paid vacations, health coverage, and decent salary (anyone who says teachers aren’t well-paid is pulling your leg, at least in the districts I’ve worked for.  And that’s not saying they’re paid ENOUGH either!).  But I’m not feeling fulfilled in an artistic and creative way, I don’t feel like I have control over my life and my job, and ultimately I don’t feel appreciated or valued.

If you’ve read much of my blog, you’ll know that I’ve been restless for quite a while, but haven’t been sure of what to do about it.  I knew I needed two things: 1) to be doing something creative, and 2) to be my own boss (or the ability to one day be my own boss).  I’ve contemplated opening many different sorts of business, including a cake shop, a bakery, a restaurant/deli, and a craft cafe.  But my own personal demons keep me from doing any of these due to my lack of professional experience and education (I’m stuck in the “gotta have a degree to know how to do it’ mindset).  Finally it dawned on me: I should go back into hair!

I graduated beauty school in June 1990 and worked for a few years in a now defunct salon, where I consider myself to have been moderately successful, had a decent clientele, and even did some education and platform work for Paul Brown International (also now defunct).  Then I started feeling like I was missing something by not having completed my bachelor’s degree (which I started right out of high school, although even back then I was considering beauty school was decided against it when my guidance counselor told me I was too smart to do that.), so I went back to school to finish my degree (and accumulated a couple of master’s degrees along the way!  Oh well!).  Even during this time I worked part-time in a salon, helping to augment my income, until I finally moved to California to pursue my Ph.D.

And here I am, with more education and degrees (and the accompanying student loan bill!) than the average person and missing the creativity and energy of the hair industry.

I actually made that realization at some point during my chemotherapy.  But making changes to one’s employment when one is getting pumped full of toxic chemicals paid for by one’s insurance paid for by one’s employer is NOT such a great idea.  So I continued on.

And then I lost my position as a counselor, which made me really unhappy, but retained my insurance.  So I continued on.

And then my employer changed my health insurance company, making me leave my beloved oncology team and primary care provide.

And that’s when I realized that someone, somewhere, was trying to tell me something.

So early in the beginning of this year, I made up my mind and for a few months now I’ve been laying the groundwork to get back into the hair business.  I am in the process of getting my license in California.  My ultimate goal is to own a salon (or two or three), but opening a salon is a difficult task without either a clientele or the money to buy one (neither of which I have).  So I’m trying to find an “in” back into the industry (if any of you know someone who works in, owns, or is otherwise associated with a high-end salon in LA, let me know!).

Towards that end, I attended the International Salon and Spa Expo in Long Beach this past weekend.  It was so invigorating, inspiring, and educational.  I’m so glad I went (although it meant leaving my sick son at home with Papa!) because I learned so much and really feel like I’m ready to hit the ground running.

And to make a great weekend even better, I got to hear Tabatha speak!

And even got up the courage to ask her if I could take a photo of us together!  (And then stupidly handed my iPhone to one of her underlings who proceeded to take A BLURRY PHOTO!)

And got up the courage AGAIN later in the afternoon when I saw her to ask if we could retake it!  (And took it myself!)

She is my hero and inspiration.  Some people may think she’s a bitch, but I love that she has incredibly high standards for the hair industry, for herself, and for other salons and can just say it like it is.  Her dedication and energy for the hair industry are inspiring.

So there you have it, the cat’s out of the bag!  A toast to moving forward!  Chin Chin!