the transpired: a journey

i started out making silly styles on my family and cutting/coloring all my friends hair in high school then started cosmetology school in 11th grade. After getting licensed and graduating high school [2001], I moved from my mom's apartment in Homer, NY back to ROC as an 18 year-old freshy-fresh and started hustling and college

immediately (which, btw, was the week 9/11 happened). I was hired in a local chop-shop turning out 10-20 haircuts/day right out the gate. I practiced in the city & 'burbs of Rochester until 2013 which led to a life break in CLE for a couple years to raise some babies who taught me about truth and love. [RIP to my smash hit: Chronicles of Nannying blog.] I've been in NYC area since 2015 aaaand I gotta tell ya, I miss trees and fresh air...and silence, but I like it here...for now.

While spending roughly a decade earning my Bachelor's degree in Marketing, I had the opportunity to practice alongside stylists and educators who taught me speed, accuracy, techniques and how to manage being a creator with technical balance. I have connected with photographers like Jen Mérida @photochica_ who began to call on me to join them for photo and video shoots doing make-up and hair for film, local magazines like (585) Magazine and Rochester Women Magazine and private shoots and events. I became very heavy into the bridal industry doing wedding hair and make-up to the point where I developed an entire side business just for weddings by creating, coordinating, sewing rips and tears and even fixing botched updo's for bridesmaids who chose...a different path.

I learned a lot about business in 2012 after I was plucked from the corporate salon world by word of mouth. I've acted on opportunities to help open salons, build brands, utilize my extreme attention to detail and lighting expertise... or in other words: apply my touch.

I've met so many famous hair artists and educators like Sam Villa, who called me a "very good hair cutter" TO MY FACE and I will take that to my grave as a badge of honor! I had the privilege of interviewing for Nick Arrojo's acadamy in NYC that turned out to be an interesting learning experience (AKA not for me). I've taken classes and vibed with some of the best barbers in the industry like Roberto Ferrel @robtheoriginal and Sofie Pok @staygold13. The pleasure of standing behind the chair with and receiving the best fades imaginable from Harry Hernandez @houdinistyleis all mine - he had me upping my barber game to a level I never personally thought the industry, or myself, would get to and I learned a lot of the art of performance from Harry.

In the beginning of my career,in 2001, I was doing haircuts for $11.95 and I couldn't honestly believe someone was paying me for a service. When I reflect on my "cheap" haircuts, it humbles me to think about all of the time and energy I've put in over the last two-plus decades. I can still remember my very first in-salon, paid haircut and that little, four-year-old girl was so happy and excited to get [THE MOST BASIC] trim from me...from me!