We were lucky to catch up with Keekee recently and have shared our conversation below.

Keekee, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I learned to cut and style hair through a rigorous apprenticeship program in NYC at my very first salon. Our training was done 3-4 days per week, 2-3 hours a day before we opened for regular business. We then worked a full day assisting a designated stylist or two, which was in it’s own way an extension of our training. Learning how to navigate a day full of clients is a practice in itself. I would say that those learned soft skills go just as far as the technical aspect of cutting hair. Each apprentices training typically lasted 1-1.5 years before graduating to our advanced training which lasted 8 months and was done 1 day a week while we began building our clientele as a stylist.

Honestly if given the option I would not have sped up my training process. I was so enthralled with the learning process and absorbing information from our talented team of educators. I learned so much in that year and a half from so many different individuals who molded me into the hairdresser I am today.

I think the skills that were most essential would be the core understanding of haircutting we learned in our foundational training period. Simple aspects like how to section hair properly, how to hold the hair properly for your desired result, how to comb the hair with proper tension, how to cut a straight line, etc. Although these things seem quite basic, they aren’t guaranteed to be a part of everyone’s educational background. With these surface level understandings of fundamentals, the world of haircutting is a HUGE open book and you can feel confident in creating any desired shapes on any head of hair. Or at least be able to have a conversation around it with your guest.

The obstacles that stood in the way most were simply finding haircut models. We were required to bring in live models, no mannequin work allowed. Although extremely challenging to find 7 live models a week on the streets of NYC, it created this internal hustle that paid off when success started to follow in the form of having a real person to learn on everyday, and even at times resulted in receiving more personal attention from our educators because the other apprentices models fell through and they were forced to simply watch. It was an obstacle well worth overcoming.

Keekee, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Keekee, and I am a hairdresser who provides haircuts and hairstyling to the Austin, TX area.

My mission as a haircutter is to provide an extremely thorough consultation and provide uniquely curated haircuts, as well as longterm hair plans to each of my guests. Every haircut I perform is a collaborative experience between my guest and myself.

I’ve been fortunate to have been involved in many aspects of the hair industry including being behind the chair of course, but also in editorial work, high fashion runway, professional education, traveling as a platform artist, and even in behind the scenes administration roles as an Inventory Manager.
It’s with this unique blend of experiences I feel I’m able to customize looks for my clients with a unique and detailed eye, collaborating with you to provide a personality driven haircut that helps you step into the aesthetic and self reflection you aspire to serve.

I do ALL haircuts. All styles. All textures. All densities. All ages. All races. All ethnicities. All sexual orientations. All genders. All without genders. All are welcome in my chair and all are given the same amount of love, respect, and attention to detail and experience that I passionately give to every individual who comes in and trusts me with such an important piece of themselves.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

There was a time shortly after returning from the Lockdown period of Covid that I was struggling to provide the best version of myself to my guests, and my physical work was suffering because of it. Being unable to change my headspace, the only other thing I could think to do was to change my physical space, which I did by removing myself from the salon environment. Stepping away from my career path was hard, but moving here to Austin in 2019 was very much about rediscovering a balance in life, re-prioritizing, and following my intuition. In the moment it actually wasn’t as scary as I imagined. It actually was quite a feeling of relief and comfortability. That feeling provided a good reflection on how much a negative, frightening headspace can affect you not just emotionally, but also physically.

Flash forward 2 years and a whole lot of work life balance later, I was feeling ready to ease back into behind the chair lifestyle by way of a new salon in town doing some incredible things. Lo Shabino, Owner of Strange Bird Salon was looking to add a stylist to their team, and I was so intrigued by her business model, ideals, and approach to the Salon’s culture that I was instantly drawn to that opening and once again following that intuition I reached out. We setup a meeting, and was starting my first day back in the salon cutting hair just a few weeks later. I take guests on Fridays & Saturday and am currently building my clientele at Strange Bird today.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Honestly what drives my journey isn’t too profound or deeply rooted. I’ve always simply dreamed of being an individual who can support themselves through their creative work. What drives me is not wanting to sit behind a desk for 40 hours a week in a collared shirt to pay the bills and support my interests. I want to spend 1/2 my day biking around the lake because the Sun decided to come out. I want to only work 4 days a week while maintaining financial security. I want to arrange my schedule to free myself up for that Thursday morning spin class I want to take every week. Block off my schedule without permission to go home on that spontaneous trip to see my family.

It’s the little freedoms that hold big importance for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://squareup.com/appointments/book/3mqu288rupchyk/LXZK5N1D0M3SW/services
• Instagram: @mrkeebles