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

Kate , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One deeply underappreciated facet of being a service provider is the kind of crazy stuff that happens from time to time. It could be anything from a disgruntled client attacking an employee or waking up to find out a celebrity gave you a shoutout on TikTok – the sudden, unexpected hits (both positive and negative) make the profession both exhilarating and exhausting. Can you share one of your craziest stories?

I started doing hair in 2018. I immediately started working at Harlow salon. There is a loyal client that sees Kelli. She sent me her son, Jay. We became super close friends and he would come to the salon every 2 weeks for a cut or to just say hey. He helped me study for my license, made everyone at the salon laugh, was there if I ever needed him. He unexpectedly passed… He was a bright light in any room. It was that friendship that really made me realize how Personal this job is.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hii. I’m Kate! I’m 26 years old. I’ve been doing hair my entire life, Sally’s was my best friend growing up. I moved to Charleston from Philadelphia in 2017 to better myself and my life. I was in college for 5 weeks- hated it. I dropped out of college with out telling any of my family and signed up for Cosmetology school. As soon as I walked into Paul Mitchell I knew it was where I was supposed to be. Going into the industry I wanted to work with events, like festivals shows crazy hair. As time went on I fell in love with color. Balayage and foils are my favorite. I love making people feel beautiful. I think what makes me most proud of my career is that I moved here with no one from a toxic situation and really built a life for myself.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Aside from meeting in person, my best source for new clients has been instagram and Facebook groups!

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I came to an appointment with my friend & Kelli was next door having lunch! She came over and was chatting with me about hair but didn’t tell me she was the owner. She saw my work and then said “ when do you want to start “ then she told me she was the owner & I’ve been with Harlow ever since!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: wh0didyourhair