We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cherise Poole a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cherise, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Success begins with your mind. It’s achieved through adjusting your daily habits, self mastery and being action oriented. It takes a lifelong commitment to yourself to doing what it takes to embody success, however long it may take. For me, it’s taken over 10 years in the industry to be able to gain the experience and client base that I have today. I wanted to be a successful business person, artist and have wonderful relationships. However, most of my life has been challenging and in some moments debilitating. I left home at 17 years old, and have had to learn a lot on my own. It wasn’t until I started prioritizing my mental health that I was able to start moving forward in life with a new mindset: I deserve success and good things in life. Through affirmations and cutting out negative self talk, I was able to have positive beliefs about myself and achieve the type of success that I’ve always hoped for. I truly believe that you can do what you set your mind to if you can wholeheartedly believe in yourself.

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?

For those who don’t know about me, I was at a point in my life where I was burnt out on working dead end jobs. I needed to figure out something I could do that I was passionate about. I’ve always been creative and liked putting together new looks and styles. Around that burnout period, I got my haircut by a stylist who finally understood the look that I was going for at the time. It was a super long, razor cut, fashion mullet vibe. It felt so great to finally get my hair done by someone who was able to meet my expectations. I loved the creative and transformative aspect of having the ability to partner with someone and help them express themselves. I was so inspired and perhaps I could be a hairstylist one day. When it came down to figuring out the type of work that might suit me the idea of being a hairstylist stayed with me. Once I began Cosmetology School, I got introduced to the “hair world” through hair shows and competitions. After attending my first hair show, I was hooked and knew I had found my niche; and beyond that hair has become my purpose. I’ve been hair obsessed for the past 12 years and now people come to me for my expertise.

What I do is provide a wide range of on demand luxury hair services: extensions, custom color, customizable smoothing & straightening treatments, event & bridal styling, haircuts & men’s grooming, makeup and session work for those who can afford not to go to a salon.

There have been many occasions where people are referred to me due to a hair emergency. Emergencies like: a color correction or extension work that needs to be done. At times people need their extensions custom colored in order to match with their natural hair better. I’m able to help with color matching since some extensions lines may have a limited color range. Some people experience thinning, hair loss or breakage and I am able to support my clients through the process of achieving healthier hair.

What sets me apart from others is that I offer luxury hair services at your door! I stay up to date with the latest trends, techniques, tools and products. I’m highly skilled in various specialty services. I am able to provide clients with amazing hair transformations.

What I’m most proud of is that I can look back on the path I chose for myself and know that I did what was right for me. Since I didn’t go to college and most my peers from high school did, I often questioned my life choices. For me, I wasn’t the most academic and couldn’t fine anything interesting about college, but I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. Instead of going to college, I pursued trade schools or programs, various employment and acquired different licenses before it led me to my profession. When I started out in hair I had low self esteem and was in survival mode. After years of determination I’ve been able to make a good living doing something I love, a career on my own terms. I have had the privilege of working with some amazing and talented people along the way.

The main point I’d want people to know about is me is that I’ve been dedicated to hair for the past 12 years. I consider it a privilege to have the opportunity to help others feel more confident about themselves for any occasion.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My approach is to honor the commitments I make to others.  I put forth great effort on being punctual, responsive and communicative.  I’m also highly skilled and experienced and can offer many specialty hair services wherever you may be. I spend most of my time developing my techniques and working efficiently. I do my best to adapt to each individual situation.

I wasn’t always great at doing blowouts, and I knew it was important for me to be able to do perfect blowouts. It took me a few years to develop the skill and my personal techniques before I felt confident in my ability.  It’s an essential for Angelenos because of the various events, creatives, professionals and glam enthusiasts in town.  The people I work with appreciate blowouts and styles that last for days therefore clients often refer me.  Those return to me for blowouts and styling start seeing me for haircuts and specialty services such as, color, extensions and customizable treatments. People are also drawn to me because they find it more convenient for someone to go to them rather than venture out to a salon.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

After becoming a mom and getting married I realized there was a lot of things about my past I had never dealt with.  I knew that something had to change within me in order to have successful relationships and to be able to move forward with my life.  Once I started working with a therapist I was able to begin my healing process which has been fundamental to my personal development over the past few years.  Prioritizing my mental health has allowed me to become more aligned with whom I’m meant to be.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @yocherise

Image Credits
Oscar Garcia, Kimberly Ovitz, Henry Kerbox, Emily Harper