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

Adair, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

Being a hair artist absolutely makes me happy, I wouldn’t want to do anything else as a career. I love the creativity and artistry behind it all, and the thought of having a “regular” job just doesn’t make sense for me. I am meant for something more, and to express myself through creative hair truly makes me happy. I think it is very important, if not essential to love your chosen career field. This is actually one of my favorite questions to ask a new client in my chair. What do you do for a living, and do you love it ? If not, what keeps you from being in your dream career? It never fails to yield some interesting answers! Thinking back on clients I’ve helped in the past, sometimes a client comes in having a bad day, low confidence, and just not feeling themselves. It is truly an honor to be able to give that person some TLC, and make them feel beautiful again. There was one lady that will stick in my head forever, because after I had cut her hair- she said it was the best hairstyle she’d ever gotten and you could see her face was just beaming- and she told me how much it meant to her to really feel pretty when she looked in the mirror. I know I’ve been put on this Earth to help people, and I think it’s exactly about clients like her. The ones who I can help with more than just a haircut. I have always felt that being a cosmetologist was more than just that; I can be a place of relaxation, a person to talk to, I can be your hype-woman! At the end of the day, if I’ve made someone smile, helped relieve some of the stress of their day, and made them feel beautiful- then I’ve done my job for the day. This is not just a job to me, it’s my passion.

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 background and context?

I grew up on a large farm near Obion County in northwestern Tennessee, and left for Colorado the day after my 19th birthday in 2016. We raised goats, had horses, and I grew up hunting, fishing, riding ATVs, and helping out my dad around the farm. I got into the hair industry in early 2018, one day while I was walking down 16th St Mall with my mother by the Aveda Institute, and the rest is history. We walked in and they just happened to be able to tour us right then, and I loved it. I went and toured at a couple other beauty institutes, but Aveda was the one for me. I’ve always thought about getting into the hair industry since I was little and my mother and I had the same hairstylist for probably over 15 years. I got to mix up color while we were there, hand her foils, and I just loved it as a kid-I realized that’s what I was meant to do in life. I provide craft hair coloring and cutting among a variety of services for my clients, my favorites being vivid & creative hair, and blonding! I’d absolutely love to get more involved with creating avant-garde, editorial hair for runways, while incorporating my love for fantasy hair. I do offer quite a few other services, such as lash lifting, brow & lash tinting, skincare, waxing, hair tinsel extensions, and I am certified in Vomor hair extensions. I want to provide a safe space for anyone and everyone to come to and feel right at home. I also love the challenge of corrective color, I think it makes you a better stylist because you learn from each one. One problem I love being able to help my clients with is managing fine or thin hair. I deal with this myself so it is awesome to be able to educate a client on how to style and use product that will make them feel thicker, volumized, full of life and movement! I think one thing that sets me apart from others is my attention to detail for my craft, and the ease of communicating with my clients; I love to talk to people and learn more about them. I’ve made so many awesome connections and lasting friendships through this profession. Continuing education is also very important to me, as the beauty industry is always evolving, so should I. I make it a part of my schedule to have a day a week set aside to take classes or work on a skill I’d like to be better at. I am really proud of the vivid colors I’ve created, and the confidence I’ve instilled in my clients through hair and skincare. I’m honored to be able to create art from my client’s canvas and make them feel like a million bucks. I call my artistry Adair’s Alchemy, because that’s how I want to present my work-to study and transform the hair to get our perfect, desired result. I want to turn your hair to gold, so to speak! I have a great passion for what I do, and I thrive on figuring out how to be a better stylist with each passing day. I cannot wait to show the world what I can create through the art of craft hair.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One lesson I’ve had to unlearn since cosmetology school is that there is so much more to foiling and color than the textbook standard and it should be catered to the person in your chair. I’m not going to use the same foil application on one client as I would another, but rather take a more custom, craft approach. Every one of us is unique, and that includes hair growth patterns and different facial shapes. It’s about creating something for that individual based on how their hair grows from their head, what the light hits when the hair is in the natural fall to see where you want a highlight or pop of color. I enjoy continuing my education with different classes about color and foiling techniques to combine that knowledge and to better myself as a stylist. This way I can provide a truly unique color for each of my clients.

What do you find most rewarding about being creative?

The most gratifying part is seeing how happy and confident a client feels when they look in the mirror. It’s my passion to create something beautiful and custom for every client.

Contact Info:

• Website: linktr.ee/adairsalchemy
• Instagram: @adairsalchemy
• Facebook: Hair by Adair – Adair’s Alchemy
• Yelp: Adair’s Alchemy – Hair by Adair