We recently connected with April Diffenderfer and have shared our conversation below.

April, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. So, we’d appreciate if you could open up about your growth story and the nitty, gritty details that went into scaling up.

This is most definitely not a success overnight story. Took years (11 years to be exact) to be the confident stylist I am today! I started out at a salon here in Jacksonville, Florida where I interned for about a year. I was strictly learning cuts and color and happened to stumble upon special events styling. I wasn’t happy at this salon and decided I would quit to pursue work with special events full time. Once I quit, I quickly realized I may have jumped the gun and didn’t know much about owning my own business and more importantly had zero connections in the industry.

I found my way back into another salon to continue building my business on the side while keeping up skills I was already familiar with. This quickly led to a job working as an independent contractor for another bridal company. I started out doing 1-2 weddings a month and that was plenty while learning!

Once a portfolio was starting to build of all previous work I had done, I signed up with a few bridal marketing teams where I would pay a monthly membership fee to display my work on their platform. This would be where things really started to pick up!

From there work got busy enough to quit both the salon and the outsource company to start working for myself! Along the way I met other vendors including wedding planners that would refer work to me and Id return the favor. The community built in Jacksonville is so closely knit and I have made many close friends in the industry!

At this point of my career my business is solely built on vendor referrals, word of mouth, preferred vendor lists at venues and social media! I no longer pay a marketing company and I don’t have a website! Took years to build and it’s still growing! :)”

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My aunt is a hairstylist in Atlanta. I grew up going to her for my hair and watched her tend to all of my family’s hair! The idea to go to cosmetology school stemmed from her successful career. I struggled with academics growing up but was good at two things, sports and art. I was determined to make one of those paths work for me. My future depended on it!

It wasn’t an easy journey to get to where I’m at in my hairstylist career, but I wouldn’t change a thing! I learned a lot of lessons along the way. Cosmetology lacks teaching up styling skills and so I learned everything I know from random videos Id find on YouTube and then repetition-practicing everything I watched!

I am a creature of habit when it comes to product. Each brand I prefer for different things. To list a few- Amika for prep work and Aiir for styling has been my go-to for the last few years. I have used metagrip bobby pins for as longs as I can remember! I pride myself on my ability to hide bobby pins in a style and that brand contributes a lot to that!

As humbly as possible, before my skill level got to be where it is today, my personality got me jobs! I feel like anyone with enough years’ experience can be a talented hairstylist but my personality and ability to roll with the punches is what makes me good at what I do! :) I bring the fun in a nerve-racking environment (like someone’s wedding day)! And, I also truly love love! I’ve kept in touch with most of my brides on social media and it is rewarding getting to see their next steps in life after wedding day with their partner!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I think the most rewarding part of this career path is making people feel their most beautiful. Sounds cliche but nothing beats the look on a clients face when they love what they see in the mirror and I’ve just nailed or even sometimes exceeded their expectations from the inspo photos they showed me! Its rewarding to see the confidence they have going into the final hours before walking down the aisle where they are so excited to show off their beauty for their partner!

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

I think to start, social media played a big roll in getting my name out there and giving my work a platform. As far as a reputation in this industry goes, it’s all about networking with the right people. The talent I am surrounded with in this city is unmatched. We all love working together so we refer each other to create the most magical team for couples!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: _Styled_by_April_

Image Credits
She Exposure Lia Croke We Are The Bowsers Michael Joseph Events with Amanda