We recently connected with Ash Riquelmy and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ash thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us about a time where you or your team really helped a customer get an amazing result?

I have been in the industry now for over 13 years. I have worked in the Austin and Round Rock area my entire career. I remember gaining the granddaughter of one of my clients because she loved how “colorful” I was. I started seeing this client while she was still in high school. We went through every trend and color you could think of. I always loved seeing her on my books because I knew we would be doing something adventurous. In 2016 she moved to college in Louisiana. We then started seeing each other less frequently. However, in December that year I get a panicked call from her stating that she let a friend do her hair and it was “Ruined”. She was coming home for Christmas and we scheduled an appointment for her the day after Christmas to get her fixed up. I was not expecting her hair to be as bad as it was, but there she was with spotty color and bleach marks throughout her entire head. It was a nightmare to say the least. I spent about 7 hours on her that day making sure to get her to the prettiest pale silver blonde you could imagine. Working through box color and color remover proved to be extremely difficult all while keeping the integrity of her hair intact. She was so excited that we were able to fix the hair disaster she faced. Sadly, between her being in college, Covid and switching salons we lost contact along the way. Which brings me to now, I was looking at the books and I see her name knowing I know this client but thinking to myself “there’s no way she found me after covid and being in a different salon”. Low and behold she walks in and the feeling of complete happiness knowing she found me after such a long time was overwhelming. She then goes to explain that she is now engaged to her highschool sweetheart and that they now have two sons. She told me that she had been looking for me for years as no one could do her hair like I always did. Her boyfriend and her found me through mutual salon friends from my old salon on Facebook. She said they scoured the internet to find me. Would you believe that when she came in I had to do another color correction on her? Of course I did! She left extremely happy and vowed she would never “lose” me again. To realize the impact that we truly have on the lives of others in this industry is amazing. We touch the lives of our clients through every interaction. We go through the ups and downs of life together like prom, engagement, weddings, graduations, the birth of children, divorce, and even death. Realizing that my career goes so far beyond just doing hair is a gift. I am so grateful to be in this industry and do what I love everyday all while being able to be part of each and everyone of my clients lives.

Ash, 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?

To start off I’ve been in the industry for a little over 13 years. I can remember always being drawn to the hair industry since a very young age. After graduating Highschool I went to a traditional college. I was always told that I needed a “real career”. Well, it didn’t take me very long to realize I was not destined for a normal career. I had always been drawn to hair and the creative side of the world. I dropped out of college and decided to enroll at Paul Michell and never looked back. I guess I can say that I owe it all to Edward Scissorhands, as that movie changed my life forever. I remember watching in awe as hair was flying everywhere on screen and seeing the way that a hairstyle could make people feel transformed. Some of my earliest memories are of me chopping the hair off of every Barbie doll I owned, knowing I could make them look “better”. My parents tried to put my interest to good use and let me experiment on the dogs and I was then the official “groomer” for the animals. I got pretty good at it and was able to move onto my family members and friends, Fast forward to 2010, I enrolled in Paul Mitchell the School Austin and completed my cosmetology training with Dean’s List and Honors.

Upon graduating, I started as an assistant at a Paul Mitchell Focus Salon in Austin. While working there I was able to work backstage and onstage at hair shows both in the Austin area and in Las Vegas. I have had the pleasure of working backstage at hair shows, editorial photo shoots, and fashion shows. Some of my career highlights have been that I have had the privilege to work alongside Paul Mitchell platform artists, Kelly Cardenas at his Las Vegas salon and worked on stage and backstage with Colin Caruso as his assistant. I have also been invited as a Guest artist for a large amount of the hair schools in the area. I am very fortunate to have had a very full and rewarding career thus far. Nowadays, you can find me as the Salon Manager at Bishop’s Cuts and Color Austin Buro on Burnet Rd. being authentically 100% myself doing what I love. I specialize in vivid color, blonding, babylights, balayage and really any type of color. I am a bit of a perfectionist and try my hardest to make sure that I am able to fulfil my clients hair goals. I can emphatically say that I do enjoy a challenge as I am also very passionate about color corrections. I have been doing color corrections my entire career and love being able to work with my clients through the process and giving them a good result in a bad situation. I am a bit of a perfectionist and try my hardest to make sure that I am able to fulfil my clients hair goals.
I am known for my unique and eccentric style and I pride myself on being different and standing out in a crowd. My style and authenticity is part of who I am and my inspiration in this industry. I show up authentically everyday as my little goth, tattooed, metal girl self. I draw inspiration from my individuality to give my clients something that is uniquely them and represents who they are.

One of the things I am most proud of is being able to still be in my industry against all odds. I have worked through raising three teenage boys, divorce, hard times, and then sprinkle in a serious Autoimmune Disease and medical setbacks as well. I’ve never given myself the option to stop or give up. Hair has always been my home and creative outlet. I have been able to take whatever I am going through in life and use it as motivation to do my best for my clients. Being in this industry is extremely gratifying and I am appreciative that I get to wake up every morning and do what I love.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I believe that the entire time span of Covid definitely helps illustrate my resilience. At the very beginning of Covid I was diagnosed with a very serious Autoimmune Disease (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus). It had been attacking my body for a while and I was finally happy I was getting answers. However, being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease at the beginning of covid proved extremely difficult. I was now at “high risk” for having complications if I got Covid. At this time all salons got shut down, so now I was caught between learning a whole new lifestyle and not being able to work. My Rheumatologist then hit me with the terrible information that I was unable to do hair until there was a vaccine, for my safety and health. This was in hopes that I wouldn’t be hospitalized with complications. So now I was unable to do what brings me joy at the most confusing time of my life. Couple this with raising three teenage sons, I thought my career was over. During this time I was also in the process of divorcing my husband of 16 years. Talk about life changes, right? I was spinning and knew I needed to get back in the salon so that I could at least have that normalcy back in my life. While everything was confusing and difficult I knew I could go to work and forget about everything and get lost in the creativity that comes along with doing hair. Working through that time was probably one of the most difficult things I have done. Now I can say that I am doing well with my Lupus and it is being controlled with medicine and lifestyle changes. My teenagers are flourishing and doing well in school and all aspects of life. My career is the best it has ever been and I have found happiness in the most difficult time in my life. I could’ve thrown in the towel at any point and become a victim to circumstance, but I knew that resilience was the key to moving past all the changes I was facing. Now looking back I wouldn’t change a thing.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing clientele for me has been by recommendations and referrals from my existing clients. The easiest way to get someone in your chair is a glowing review from someone they trust. I make sure to give each and everyone of my clients the most realistic and flattering outcome possible. When you put a little bit of yourself into every cut and color, your clients sense that you truly have their best interest at heart. This builds trust with them and soon they send everyone they know your way!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://anmriquelmy.wixsite.com/my-site-1
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ash_does_hair713/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ash-riquelmy-67726b11b/