We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ashtyn Miranda. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ashtyn below.

Hi Ashtyn, thanks for joining us today. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today.

During my first year as a commission stylist, social media transformed the beauty industry. I WISH I jumped onto that bandwagon at the time! Having an online presence created opportunity for hairstylists to control their work unlike before and I didn’t understand that. Making an effort would’ve helped me to attract the clientele I desired to see in my chair. Instead, I relied on my salon to build my clientele and believed that controlled my success. The truth is I am my own business and only I can make decisions for my best interest. Social media is my greatest tool for marketing and attracting new clients!

Ashtyn, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Ashtyn (@ashlovesyourhair) and I’m a curl specialist and educator in Frisco, Texas. I help women embrace their natural curls by offering curly cuts and personalized styling education. I embrace low maintenance and try to incorporate that into my clients routines at home. I’m all about using time and energy intentionally!

I got into the hair industry by chance, but knew I would focus on curly hair. I’m a curly girl and growing up it was nearly impossible to receive a consistent, quality service in the salon. Just like the majority of the curl community, I felt the need to teach myself how to take care of my curls because I didn’t trust stylists to help me.

I take pride in my ability to empathize and be present with my clients. You can’t have an ego and work with a community of people who, rightfully so, doubt your ability to treat their curls with respect and professionalism. I’m always guiding my clients through their service — making sure they’re comfortable and understand what is being done to their hair.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Growing up in the Myspace era, I always viewed social media as entertainment. As a business owner, I have to look at social media as a tool! I actually paid for marketing and content creation classes – after much due diligence to find educators that would provide marketing foundations not the latest social media trends.

I learned to focus on the viewpoint of potential clients. What would they want to see online? How could I build trust and convince them to use my service? I studied my target clients – what influences them, what are they searching for online, what are the common issues? This information made content creation easier! I noticed a drastic increase in new clientele! Not only did people want to work with me, but they gave me control by way of trust to do what I thought was best with their hair.

My advice to anyone building an online presence is to define your target client. Study them thoroughly. And create content that solves their issues with time, money, or feelings.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I knew more about business and marketing earlier in my journey. I focused too much on creative skill while struggling to retain clientele. There’s no point in being the best creative if no one wants to work with you.

Technology has made it easier to find business and marketing education. Anyone with information to share has a course! The Thriving Stylist Method, business coaching for hairstylists, was career changing for me! I’d never been exposed to business marketing in the hair industry before this course.

Coaching sounds exclusive but it’s like business counseling. There’s nothing to gain but growth when you have someone to hold you accountable to your business goals! Make the investment.

Contact Info:

• Website: creativeculturehair.com/curls
• Instagram: ashlovesyourhair
• Other: Tik Tok: ashlovesyourhair

Image Credits
Nick and Hannah Laning shot the professional images with the white background.