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

Caitlin , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. The more we talk about good leadership the more we think good leadership practices will spread and so we’d love for you to tell us a story about the best boss you’ve had and what they were like or what they did that was so great?

There is nothing like someone who believes in you. Self belief can be as abundant and as apparent as it wants to be but I always say we weren’t placed on earth alone for no reason. I had a young woman who made such a big impression in my life by her trust and belief in me even when I wasn’t perfect. Her name is Heidi, Heidi was never a micromanager nor was she one to punish me for humane faults. It’s so important as a hairstylist to have the space to grow and to be around mentors that know how to educate without ego.
Heidi owns a business out of Atlanta GA. She hired me as a stylist in her intimate salon. I was able to watch her first hand run a business and be an artist. I always say I would never own a salon or work on my own but when the time came for that in a completely new city and state I was prepared because of my time with her. She taught me so much about everything from how to handle clients to how to properly do a balayage. Watching her showed me it isn’t easy but it’s worth taking a chance and believing in yourself. Heidi gave me patience, openness, and a peak into working for myself. Nothing will freak a stylist out more than someone leaving them with their business with the utmost trust. Everytime I thought “I can’t mess this up” and everytime she had less worry than I did. I could go on and on and into specifics of the things I experienced and learned but through my career I feel like she shaped me the most and that was 9 years into being a stylist.

Caitlin , 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 Caitlin Briggs. I own a company out of Miami Florida called Caitlin Oakley Hair. I am a Paul Mitchell educated cosmetologist of 12 years now. I began my hair journey in 2009/2010 assisting for a salon in Upper Marboro Maryland, called Hairmania. I specifically worked under a very talented stylist name, Mahogany as her assistant for a little bit under a year. I then made the choice to take my talents to Atlanta, Georgia and attend Paul Mitchell, the school, Atlanta. Paul Mitchell taught me so much about the cosmetology industry, and I grew close to a lot of the educators and even the owner and platform artist Scott Cole. My school helped mold and shape the core of who I was as a stylist. I worked in the Atlanta industry of hair for 10 years. Then decided to make another move to Miami Florida and begin working for a very prestigious salon in wynwood Miami. As of January 2022 I made the bold decision to open my salon suite and work for myself. I work very hard with my craft and do the best I can to get as much education as possible to stay as knowledgeable as I can. I pride myself on teaching my clients how to care for their hair. I take pride in healthy hair. It is natural to focus on the vanity when it comes to your outward appearance, but I always tell my clients how to create that vanity and maintain healthy hair. People often ask me what I specialize in or what my favorite thing is to do and my response is always that I don’t have one. I take the fact that I work with so many different hair types, and do so many different services for all genders and all nationalities very seriously. I do my best to be limitless and I do my best to cater to all people. I am now building a brand that I am hoping to expand nationwide with the same type of drive. My goal is to stop the industry from being so segregated based on hair types and talents. In the hair industry I often noticed that people are very separated so Caitlin Oakley Hair as it expands will provide stylists with the knowledge to work with all hair types and drive stylists to open their minds to more creativity. When I’m not behind the chair working for myself, I am an educator and an onset stylist. I have worked for companies such as the Georgia lottery, Carter’s, Oshkosh, and even on, set with well-known artist for music videos. I truly love what I do and I plan on growing and making an impact in my industry and in my community.

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

I never noticed, until I began working for myself, and I saw a lot of my reviews say the same thing. Knowledgeable! Knowledge is something that is infinite in this industry. It is very important. Sometimes people are more inclined to see stylists that are more seasoned and they feel have more experience based on what they look like, or how many years they’ve been in the industry. What I’ve come to learn is that just because someone has been doing here for 30 years does not mean that they are updated or knowledgeable on current trends or current processes. I happen to have a baby face, so I run into issues a lot with people feeling like I might be too young to know what to do . What I have done is I have turned that into an educational experience for my clients. I do my best to share as much knowledge with them that they can take in to understand that I understand and to help them understand what needs to be done with their hair. I speak very in-depth and have very intricate consultations with each client. This helps to make them feel comfortable and this has built my reputation as a knowledgeable stylist. It’s important to focus on continuing education not only for our licensing as stylists but also, so that we have the knowledge to share with other stylists, and even at times our clients . Understanding is vital for people who are not in our industry especially in this day and age when people who are not licensed or behind the chair are teaching others how to style and care for their hair. I’m known for never leaving my clients in the dark.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

We all know at this point of life social media is key. But I also like to say that I create personal relationships with my clients. I have so many friendships with clients. Being in a new city, I learned very quickly that I was going to make my clients turn to my friends before I would meet new, random friends. My clients are truly like friends and family to me so there’s always an open stream of communication whether it’s via Instagram for me personally checking in on them.

Contact Info:

• Website: Caitlinoakleyhair.glossgenius.com
• Instagram: CaitlinOakleyHair
• Facebook: CaitlinOakleyHair