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

Connie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

As an independent hairstylist and entrepreneur there are so many things that you must do to be successful and to then keep the success going. There are so many hairstylists and salon in Houston. You have to do things to help you stand out .

For me it started with my mindset. I believe in my talents as an artist. I’ve always said I am a great student of hair. There is so much learn when it comes to cutting hair, coloring it, styling it, and using extensions to create someone’s dream hair. After 7 years of doing hair professionally, I still learn something new on a weekly basis. Whether it’s exploring different hair color lines, taking classes from other artists, or practicing new techniques ( color and extensions) on mannequin heads. The knowledge and experience I’ve gained from constantly doing hair has helped me to be confident in my abilities. I can take risks with the creative process, I am not afraid to try new looks with my clients. You have to evolve and ultimately bring value to your guest every time they come into the salon.

When I am able to bring value to my guest it build trusts and my guests trust me with their hair. I have clients that fly from all over California, Colorado, and Alaska to come get their hair done with me because they know I will do whatever it takes to get them the results they want. I wholeheartedly believe when we are both in love with what we have created with their hair, the business is successful and the artistry of doing hair is also successful. My guests hear me say all the time that what we do is a collaboration.

Lastly, having a genuine excitement and devotion for doing hair has helped me to be successful. People can see and feel your passion. They can also see it when it is gone. As an entrepreneur, it is up to me to keep that fire going. My husband will say, ” I know you love your job because you will work a 12 hour day, get your content ready for the next day to post, and then spend another hour watching hair videos online before finally going to sleep. You’re constantly doing hair.” And he’s right, I am never tired of doing hair. It is probably the only thing I have ever done outside of being a mother and wife that just feels like I am doing exactly what I need to be doing.

A big part of being an artist is that I get to do what I love which means I get to choose to do the type of hair that brings me joy. When I am doing work that makes me happy and fun for me to do, it really shows through in the work and keeps me motivated. Over the years I have slowly narrowed my focus and have become more of a niche hairstylist. All of my new guests are wanting some kind of highlight service or highlights with extensions. I am motivated to share my gift with the world and it

Connie, 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?

I had a corporate career before getting into the beauty industry and had to start all over again at age 30. After college I took the typical path into workforce and after 4-5 years of trying to find my way I realized I was not happy with any of it. I spent most of my time outside of work watching makeup videos, buying makeup, and practicing makeup. So that is where my career began. I became a freelance makeup artist and did weddings and special occasion makeup on the weekends. Then that eventually turned into me leaving corporate America to enroll in cosmetology school to pursue a career as a hairstylist and makeup artist full time.

After getting my license and completing an apprenticeship I started working in a salon and building my portfolio on Instagram. A lot of the work I was doing was big transformations from dark to blonde, big color corrections, and eventually extensions transformations.

The feedback that I received whenever I got a new client was that they loved how natural and healthy my guests’ hair looked. They loved that I had all types of blondes on my page. Whether it was a platinum blonde or a dimension balayage. They also liked that I had a wide range of dimensional brunettes. So I eventually started to specialize in what I call naturals and I don’t offer any vivid color services. I would describe my style as contemporary classic. I like to try the trends, but also make it wearable with silhouettes that are never out of style.

In the past few years as I evolve I started to narrow my focus even more. I stopped doing certain services and began to focus on the next level of creating a transformation and that was adding hair extensions. A lot of my extension work is either sew-ins, keratin tip, or both. There are stylists that do offer keratin tip extensions, but not that many because it is a tedious service. However, it does solve a huge problem for many women. Keratin tip extensions also known as k-tips are single use and therefore have no maintenance. K- tips are for the busy woman who does not have time to come in for maintenance every 5-6 weeks for a move up. K-tips are for those who have fine hair or in a lot cases are recovering from a bad haircut or chemical cut. K-tips are sometimes the only form of extension that can fix a haircut or chemical mishap becauseI am able to get really close to the hairline or the crown area while still being discreet.

I have some really dramatic extension transformations on my Instagram page where the guest thought there was no hope for their hair disasters, but I was able to strategically and meticulously apply k-tips and give them the hair of their dreams.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish I had known that you could create a business or make a living being a creative person and that pursuing education was not the only way to success. I used to think that you absolutely needed to have a college degree in order to have a successful career. And after graduating college I still did not know what I wanted to do with my life. It was difficult to stay motivated and pursue my interests when I had no where to begin.

I wish there was an app, service, or outreach program that high school and college students could use to help them discover the the things they have an aptitude for and show them how to pursue it. And then after choosing a field the student could get a mentor to help them navigate through the industry.

I still don’t have an official mentor, but thanks to Instagram and Tiktok there are so many artists that I look up to and that are kind enough to answer questions and take the time to talk through any questions I have,

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Common questions that I get from people who are not familiar with the artistry of hairdressing especially in 2023 is why are hair services so expensive, why does it matter so much for women to have their hair done so often, and why does it take so long?

My answer to them is that every time someone sits down in my chair I have to create something beautiful from scratch. This is a handcrafted service that I need to execute without a single flaw and if there is a flaw, especially if that service is a haircut, there is no way to put the hair back on that person’s head. Yes, there are extensions, but what if that person doesn’t want extensions and extensions can only fix so much. I have to have extensive training, hours and hours of practice, and experience cutting all types of hair to be able to create the hairstyle that my guest is asking for.

It takes time to consult and see the vision the guest has for their hair. Now if the service is for color and the client wants to go from dark to blonde, the service could take several hours. I have to safely remove all the dark hair color from their hair using chemicals and then use more chemicals to give her a beautiful blonde shade. Again, this takes experience, knowledge, and a trained eye to be able to achieve this.

And then finally, why does it have to be done so often ? It’s artificial color and over time color fades. Not to mention that hair grows. So the new growth has to be dyed or lightened again in the next 2-3 months.

Being able to completely change someone’s hair for the better requires an expert and expertise is a luxury. Luxury services do cost more, but it is completely worth it because you instantly feel better, look better, and ultimately happier.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.highbrowhairllc.com/
• Instagram: @highbrowhair

Image Credits
All photos are my own.