Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dustin Pressley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Dustin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success: (noun) The accomplishment of a goal or task. We tend to think success means we have the car we always wanted, or a big house in that gated community. But in my experience, success comes in all forms. I opened my small business 2 months out of hair school and its still going strong 3 years later. Success.
I have weeks were I have back to back clients and make some real money. Success
I have some weeks where I only make $50 bucks, and I need to do an inventory run. Success.

My business is open and running well, never had to think about closing and that to me means that I am a success. Am I where I wanna be just yet? No way! But guess what, time is the one thing I do have so I plan on using my time wisely to make my business an everyday success!!

Dustin, 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?

Hello you wicked beauties! My name is Dustin and I am the owner/operator of The Haus of Wicked hair studio! My salons vibe comes from the deep love I have for Disney Villains; especially Maleficent, Ursula and Cruella de Vil. I mean hello, are they not wicked and fabulous?! Born and raised in Arlington, Texas, I got my start in this industry by working in the theatre department in college. I am a singer, dancer and actor by trade as well as dabbling in drag. Watching YouTube videos in my off time I became a self taught dancer and makeup artist. From there I transitioned into hair styling.

In 2018 I made the decision to change my life and I went to Paul Mitchell the School. During my year there I took to color like a fish to water. Color melting and crazy funky colors are my specialty! I later discovered my love for blowouts and styles. My philosophy is: “The color could be popping, the cut can be sharp, but if the blowout isn’t perfect, what’s the point?” I also treat all hair equally. Black, white, blue, yellow, rainbow; hair is hair. The only thing that changes is the techniques I have to use!

Vivid colors will always be my one true love. I always tell people when they ask whats my favorite thing to do or whats my specialty; “Anything under the rainbow!” Pulp Riot color has given me a brand new look into what it means to be a colorist and I couldn’t be happier with the results!

I put my heart and soul into everything I do. I don’t believe in doing things halfway. I didn’t come to play, I came to slay. Lets book this look darling, and get you looking wicked! Cuz once you are wicked you #StayWicked

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media. The worlds biggest double edged sword. Social media can give you what you want, but it can (and probably will) take some away too.

I am a big Instagram and TikTok nerd! Any chance to post some awesome transformations and wow moments I defiantly take! I started using TikTok for hair transformations, not thinking about potential clientele, then BOOM! I got one right off the bat. She is one of my most loyal clients and she drives over an hour to see me!

But like I said, social media giveth and social media taketh away. There have been plenty of trolls and/or spam accounts that comment or “borrow” my pictures to boost their own stuff, and ya know its easy to fix. But I take it as a compliment. They wanna be me so bad they need to use my pictures. it is what it is!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

As I mentioned before, I am a vivid color specialist. I get plenty of people who message me or just sit down in the chair and say “Whatever you think will look good!” or “Whatever you are feeling!”

At first this used to stress me out major, but after awhile I learned quickly how to make it work for me! I would always stress about “what if they hate it?” so I finally started following up with “What colors dont you want?” and from there will create magic!

So many times I just cover the mirror then pull the curtain at the end. The smiles and sometimes tears at the end are all worth it! I love literally feeling the joy radiate off my clients!! Best feeling in the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thehausofwicked.glossgenius.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewickedstylist/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWickedStylist

Image Credits
All the photos are my work taken from my iPhone 11 Pro Max!