We were lucky to catch up with Ellen Gobi recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ellen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

So, it’s actually funny, I originally wanted to be a zoologist and to study wolves in the wild. I know, very specific. Unfortunately, my high school grades did not land me in a university for that degree. I was attending community college at the time and just felt like something was missing. I didn’t know what direction I really wanted to go in but knew I was ready for a change. Ready for a change, I went to see my hairstylist Kristie at the time for a new style. I had an assortment of different photos printed out from google. “I like the bangs in this one, the layers in this one, the base color here and the highlights here.” I had a vision in my head of what I wanted but couldn’t find the exact image of what I wanted so; I would compile a number of photos to get my idea across. Kristie always nailed it! I really looked up to her because of that. At one of these appointments she said, “You have such a natural eye for color, have you ever thought about going to school for cosmetology?” That was 11 years ago, and I will forever be grateful for her because it was exactly the push I needed.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Hello! My name is Ellen Gobi. I work full time behind a chair in a beautiful boutique salon, Blush Beauty Bar located in Alamogordo, New Mexico. I am originally from a small town in Massachusetts. I have worked in a handful of salons in Massachusetts, Maine and now New Mexico. My favorite services to do are vivids, balayage and reds for all texture types. I also have a passion for educating and have been an educator with Alfaparf Milano for 7 years. Once I moved to New Mexico, my creativity really took off. I was able to cultivate my skills as well as build trust in the relationships with my guests both new and returning. Having an art background, I have realized that hair is my favorite canvas to work on. I am constantly looking for new colors to create, new styles to master and will never stop striving to be the best stylist I can be. If you’d like to see more of my work, my Instagram is @egobihair, my Facebook is Ellen Gobi Stylist and my website is egobihair.com.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

It’s ok to break the rules! This is especially true when doing hair. I have always been a rule follower and a firm believer in “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I had to change this mindset because in hair, there is no right way or wrong way to do things. As long as you are maintaining your client’s hair integrity, staying within their budget and say a little prayer to the hair gods, anything in possible! There are always new ways to do things and while it may be scary at first, the reward of that huge smile on your client’s face at the end of their service is absolutely worth it.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being a hair artist is helping my clients to feel the best about themselves with my art. I may be exhausted at the end of a long day of work, but to know that I helped my client to feel more confident for that job interview, a first date, an anniversary dinner or they needed a boost after a long week. That is why I do hair and why I come back day after day, year after year. I also love getting to know my clients and to be there for them during their high times and their low times. There is nothing more rewarding than knowing I made even a small difference in their lives.

Contact Info:

• Website: egobihair.com
• Instagram: @egobihair
• Facebook: Ellen Gobi Stylist

Image Credits
Kala C. Photography