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

Alright, Emily thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Looking back at internships and apprenticeships can be interesting, because there is so much variety in people’s experiences – and often those experiences inform our own leadership style. Do you have an interesting story from that stage of your career that you can share with us?

While still in beauty school I decided to take that leap and jump into the industry. Not a lot of salons were hiring for receptionist or assistants. I found the first assistant job I could get and immediately dove head first, which was a mistake. One of my biggest goals being in this career field is to help guide others into their journey as a stylist. Don’t get me wrong being an assistant at that location had so many highs but yet their also became so many lows. One big take away I learn from taking my first assistant job was, make sure you find a salon home that fits your authentic self. You should never have to hide your true self and talents to make others feel better around you. I remember my last few weeks as an assistant I took on my first balayage appointment with a good friend, 6 hours passed and I was finally finished. I was told I was never allowed to balayage or do vivids again until I learned the basic highlight and bob haircut as this would be my “bread and butter”. RED FLAG!!! This was a big no and I immediately started looking for a new location. 5 years later I am now thriving in my own salon suite, Black Lagoon Hair Studio in Greensboro NC specializing in vivid colors and dimensional color melts. Remember to also be yourself no matter what and strive for your future career goals.

Emily, 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?

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

One of the main resources I wish every stylist knew about wether you’ve been in the business 20-30 years or you are a baby stylist, make sure you are checking out FREE online education. Their is so much beyond belief that you can watch and learn from.

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

Social media is changing the world. Let’s face it everyone is on social media, wether it is Facebook, Instagram and or TikTok we all use it. Social media can be a platform for a few different areas for stylist. I personally use mine to build and gain clientele and educational posts. One of the biggest issues with social media is the algorithm they are constantly changing up. You can be on fire one day gaining followers and then the next it feels like a dead zone. One thing I like to remind other stylist is that, social media does not determine your worth and skills behind the chair. If you and your clients are happy and thriving that is what matters the most.

Contact Info:

• Website: blacklagoonhairstudio.glossgenius.com
• Instagram: _savemyhairemily
• Facebook: Save My Hair Emily
• Other: Tiktok: _savemyhairemily