We were lucky to catch up with Emily Welch recently and have shared our conversation below.

Emily, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

It takes a lot of drive from someone to be successful for a passion they love. The amount of dedication and determination it takes to make it in this industry is astounding. In school, I remember a lot of the girls complaining how they felt like they weren’t getting the help they wanted, and that the tasks given were meaningless. They wanted to only focus on the exciting and fun stuff. What they didn’t realize is that they were getting the help that they needed to be successful, but they weren’t using it to their advantage, That some of the tasks we were given may have been “meaningless”, but they were to regulate our skills and show us what we needed to improve on. These mundane tasks were to guide us in the right direction and open doors to new opportunities that we may have never known existed. The empowerment you feel when you find the right opportunity is like no other. This industry is hungry for new, creative energy with consumers ready to devour every single bit of it. With anyone and everyone watching and waiting for the next big thing to fulfill their ideal beauty standard, it can be intimidating and frustrating at times. In these weak moments it takes a lot of perseverance and discipline to put your best foot forward and continue grow. The amount of work that gets put into clients and the countless hours of training, educating, learning, watching, and problem solving is what keeps me passionate and many other hairdressers alike. And like many hairdressers alike, this is what I believe keeps us successful and allows us to take what’s ours in this industry.

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 Emily Welch and I’m a hairdresser at The Islands Salon & Spa in Bethalto, IL. I’m 21 years old, my favorite song is Could Have Been Me by The Struts, and I love a good iced freddo espresso from Germania! Just under 4 years ago I took the leap of faith and decided to take a tour at Paul Mitchell the School in STL. What really got me into cosmetology as a career was watching Guy Tang do his amazing color transformations on YouTube. I would sit there for hours upon hours, just watching him color, style, and create beautiful hair. I would sit there in awe of how easy and simple he made it look, without even understanding the passion and years of skill building it took him to become the hairstylist he is now. I currently strive to be a creative hairdresser like him, and work towards giving my clients an amazing and welcoming experience when sitting in my chair. I like to focus on giving my clients styles and colors that fit their lifestyle and allow them to have effortless looks everyday, while still feeling beautiful, fun, and sophisticated. Hairdressing has been a true passion of mine that I’m proud to represent. Everyday I am reminded by my lovely clients the reasons why I chose this industry, and that at the time 4 years ago, I never knew these would be things I would be excited for. When I see the smile on my clients face and get to share their joy and excitement, it truly warms my heart knowing that I get to have that impact on their lives whether it be big or small.

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.

One of the main things I haven’t gotten from a lot of people, but has always stuck out to me was one question: “So are you doing this to get through school or?”. Or what? I usually laugh it off and explain that no, I am sticking with hairdressing as it’s my passion and haven’t thought of going back to school. I had to learn to take it with a grain of salt, as most of these people that ask this don’t truly understand the industry and view it as a “ditsy” career path. Most of them knew their friends that went to cosmetology school, only went to get themselves through college with an easy side hustle. In the modern industry, most people going to school are in it for the long run, ready to commit to their life’s passion. Those that don’t, choose to go onto other things that fill their time with joy or fulfill their needs to live life how they desire. I try to educate my clients a little bit on what goes on behind the scenes of how there color works or the reasons as to why I cut their hair the way I do. It’s not all about playing with hair all day for fun, it’s so much more than that. To do my job, I have to be able to connect with my client, create a game plan, understand color theory and chemistry to be able to mix and create their color, and finish out the process by perfecting the angles of their cut and educating them on how to easily work with their style while simultaneously knowing what products are going to allow them to achieve their desired style. Luckily with more information readily available from stylists like me, a lot of current and incoming clients understand more of how things truly go behind the scenes in the salon. I love this industry because it allows me to be me without hesitation, and allows me to help others in ways they may have never known. Being able to help someone gain the confidence to say they feel beautiful or just great about themselves is an amazing feeling that I hope everyone gets the chance to feel at some point in their lives. There is a small, select group of people with a passion to do good by others, including but not limiting to nurses and doctors, therapists and councilors. These people along with most incoming hairdressers have passion to help people in one way or another, and these careers allow us to do just that.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the main things I remember hearing from a lot of people in school is that it’s really the best option to be an associate when you get out of school. With my first ever salon job, I was an associate for just under 90 days and was very unsure for most of my assisting time. I mostly remember feeling out of place and not fitting in, and how I really just wanted to get into the grove of things. With about 10 other girls to compete with I felt lost on what my purpose was, and at some point I even questioned if this was the right career for me. After I made the final decision to leave and find a new position, I landed a station at The Islands. I was terrified to fully start my career as an independent stylist. All I could think about was how hard it would be to get clients and stay busy, not that it was doable and the potential I would have to grow as an independent worker. Every single day I would sit up at the salon waiting for phone calls for potential clients. I took every single person I could get my hands on. I would take pictures to post on my socials, pass out business cards and ask friends and family to share my cards and socials when they could. I asked people to be my models and practiced my ideas and color designs on doll heads. Slowly but surely I was able to build my clientele from 4 people a week with no shows, to an almost fully booked clientele with lovely clients I can count on and that trust me. Just under 2 years I was able to do this, and I thank God every day for the chances I get with this industry. With much love from my friends, family, clients and many others that believed in me I have been able to beat some of the industry odds and pursue my passion.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: emilywelchstylist
• Facebook: Emily Welch – Stylist

Image Credits
All photos taken by me, Emily Welch. Pictures are of my clients Brooke Barker, Emily DeClue, Jessica Hogan, Allie Lively, Josie Johnson, Denise Welch, and Tj Nappier.