We recently connected with Henry Graham and have shared our conversation below.

Henry , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Everyone has hair, yet the beauty industry and society continues to gender it. Hair is more about the individual and how they choose to represent themselves, not the ‘gender of their hair’. I wanted to create a salon space that could house like minded creatives, to represent themselves as an individual, and allowed them to offer a more one on one semi private experience to their clients. From pricing to the way appointments are booked, the effort was to remove gendered pricing and timing to create a business based off of Individuals and hair, not gender.

Henry , 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 was born and raised in Southern California in a small town on the Mexican border. At 18 I left home for Seattle WA and on a whim, began my hair career at a newly built school. After, I continued my education while assisting at a downtown Salon focusing on hair cutting and styling to further my knowledge. I left the world of corporate salons and continued to grow my craft and knowledge over the years through advanced education to stay on top of my ever-evolving industry and sought out new techniques from fellow stylists that inspired me and independent educators that I thought were approaching the hair in front of them and not just following a template to cutting. To this day I am constantly seeking out creatives, coaches, and mentors who inspire me to keep learning and push myself as a stylist and individual. Throughout the years my career has given me the opportunities to work along side some of the most talented stylists, and the chance to build clientele and do hair in Seattle, San Francisco, Austin, New York, and now Los Angeles which I get to call my home. I had moved to LA in 2016 to focus on what felt like a new beginning to my career. To establish myself as a stylist, work independently, and eventually create a salon space to house other creatives. Nameless Los Angeles is the result of the last 7 Years of consistent work, education and my ever curious approach to life. I now have the privilege of providing clients with a personalized and semi-private hair care experience, ensuring that their needs are genuinely heard while allowing me to craft distinctive and functional hairstyles tailored to each individual.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The notion that an individual’s gender should dictate their identity has long permeated the hair industry. In training, we are instructed to approach each client as a unique individual, yet we are also encouraged to bear in mind their assigned gender and conform to traditional norms regarding what is deemed suitable for a woman or a man. This gender-centric approach extends to pricing, scheduling, product recommendations, and even the concept of ‘gender-appropriate’ hairstyles.

However, I underwent a process of unlearning, recognizing that my craft is dedicated to the person sitting in my chair and should not be confined within the constraints of marketing categories. Instead, it is about celebrating and enhancing the individuality of each client, free from the limitations of gender stereotypes

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I consider myself fortunate that the primary driver of my success has been word-of-mouth referrals. While I do engage on social media occasionally, it’s a departure from how I initially started my career. I began doing hair before the prevalence of social media, where building genuine in-person connections was a large part of most stylist success. To this day, I prioritize authenticity and believe in creating a meaningful connection with each client in my chair. That approach allows me to design hairstyles that truly align with their lives.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.voidofhair.com
• Instagram: @voidofhair – @nameless.losangeles