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

Hi Isabel, thanks for joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

As a artist, it’s extremely fulfilling to be able to create art in collaboration with people who value my artistic expression and who not only trust me to execute their vision into the physical reality but also pay me with their hard earned money. I will always be grateful that my creative gifts have allowed me to make a living, especially because I do not feel like I am suited to have a “regular” job. I have wondered in the past whether I’m cut out for a regular job or not, and went as far as working in a warehouse for about 4-5 months and quickly realized that it is just not for me. As a hairstylist, one of my favorite things about what I do is being able to connect with others on a deeply personal level. I thrive in the controlled chaos of a salon environment. Not being able to do that, along with having to follow various strict (and sometimes absurd) rules just did not work well for me.. Needless to say, they fired me for not being able to follow their rules- and let me tell you, I never felt freer after that!

Isabel, 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 am a first generation Latina and I became a mother at the young age of 18, shortly after graduating high school. I had to decide what I wanted to do after high school because I knew that not working was just not an option for me. My parents always taught me the importance of working hard, my only dilemma was deciding WHAT I wanted to do because I was interested in so many different avenues, from beauty to psychology. After a lot of digging and searching around, I realized I did not want to go to college. I spoke with many schools and my heart just did not light up at the thought of college/university so I knew psychology was no longer an option, I knew something I was always pretty good at was doing my hair and makeup. That’s when cosmetology school popped into my head. I did a few tours and decided that was the route that I wanted to take. The excitement I felt as I toured the schools was my indicator that I was getting closer to what I wanted to do. At that time, I was living in California and tuition for school was roughly $5-6,000 more than it was in Arizona (where my parents lived). After applying to Paul Mitchell the School in Phoenix, I packed my bags and moved back to Arizona and started school in 2013. I made it my mission to get into the honors program and to have perfect grades and attendance, and thankfully my hard work earned me a 99th percentile grade in all my academics. Soon after I searched for salons to work at, but I was not comfortable with the idea of doing hair full time yet and landed myself a job as an assistant. I did that for about 7 months, and after that is when my career really started. At that time I was working at an Ulta Salon and it wasn’t long before I knew that I did could not work in the corporate world for long. After 2 years, I left Ulta and started my journey as an entrepreneur. I offered anything from haircuts, up-do’s, makeup, coloring services, and blow-dry styles. I got side jobs at blow-dry bars to further enhance my styling skills, which also helped me pay my rent. After about 2 years and another child, I decided I just wanted to work for myself and build my own business. I moved so many times at that point that I was basically starting from scratch. This was back in August of 2019. After a few months, the pandemic hit us and we had to shut down for 2 months before we could work again, and when I tell you things were rocky.. THEY WERE ROCKY! Not many people felt comfortable being out in public, much less going to someone who sees multiple people in one day- but I stuck it out and never gave up. I knew that my work had so much value that I would be okay and that people would want to come to me regardless of the circumstances of the world.
My salon, Cosmic Beauty, is all about teaching my clients self-love through self-care. Yes, I specialize in color corrections and creative colors- but I have also provided insight for personal matters in my clients’ lives. Not only do my clients trust me with their crown, but with private matters– things that they have ONLY shared with me. My brand is so much bigger than hair- it is about mutual trust, love, and respect. It is about giving people a safe space to be their most authentic selves, and to feel free to express the parts of themselves that they thought weren’t worthy of being shared with the world. Some of my proudest moments have been from hearing my clients say things such as, “I knew you wouldn’t judge me if I showed up like this”, “I’ve never told anyone this before”, “thank you for being someone I can trust”, and “I need your opinion on xyz”. I have laughed with my clients, I have cried with them, and I have been able to show them unconditional love in times of trouble. Yes, I love making people fall in love with what they see in the mirror, however nothings beats the feeling of seeing someone leave in higher spirits than how they first arrived in my chair. In a sense, I have been able to fulfill my role as a psychologist/therapist through my journey in the beauty industry. After all, beauty goes way deeper than the surface.

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

Authenticity through and through. There is no one like you, and no one like me. That is what makes us so special. That is our super power, as many say. It may be cliché, but cliché is not always a bad thing! My goal on social media has never been to became “famous” or popular. I just want to have fun, create and connect with likeminded individuals. I think that’s the secret recipe. There is an audience for everyone and anyone. As long as you are honest and consistent, I don’t see why building an audience won’t work out.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I was pregnant with my second daughter, I was working at a blow-dry bar and renting a chair. I got to the point where I could no longer handle both, and was focusing more on the stability that I got from the blow-dry bar than my own business. Crazy enough, the owner of the salon I rented a chair from sold the building and gave me a day’s notice to gather my things and move out. I didn’t allow that loss to affect me, instead I asked for more hours at my other job and kept it pushing until I went into labor. After my daughter, I had the luxury of staying home for 6 months without working because I could not handle the anxiety of leaving my baby. After those 6 months is when I decided I no longer wanted to work for someone else and wanted to focus full-time on my own business. It was a STRUGGLE, but rewarding nonetheless. I literally had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I was ready to mess around and find out!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: cosmicbeautybyisabel
• Facebook: Cosmic Beauty by Isabel
• Youtube: The Beauty by Isabel
• Other: Tiktok: cosmicbeautybyisabel