We recently connected with Jennifer Yeom and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

Yes! I absolutely take vacations, but not enough. While everyone is vacationing, it’s super busy for me. I’m working so that they can have vacation hair. I take my vacations when everyone is done vacationing! Even though that means sometimes they are solo trips.
Burn outs are real. Managing my time wisely to balance work & life, has been the biggest challenge in my career. Business expense (rent) is still being deducted from my bank account while I am on vacation. This makes me feel like I have to work overtime & pack my schedule with clients before I leave for a vacation. And honestly, it leads me to burn out right before my vacation. Sometimes I come right back to work the next day from vacation, and hit the floor running and I’m burnt out again! It’s an unbreakable cycle. Although it seems like your business will crumble along with your bank account, it is crucial we take some vacation time for ourselves. My best advice, is to book yourself a vacation in the beginning of the year & have the dates blocked off already. Set it and forget it. In the meantime leading up to the vacation, have a vacation savings that you put money into every week! This way, you have something to look forward to & have financial security so you won’t be worried about the rent being deducted while you’re on vacation!

Jennifer, 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 always knew I wanted to become a hairstylist when I was a little girl. This dream turned into just a dream, because growing up in an Asian household, I was told I am going to be a successful doctor!
While attending school, I realized, I would make a horrible doctor. So I got into the dental field. I made a career switch decision in my upper 20’s after spending years of $ and education towards dental. Afraid my parents would disown me and never speak to me again, I mustered up the courage to quit my full time job, & start going to beauty school!

My beauty school journey was not easy. I got scammed at the first school I attended, & they got shut down. I ended up working for a hairstylist instead because she said she would be able to teach me through experience and I would be able to get my license that way. Come to find out, she did not have any legal papers or was not registered to provide that for me. So I got scammed again, and told her I was going to go to a legit beauty school instead. She got upset & never paid me my last paycheck and fired me on the spot. This was the best thing to happen to me. I ended up making an appointment to Toni&Guy Hair Academy.

The moment I toured the school I knew this field is where I belong, and finally I was at the right place to learn. I went to school full time with students MUCH younger than I was, and was so worried that I wouldn’t make it in this field due to starting at an older age. I got a part-time serving job at night while I attended beauty school full time from 8am-5pm Monday-Saturday, & this is how I lived for a year.

I finally got my license at the age of 30 & got hired with the best mentor (Joanne) I could’ve ever met @ Kenneth Brown Salons. She was also the best thing to happen to me. I finally felt like my journey to becoming a hairstylist was on track! And then…. 2 weeks into getting hired.. COVID hit and all salons got shut down.

I felt SO empty. Was all this work useless in the end of it? IT WAS NOT! It made me stronger. It gave me a lot of time to master my craft & study more while we were out of work, I practiced so much hair on doll heads during the pandemic, & even picked up a new skill! Hair extensions!

Fast forward to today, I LOVE my job.
I love creating beautiful colors & I still love learning new things. I’m really nerdy when it comes to all things hair. I like to know the nerdy part of it 🤓 I think this sets me apart from others because I’m constantly learning new things and keeping up with trends so I can provide the best for my guests. Especially when they bring in the newest TikTok trends and the crazy new hairstyle names that come with it!

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

The best source of new clients is honestly word of mouth referral! When your guests receive compliment on their hair from their friends, all their friends come get their hair done!

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Best advice is to make sure you’re in a good mental space. This means taking care of yourself first before you go out there taking care of others.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Jyumzhair