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

Hi Julia, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

So when it comes to learning how to do what I do. There are really two answers as to how I learned. Like most in my industry, I started out in the “kitchen”. I was a kitchen beautician from fairly early on. My dolls turned into my friends and family. It was just in me and I got so much joy from doing my friends’ hair. The look they give in the mirror after their hair was done. I was hooked. As I got older and started to be the relaxer queen. The requests started turning into color service request. So I thought it’s time to go to school. Life got in the way a little bit and delayed me in finding and starting at a school. But a random trip to Tyson Corner Mall in McLean, Va changed everything. There I was standing outside of Paul Mitchell the School. It’s like it appeared through magic. It was everything I wanted it to be and everything I needed. I had done “my hair” my whole life. Now it was time for me to learn how to do everyone else’s hair. I wish I had just listened to heart and started school earlier. I would have started my career sooner. But everything happens for a reason. Nothing stood in my way of learning. I asked every question, took every extra class. When we started the the makeup portion of classes, the girls that were worked at MAC were bored because they already did the basics everyday in the store. So they wanted to practice on me cause they didn’t get a lot of dark skinned black women in the store, which brought me right into the other half of my industry, makeup! School gave me some of the most essential tools and lessons, both personally and professionally. I could just be me. In which ever way I showed up, I was accepted and loved. Professional of course all the lesson about actually doing hair, cut, color, and style. But the biggest one was SANITATION!! Something that I am still very big on. There is no showing up to set, a wedding, or in the salon with dirty tools. You are in someone scalp or touching and around someone’s eyes. It is important that you keep them safe by doing your part and keeping things clean and sanitary.

Julia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

The beauty industry has always called to me. Even once I got heavily into music in high school, and thought I wanted to be a singer. The beauty industry was still a part of my journey. My thought was “if I start off doing everyone’s hair. And kind of sing around people and that’s what will get me discovered.“ Little did I know, that once I was officially in cosmetology school there was going to be no turning back for me.

About six months before I graduated, I got my first job working in my craft at Glamour Shots. I think that job was really what started the thoughts in the back of mind of, “What I could do within my craft outside of being in a salon. And wow I can really do makeup too”. Everyday at work was like doing multiple photoshoots in one day, and I loved every minute of it.

Being a Licensed Hair & Makeup Artist has been nothing but joy and happiness throughout my whole career. I am able to be a day maker. Be a part of showing people their best selves. Whether it’s weddings, photoshoots, or providing hair color, cutting, and styling services in the salon.

About 11 years ago I decided to relocate to Georgia. That move allowed me to become a part of the film making process. I can now add commercial, tv and film hair and makeup to my service list. Transforming actor and actresses into different characters, for different stories. Becoming the ultimate day maker if you will because my work now can reach everywhere the different projects reach. I think the true joy and love for my craft, the people who sit in my chair, and other creatives I get to work with, is what really sets me apart from others in my industry. It’s not just another gig or another client to me. It’s an opportunity to be a part of someone’s story, and how they present it to the world.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

2020 and beyond have been very hard for most of us. At the start of the shut in Georgia. I was terrified of what would and could happen to my business. Would I have to pivot out and away from something that I truly love for my safety. I am severe asthmatic. So covid truly scared me. Instead of pivoting away a leaned in and trusted. What I didn’t know was what 2021 had in store for me. In February 2020 I got into a car accident that tore my ACL. Well because of the craziness that happened that next month in the world. I couldn’t get the survey until a year later. So my business had just survived the statewide shutdown. Now I would have to shut down for six weeks just as business was truly starting to pick up again. I was scared but I made it through and was back to work after six weeks like I never left. But what was to come next would and has changed my life forever. In August of 2021 I tested positive for covid. Something I was so scared of with everything the news was saying about it and because of my severe asthma. Just as you might imagine it was really bad for me. I tested positive on a Wednesday afternoon, was in the hospital, and in critical care by Thursday. I would then stay in the hospital for 65 days. 40+ of those days on a ventilator. Intubated first but then being trached in hopes that I would wake up from the coma they had to put me in when they intubated me. I woke up maybe a week before my birthday. Scared and not know what would happen next. Not being able to speak, and not realizing that I couldn’t walk or even sit up on my own. But once I was completely out of the med haze one of the first things I signaled for was stress balls. My first thought was that I need my hands. I can’t be me or be in my purpose without my hands. The blessing that I thought was a dream in the start of me coming out of my coma was one of my long term clients turned friend standing next to me holding my hand. She working in the hospital I was in. And after all the years of hearing stories of work from her. I’m now a part of her work stories. She is a speech pathologist and was right by my side helping me with the other thing I needed to be me, my voice. To not be able to speak, not be able to advocate for yourself, is one of the most hardest things I have ever been through. But she put signs up in my room and on my door of what to call me since I go by my middle name. Checked on me everyday, especially on the days my amazing Mother couldn’t get to the hospital. She was part of the push that helped me get back to me. Once I regained enough strength to finally hold my phone. I turned it on and the moment it connected it’s just started going off no stop. I saw almost 300 text messages and I don’t know how many voicemails. From of course family and friends. But what shocked me the most. Were the brides both past and the ones who’s weddings that I had missed, wedding planners, salon clients, fellow stylist, photographers, writers, and film makers who I had worked with who were texting me prayers and well wishes. I found out that they had connected with each other to find and help my mother with whatever she needed. They worked together to make sure that I had a business to come back to. That helped me through recovery because it validated that I was here for a reason and truly working in my purpose. I am forever changed and forever grateful. It’s took a total of seven month for me to be able to work again. But by the grace of God I am here, talking and walking within purpose again.

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.

I think people outside of my journey in being a creative may not understand that a lot of what I do is out of the love and respect I have for my craft and the people I come in contact with because if it. For example, when I first moved to Georgia. My Aunt who was then a Bank Manager. Just could not understand how I dressed. We had “fights” about how I should look going to interviews and gigs. My tattoos and piercings were not something she understood. Even a little side eye at my now signature blue hair. I took her to an event with me one night. There were makeup artists working the event and they looked like me. Some were “clean shaving” if you will but most of them showed their creativity in their appearance. She just looked at me in awe of what she was witnessing. Some how I think making her even prouder of me. We creatives are humans with dreams and aspirations like everyone else. But when we dream, we dream in the full spectrum of color. We color inside the lines, on the lines, and outside of the lines. To bring you art in its truest, most honest, and purest form.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.juliathaiese.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/JuliaThaiese
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/juliathaiese
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/JuliaThaiese

Image Credits
Heather Carraway- Photgrapher Carol Rose – Photographer