We recently connected with Katherine Trevino and have shared our conversation below.
Katherine , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
I think it depends on what your version of success is. I have hairstylist friends who view success as being an influencer, as being verified on social media, or being TikTok famous. Personally, I think a successful stylist is someone who is doing more than just going through the motions of the day. It’s someone who is able to make a living off of doing what they love and is able to find the balance and separation between work and having a social life. I think it’s easy to forget that your life is suppose to be more than working 5 days a week and because of that we start to hate our jobs because that’s all that defines us. To be truly successful is to find happiness and balance within your every day life.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Kat and I am the founder of Katlovescurls. I always wanted to do hair but it wasn’t until I went through my own curly girl journey that I found my niche. As a fellow curly girl, I know how scary it can be to find a new stylist, and I can relate to the anxiety of sitting in the chair. I created the space for us, for the curly girls with past hair trauma. I wanted to create somewhere for us to feel safe and comfortable in a place where you feel heard. The lack of education when it comes to textured hair is astonishing within the beauty industry. Growing up I had NEVER had a stylist style me out with my natural hair. It is always assumed that it will be straightened or curled and diffused was never even an option. Haircuts were always something I dreaded because I’d have to go home and style it myself to see if the cut looked okay with my curls. These experienced made me want to offer a specialized cut for my clients based on their individual curl patterns while being able to educate them on how to style their natural curls.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Since the start of my career I worked for one salon as a commission based stylist. I loved the girls and the environment and it’s hard to not consider the team as family considering you see them more often than your actual family. But as my career expanded and I became more well known, I realized that I no longer wanted to be defined under someone else’s vision. It was absolutely terrifying to open my own suite there’s a possibility of failure, but there was a bigger possibility for success. I had already built myself up on social media and made a name for myself that I felt comfortable that I would be safe and luckily I was right. Going off on my own and creating my own space was the best decision I could have made.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
The best advice I have for new stylists is to take the time to take good pictures of your work and take before and afters. Everyone loves to see a good transformation and if you only have the after photo no one knows the work you put in. You also need to figure out your target audience and the type of clientele you’re wanting so you can effectively market the type of services you’re wanting to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://katlovescurls.square.site/
- Instagram: Katlovescurls
Image Credits
Davila Photography LLC @davila_photography www.brittneydavila.com