We were lucky to catch up with Katy Jaquez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Katy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I’ve always been into taking risks my whole life. I’m the kind of person that commits to everything I do. When I made the decision to pursue hair I was a stay at home mom of two little boys. I also worked part time and went to hair school at night. I didn’t know for sure that I would make money at doing hair but I had to try. It was something I’ve always been good at. After countless long nights I finally graduated. My first step was to become an assistant at a high end hair salon in Denver. For two years I worked hard to learn the ins and outs of this business before taking my own clients. Once I graduated from assisting I began working on building my clientele. I continued to work at commission based salons for the next couple years as I continued to work on building my clientele. The bad thing about working at commission salons is that they take a 60/40 cut of our pay. There is also a lot of drama when working with a bunch of women. Throughout my career I contemplated opening my own salon but was always afraid of failing at it. My husband and I then got pregnant with our third son and decided to turn our home office into a hair salon. This way I could be home with him. I was super nervous to begin the process of opening my own business. How was I going to bring in clientele on my own, market my business, do my own taxes etc. I’ve so far been in business 2yrs and I’ve literally doubled my salary. I get to run things the way I want to, take time off when I want and be near my family. It’s literally the best decision I’ve made and wished I had done it sooner!

Katy, 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?

My name is Katy Jaquez. I’m a luxury hairstylist and mother to three beautiful boys. I originally got my bachelors in health science but decided to change careers and pursue hair when I was a stay at home mom. I wanted a career that would be flexible, allow me to be closer to my family and that didn’t have a salary cap. I originally went into hair to do wedding hair but once I got in the business I realized I loved doing color and hair extensions. I’ve since decided to specialize in women’s cuts, color and extensions. My passion is helping women find their inner beauty through hair. I’m a huge believer that when women love their hair their confidence grows. It’s literally written all over their face. I believe my clients will say what sets me apart is my passion for making my clients feel beautiful, my professionalism and customer service. I really care about my clients and wanting them to feel as beautiful on the outside as in the inside. I work hard to provide high end services to my clients so they feel they’re getting what they pay for. I also work hard at responding to my clients in a timely manner. The thing I’m most proud of is the standard I hold for my small business. I pride myself on being professional and holding people accountable.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Being consistent and professional through and through has really been my secret to gaining my clientele. Making sure I give my clients the full salon experience every time they see me. Willing to be some what flexible with scheduling and giving my clients my full attention has built a repore with them. They continue to come back and refer others to me.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

In the beginning it was really tough because there are so many accounts on Instagram, FB, that you compete with. I had no idea what I was doing. From taking photos to using hashtags, adding locations, music, tags etc. I would just study other accounts that had a lot of followers to see what their style was, how they took photos, what types of hashtags they used and so on. I practiced taking my own photos, using new apps to edit my pics, learning when to post stories vs posts etc. I’m still learning every day but I’ve finally found my style of pics, how I want my page to look and come across to my followers. The only advice I have is to continue learning and just have fun with it. Once it becomes not fun then it’s just not worth doing. I don’t do it for the followers. I do it as long as I’m going traction with new clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.blushandivy.org
• Instagram: blush.and.ivy.salon
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ktjaquez?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits

Blush and Ivy Salon