We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kia Sterling . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kia below.

Kia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I realized at about nine years old I had an interest in beauty, hair, art & fashion. I was very attracted to all things beautiful. As a child I would sit on the side of my mom’s bed & chat with her while she would style her hair & make-up & I thought wow this process is so cool. How can I be apart lol. I went from playing in my dolls hair to playing in my friends & family member’s hair. I just loved how pretty they would look when I finished & the smiles they gave me showed me how great they felt. I knew doing hair made me also feel good.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Well after 30 years in the hair & beauty industry, I still love hair, art, fashion & beauty. as much as I did (maybe more) than I did as a child. I’m a high vibrating, high energy, optimistic plant mom, vegan, yoga fanatic.& lover of nature.

Most of my career I created my art behind the chair in a salon. Where I get to create hair goals for some of the most amazing people, I like to say “ I don’t just do hair, I create confidence” I specialize in healthy hair first. My natural hair styling, cuts, color, & extension services are the co-stars while healthy hair is definitely the star. If you don’t have a healthy hair foundation, none of those services can shine.

I branched out into editorial & runway hairstyling in 2011 & became an educator in 2012. I’ve had the opportunity to work with celebrities, styling hair for magazines, ad campaigns photo shoots & runway shows throughout the world. It’s pretty cool to have the best of both worlds, working at a salon & being an editorial hairstylist. & educator. I’m always creating something fun & new.

I have a huge love for wigs (because I love changing my look up) so I created a wig collection in 2016 called The Melanin Collection. This collection is all about my love for natural hair textures. Everything from curly, coily, textures, braids, locs, & twists. I figured, why sit for hours getting these styles done when I can create a custom wig for you & you can have the look in minutes. People run from change but change can make you see yourself differently as well as the world.

Becoming an educator, teaching what I love is a really an exciting part of my job, cause I’m learning while I’m teaching. It doesn’t get much better than that. I’m a collaborative coach on Texture vs Race. (If you haven’t heard of us, look us up) we are dismantling racism in the hair/beauty industry, creating diversity & inclusive, teaching non-black hairstylists the beauty of textured hair & how to work with it. Hair is a fabric not a race.

I’m super excited to announce I’m working on an online educational series called Rock & Refined Runway by Kia Sterling, coming in the spring of 2023. This will be for anyone looking to branch out into the runway & editorial world of hairstyling. This series will include everything from how to get signed with an angency, what to pack in your creative arsenal to work on set, editoral & avant-garde hair.styling and everything in between. I’ll also be teaching an in-person 2 day boot camp, with a team including photographer, make-up artist, wardrobe stylist & models. Each student will be learning & creating their own photo shoot live with my guidance from start to finish. This is going to be an amazing series, stay tuned for up coming details. You don’t want to miss this!

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Yes, social media lol! I always think about how social drives everything nowadays, and I wonder what my career would look like if we had social media 20-30 years ago. I meet a lot or artists that don’t utilize social media to their advantage. Personally social media has helped catapult my career. I’ve built the most amazing creative community, & client base there. Social media moves the world & if you want your business to get out there, it’s a must you become an active participant. Post your work, engage, introduce yourself to other creatives. You’ll be surprised how quickly you’ll get booked jobs. Just go for it!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Society can pay creatives their worth & stop looking for discounts. We make it look easy but we are a special group of people, who can do things that others can’t, and we offer services that others can’t do. Buy the ticket, support their shows, exhibits,& classes, share with your friends & community. This is one of the biggest hardships for all creatives (especially for new creatives.) and it shouldn’t be.

Contact Info:

• Website: kiasterling.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/kiasterlinghair
• Facebook: facebook.com/kiasterling
• Twitter: twitter.com/kiasterlinghair