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

Kristyn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

My story starts out as a part-time side hustle while I worked in the corporate world. Long story short (to get to the meat of the execution), is that I got certified in makeup artistry back in 2016 and did makeup for Senior homecomings, proms and senior pictures up until I decided that I wanted to do hair as well in 2018. Right then, I decided to put in my two weeks at my corporate marketing job and join a salon to get my feet wet by assisting. Since I was already certified in Makeup, the salon let me work makeup for any weddings that booked. Once completing cosmetology school, I quickly learned that the salon life (coloring, cutting and installing extensions endlessly) wasn’t what I truly wanted to do.

This is where the real idea started to form. I wanted to create art from hair and create masterpieces on faces. Braids became my go-to love when it came to hair, so I focused on learning so many different types of braids and I know I still have yet to learn them all! I was in my last salon when I realized I wanted to focus on Bridal and Photography Hair and Makeup. From all the salons I was at, I have friends from every single one that they may be in a different area, but they still support me by referring their clients to me whenever they hear about a wedding or photoshoot. THAT’S how the execution came into play.

I truly believe that if I didn’t have those supporters, I couldn’t have made my business as successful as it is and I owe those people so much for my career that I know a thank you card would never suffice. One of my BIGGEST pushes towards going for it as a business owner was in 2020 from Naomi Hopkins. She pushed me out of my comfort zone, and actually convinced me to stay in ATL as I almost moved back to St Louis (my hometown). Thanks to her, I pushed myself to stay and make a run at it.

I created my brand and thanks to my college background, corporate marketing experience, and college & industry friends, I was able to gain some traction in the wedding and photography industries. I “pounded the pavement” as my father likes to call it and went to multiple wedding venues to speak to their in-house wedding coordinators and offered myself as a vendor for hair and makeup for Brides and their bridal parties. Soon, I was gaining referrals from brides and making friends with their photographers who now currently refer me as well for bridal and other portrait photography! The wedding industry and the people I’ve met in it, have honestly made me a better person, business owner and friend.

3yrs later, and I couldn’t have been happier with the decision to stay as I have now expanded my team to be able to take larger bridal parties and more special event and photography clients!

Kristyn, 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 Kristyn Schnarr but most know me by Kris or Kris Marie (#branding lol). I am the owner of Hair by Kris Marie and my company specializes in hair and makeup for Bridal, Photography and other special events. For hair, my specialty is modern and boho looks as well as a good Glam Wave or Power Pony for the brides that look for all the glam. When it comes to makeup, I offer airbrush and liquid foundations and a variety of other makeup brands for the rest of the face to create the most naturally enhanced version of themselves. But, don’t get it twisted, me and my additional makeup artist, Aurora, know how to add on the stunner glam too!

I think one of the main ‘problems’ I solve is that I’m not afraid of a challenge. Take Glam waves for instance, it’s not a fond hairstyle for bridal stylists as it does take up more time than the average prep of an updo. So, I decided to put a focus on it to be able to perfect my technique, that way when a bride asks for glam waves, I’m now knowledgeable and quicker in that specific hairstyle. This goes for most of the different styles I offer. My team and I educate ourselves outside of the normal admin work plus just doing hair ONLY at weddings. We use our “off season” time to educate ourselves on upcoming trends for the year as well as honing our current skills. A motto I live by is ‘if you don’t use it, you lose it’ and I can’t tell you how true that is when it comes to hair and makeup techniques.

One thing that sets my team and I apart is that we are different from each other, but we also learn from each other. I know my strengths and my weaknesses, and that is where my team comes into play! Their strengths are my weaknesses and I learn from them just as much as they learn from me.

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

Honestly, one of the biggest hurdles recently has been my back injury in 2022. I definitely had to pivot when it came to my business. For almost 8 months, I was in so much pain that I had to limit myself on how many clients I took to one every 1-2 days depending on how I felt. I even had to take a whole month off just to be able to stand and walk normally again. My Wedding clients during that time were honestly SAINTS. They let me take breathers when I needed to or let me sit while I styled their hair or did their makeup.

From Mid-May to December, I went through the whole doctor process, trying everything from chiropractors, to epidural injections to finally surgery to remove a 2.5″ herniation in my lower back. I struggled in my business during this time because with each client, I couldn’t stand for longer than a few hours at most (at first). Progressively, it got worse to where I could only stand for an hour and a half before being in too much pain, and, to put it into perspective, weddings can take 4+hrs on your feet.

Thankfully, the day came to where I was finally able to have surgery and I can happily say that I am back to my normal self, with a few limitations to my workout schedule that is lol.

What’s funny is that even with my injury for a good portion of 2022, I was still able to double what I made in 2021, which says a lot about 1) my clients who send me referrals because of their experience, 2) my resilience in making my business grow to what I want it to be and 3) to know that even when I’m down and out, I still show up and do my best work for my clients because of the foundations and fundamentals that I built within myself and my team.

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

I’ve said this so many times over the last couple of years, but I honestly believe the girls that I met along my salon journey, that have remained my good friends, have been the best advocates for growing my business. The kindness they showed me and the support I gained from them when I told them that my focus was going to be Styling and Makeup for bridal and special events was overwhelmingly positive….partially because it was not something most of them did or liked to do(their words, not mine!), but hey, that’s how I was able to make it the business it is today!

I probably said it in a previous entry, but I couldn’t be more grateful for their support through the years. so if I could, I’d like to give them a little shout out as well!

Some of the best colorists and extensionists in GA (Salon name included if possible):
Volume Hair & Lash Co: Brittney Bodwell, Kaitlin Morgan, Thea Graham
Johanna Clark Hair: Johanna Clark, Megan Dowling
Ritual the Salon: Lauren Blauser, Alicia Kreitler, Carly Shoe
MacKenzie Wood, Sara Kimberl Sembrat, Ivy Hibberts, Megan Ansley, Sydnee Deriesthal, Cheyenne Marak, and Morgan McInnes

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hairbykrismarie.com
• Instagram: @hair_bykrismarie
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hairbykrismarie

Image Credits
Naomi Hopkins, Three Lines Creative, Katie York Photography, Stephanie Quinn Durham Photography, Hillary Leah Photography