We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lena Doan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lena, appreciate you joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

Actually, very much! I’d often thought of “If I wasn’t shy or my parents would LET me get into dancing classes” maybe I would of been somewhere different. Life always has loops and turns.

As for my full time career, beauty artist, I never thought I was going to enter this industry. Funny thing is, my family has beauty shops across the states. I told myself I wouldn’t get into it myself… Here we are! Loving every moment of it. I definitely wish I had more time with this field and would experience different era of times. I got to the game at the time that’s perfect for me, it was the right timing, honestly.

The BEST part is though, I enjoy the process and the little bits that comes with it. Not to mention, everything happens for a reason. We love it here!

Lena, 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?

Greetings,

Tuning in from STL, Missouri, your local artist, providing the coolest and trendy hairstyles! I wear many, many hats; full-time mom, partner, daughter, sister to 3 little sisters, and just your silly, ambivert gal.

The moments people came in asking for balayages, blonding, and/or even the modern layered haircuts- I knew the styles were getting popular. I am here to help guide you through and finding the “perfect” hairstyle.

I slay hair by day and Zumba by night! Yes, dancing is my free therapy and I LOVE IT. There’s never a day that I get tired of doing what I love. I believe in, “if its your passion, it will never feel like work”. I am passionate about our industry. It’s not always rainbows and butterflies but I’ve met some really genuine people. Makes the journey worth it!

The connections set me apart from others. I enjoy getting to know the people around me, hair or dance classes. I’m here to listen, connect, and go in-depth conversations. All during our hair appointments and dance sessions. It’s truly amazing to have a Community that “we” I have built with.

At the end of day, my family inspires me the most. With current or past experiences. The dedication our family has for each other is incredible and I hope one day I can share part of it with the people I love the most. Also, I can’t be person I am today, without, my people (friends, dance buddies, students, and THE sweetest clients) they are awesome sauce. I appreciate them for always embracing and appreciating my artwork. I love my people so much!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My main focus is to embrace life with the skillsets I’ve been blessed with. Being able to surround myself with such amazing clients, we bond over the littlest topics to having some major conversations about the world.

I hope to one day bring more diversity to the game. Yes, finally Midwest is getting some flavour but we need to do better. The 2.0 I would like to call it.

When the day comes, I know I’ve check off a few of my life goals accomplishments. Quality and values to the world is something I want to achieve in life. Purposes. Not just to live but to EMBRACE every part of it. The ups and the downs. The happiness and the sadness. Ying and Yang.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The rewarding part about our industry is making people FEEL their best! Rather its with a new hairstyle or learning a new dance move in Zumba. It all takes part of it all! Knowing at the end of the day you have THAT impact on people, I can’t even describe the feeling. Surreal. There’s times, people has tear up from the work/conversations we made. The most priceless feelings that I we can’t buy with money. Real connections.

Because I’ve been where life has taken me, it makes me realize how much we go through in life, yet, all different paths. With the connections we made through this journey, I’m grateful for every step of the way.

I am truly happy for my people, clients, and artist I can count on from this creative industry.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://salonlofts.com/lena_doan/schedule
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ldhairdesign
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071269116323