We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sierra Powers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Sierra, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
Growing up my parents always instilled in my siblings and I, to be hard working. We were blessed to have a large yard in the country, but with that came many responsibilities. Every winter we would split and stack wood for the woodstove and shovel paths through the snow. In the warm months our yard took 4 hours to mow and that wasn’t including raking the leaves and stones from the grass. Most of my friends would get allowances for doing chores, maybe even simpler than mine. We were taught to simply take care of our house and land we were blessed with.
I started babysitting and painting homes with my fathers business, in my young teens, to make money for the things I wanted. Which at that time was probably hair and makeup supplies. When you’re a kid, you finds this, well, annoying. I mean, wouldn’t you want to spend every moment having fun instead? What I didn’t realize at the time was that all of this would contribute to my success. If you want nice things, you have to take care of them. If you want to be successful at something, you must work hard at it. This by far made me who I am today.
I started getting into hair and makeup around the age of 13. I would watch YouTube videos to teach myself about products, makeup and hairstyling. Then, I wanted to be hands on, in any way possible. My dolls, friends, family and myself were all subjects of my learning process. Even though I would consider my parent “strict” of sorts. I don’t ever remember getting in trouble for using markers to color my dolls hair, cutting and coloring my own hair and wearing makeup. Even when my eyeliner looked awful and I constantly chopped into my hair, my parents let me go for it! They signed me up for cosmetology school camp, art classes and anything that helped me be creative.
Now, where I grew up I was able to be in a school program that allowed me to go for half a day of Highschool and half a day of cosmetology school. Which you guessed it! My parents signed me up. My senior year, I started to apply for college to achieve a 2-year business degree. In 2012, it was pretty common for most people to go to college, even if they didn’t quite know what career they wanted. I never really loved school, it wasn’t enjoyable unless I was in art class, sports or being able to be creative in some way. For example a school project. So as I am applying for college, I’m starting to dread the thought of 2 more years of school. I really just wanted to be practicing hair.
I was quite scared to tell my mom this because she had worked in education her whole life, Including being a principle and guidance councilor for a nearby school. I wasn’t sure what she would think of me skipping college and jumping right into a salon. To my surprise, she was on board! I was still leaving high school with a license for my career and that was perfectly fine with her. I think she knew, just as much as I did, that this was the right path for me. To this day I am grateful for jumping in to the workforce and having an extra 2 years of hands on work to further my career. For these reasons and many more, I am grateful to my parents for relentlessly supporting me from the very beginning.
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
My name is Sierra Powers and I am a cosmetologist specializing in bridal and special occasion styling. But that hasn’t always been my story. I started my career in 2012 working in full service salons, mostly providing hair cutting and coloring services. In January 2020, my husband and I decided we would move from our hometown in central NY to Saint Petersburg, Florida. This decision was made after a long road trip we had taken, to not only explore the U.S., but also to see if we might want to settle down in another state. To our surprise we absolutely fell in love with Florida! I say that because we had always discussed the possibility of moving to Virginia or North Carolina. We had never visited Florida prior, with the exception of me going to Disney World when I was very young, but we got back from our road trip and told our loved ones that we would be preparing to move. As this was happening the pandemic quickly crept in. We were in lock down for almost three months and were not allowed to work or do much of anything besides sit at home and buy groceries. Even when we were able to work again, life was very different. So our plans of moving took much longer than expected. It was a scary time to move, or make any big decisions, so like many others we held off. Finally one year later, we made it to the sunny state of Florida!
I will never say that I don’t love coloring and cutting hair, but when we moved I really thought deeply about the direction I wanted my career to take. After all, I was starting over, without clientele, and in a whole new area. This was a scary adjustment, but I knew at any point I could change my mind. Looking back now, I can happily say that I made the right choice. I have been growing and connecting with people here faster than I could have imagined. I have been able to work alongside some extremely talented hairstylists, makeup artists, photographers and venues. I have done things I never imagined I would do, such as filming and editing videos, creating a website, styling hair for a television series, and much more. Being a self employed creative comes with a lot of behind the scenes tasks that enables us to learn and grow. I am excited for the future. I know I can do anything I put my mind too with enough discipline, passion and creativeness. I could not be happier with the progress I am making and I do not plan on stopping anytime soon! I love what I do and that fuels my passion for growth, continued education and engaging with the community. My goal is to create a relaxing, organized, yet fun environment to receive hair services. I listen carefully to what the client is asking for and I make every effort to make their dream style come to life. Seeing their reaction to their new look at the end of our time together is my absolute favorite part!
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being a hair stylist, by far, is making people feel confident and beautiful. Watching a client’s reaction to their hair is the most fulfilling feeling. We all know what it feels like when we leave the salon feeling like a million bucks and that is exactly the feeling I want to give to my clients.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Although my goals are continually evolving, for the past few years I have played around with the idea of being an educator, specifically for bridal styling. I’m working towards growing on social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, creating educational videos for styling and product suggestions. My end goal would to not only have online education available, but also in-person classes. I would like to teach classes and provide event hairstyling around the country.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sierralynnstyles.com/
- Instagram: sierra_lynn_styles
- Youtube: SierraLynnStyles
- Other: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/SierraLynnStyles
Image Credits
Titus Moye- TGM Studios