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

Stephanie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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 a big risk taker. I’ve never stayed just in the safe comfortable area in business for much time. I always am thinking what’s next. From the beginning of my career as a cosmetologist I’d get everything that I felt I could learn from and use it towards my experience. The first job I had in a salon 💇‍♀️ I watched and learned how to run a salon. I was a receptionist / makeup artist during the work hours and went to school at night for my trade. I always continued to look forward and see where I could go next to evolve. I soon realized the salon I was at didn’t have what I wa a looking for as far as an education program. So, as soon as I got my license, I set my eyes on a different Salon and more prestigious salon in town. I moved on to the salon and In The interview the owner asked me, where do you see yourself in 5years ? I feel like that question has always stayed in my mind and I continually ask myself what are you doing ? Where are you going? What risk are you taking next so you can evolve as a human?

Stephanie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My brother saw the potential in me and pushed me to go to school for cosmetology. He already was working in that career. I was scared at first but as soon as I opened the book in the first class I knew this was my path. I started at a salon that used Aveda products and I loved the mission statement. I knew from the beginning it was critical that you loved and believed in a company that you would be using in your clients. I’ve always listened to my clients and communicated back them what they want. I stay connected and genuine and I believe that’s why I’ve been so successful at this. I also believe in training continuously and keeping yourself inspired in the industry and your life. I’ve took a risk and moved across the country and started my own small business in Boulder . I wanted to do everything on my own and have achieved that. I recently wanted to try something new while continuing my hair studio so I set out and did it. I am now a licensed health and life insurance broker for the state of Colorado. Take risks !

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

I started my hair studio about 6 months before the Covid shut down . That could have completely ruined my business because of how long we were shut down. When we were allowed to open back up , business was so slow, I became so available I was actually doing appts outside in patios in 40 degree weather. It was defiantly an huge adjustment to what I was always used to but I needed to go back to work and my clients needed me . Eventually things went back to a more normal pace .

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I owned a house in Florida . When the time was right we sold the house and I used my portion to open my business .

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.theantlerandthehare.com
• Instagram: theantlerandthehare

Image Credits
Stephanie carpenter