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

Alright, Stevie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Above everything, I believe true passion for what you do is what makes you successful. I started my education, my career and my own salon for the pure and simple reason that I absolutely love doing hair. From the moment a client sits in my chair and tells me what they need, I have an innate passion to make sure they walk out the door with their vision as they saw it walking in. I’ve had women tell me they left my salon looking better than they did on my wedding day, clients thanking me for taking the time to sit with them and talk and make sure they get what they need in their visit. More importantly, my passion brings them back. By simply setting and building a foundation of their expectations based on what I love to do alone, they feel comfortable telling me what they like and don’t like in their visit, then they ask when they can come again. I love what I do for my clients, and the fact that I’m good at it is an added bonus, but I’m only so good because I couldn’t picture myself doing anything else.

Stevie, 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?

I started my education after years working in EMS, and while the work had it’s own rewards, I sat for years wondering why I wasn’t going to school for cosmetology. At a younger age I backed out scared and didn’t think I would be good enough, but my desire to pursue this career finally bubbled over me and I stopped everything I knew professionally to pursue it. It was honestly the best decision I ever made. I worked with salons like Aveda, Genesis and Salon 124 until July 2022 when I took the ultimate risk again and opened my own salon, Stevie Carter Hair. My goal was to create an environment where all are welcome: all kinds of people, all hair types and all genders, and I believe I’ve been successful in that setting. I work with vivid colors for those who want a risky pop for their hair, specialize in curly hair and sell products like Ouidad and Verb on site for my clients to take home. People can come in for a quick hair cut or a six hour color correction and I’ll give each one the same upbeat energy. Stevie Carter Hair is a salon for everyone. My clients become friends with myself and each other and go home with positive stories of their experience.

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

My start in my career was the ultimate resilience. I’m not going to delve into all the details, but I was going through a hard personal time, and I was becoming a loved stylist and needed to focus my attention on the best thing that was making me happy – Hair. Launching my own location and finding clients to move from their corporate locations to just me was a process I started all on my own. I found the location and picked up my phone and started calling person after person to come in and see me. I felt like I was working 24 hours a day to build a book of business and now I’m in a place where I can have people in the background who can help me with appointments as well as a solid book of clients I absolutely love to see.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

As I mentioned before, I risked everything to start my career in cosmetology. One day, I quit a steady job and walked into cosmetology school and started my education. It was years of deliberation, and it was a risk that just had to work, but in my heart I knew I would. As much as I worried and second guessed my choices when I made them, if I could go back, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.steviechair.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steviecarter_hair/