We were lucky to catch up with Taylor DeSanto recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Taylor thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
I am thrilled as a business owner! I have been working since I was thirteen years old. Most of my teens into my twenties was spent working for other people, whether in salons or serving or retail, I’ve done it all and I have zero regrets about going into business on my own. Now it wasn’t easy and the day to day could always change, and sometimes in the harder moments the thought may pop up–because when life is knocking you down especially in the personal world, and you’re the boss its a different realm than if you work under someone else. You can’t just not show up, you can’t just give up, you have to keep going because people are depending on you. I have learned that the hard days do pass one way or another. But I am genuinely happy with what I do–and I look forward to doing it every single day and the hardships have truly shown me just how resilient I am.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
So I am a born and raised military brat, traveled around most of my young years and eventually wound up in Arizona. I am currently new into my thirties and got the itch to go to beauty school around 18-19 years old. It wasn’t my first choice, not because I didn’t like it, but because I was raised on the concept of you go to school, get a good degree, then get a job with benefits. Anything creative was simply seen as a hobby. I’d love to sing, write, anything artsy, and was told over and over it was simply a hobby. So I went to college for a bit for psychology–I wanted to be a family therapist–and then I dropped out. I worked three jobs, got into beauty school and honestly never looked back. It was an industry I could truly check all my boxes in. Creativity? check. Being there for people and helping them? check. Paying my bills? check. but most importantly doing what I love–biggest check.
I work in Paradise Valley, I am passionate about all things hair but especially color. Dimensional color, color corrections, the fashion trends, blondes–just about anything you desire we will achieve. But what I am most proud of is I am a stylist who is big on integrity. within myself. within your hair. it is very imperative to me to not just build with a client but to educate and to guide. I am not the stylist that will sacrifice the integrity of your hair to reach an end goal-i am the stylist that will take this journey with you to ensure great healthy hair both short and long term. I want my clients to know that this is a place where we can be open and honest about our goals and our expectations, and that I am always willing to work with what they are capable of doing. These are real people with their own worlds, they need to know when they step into mine that it’s going to be a safe place mentally, emotionally, physically, and of course within their hair.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When I first started out in this industry I went straight from school into a salon, I didn’t really think it through enough I just wanted a job and I wanted to learn. Looking back I used to think I would have regrets over that because it wasn’t the best situation but it did shape me to be better. I allowed that era of my life to be consumed by work and being a people pleaser all because I was taught that being a hustler is how you became successful. It didn’t matter that it was making me physically, emotionally, mentally unwell–all that mattered was that I was moving up in rank and answering to whatever was asked of me. In the end it was a huge lesson in giving more than receiving because that job not only ended on a sour note, but following my exit from there I became extremely ill–in and out of doctors, emergency rooms etc and for the following six months of my life I ended up missing more work and having to start over because of the toll the previous enviroment took on my health. I basically left one salon and started over with almost none of my original clientele and battling illness at the same time as well as the loss of loved ones. I was so afraid of making the wrong move and letting my anxiety lead until it came to a point where I was told stress could kill, from that moment on I decided there needed to be a balance and that I can still work hard but actually enjoy the fruits of my labor. Now I can say without a doubt the last four and half years of my career I am the happiest I’ve ever been in a work place. I have the best clients, the best space, the best support, there’s never a day I wake up and dread going to work or dislike what I am doing.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
I would say it’s a combination between social media and word of mouth. I genuinely think when used properly social media is a great tool, I started my career during the peak of instagram and I would say built majority of my clientele through that app alone. I would follow all sorts of people and places and things that I felt I connected with, I would interact with everything they posted, I would send messages out for models or just a simple “hey I love your hair and would love an opportunity to create with it” and the feedback was almost always positive. I think people appreciate a more one on one and hands on approach, then when they officially became a client it kind of snow balled the word of mouth because we already built up such a rapport through socials. now anytime any client of mine posts something I am there liking, commenting, showing support in any way because they do the same for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hairgoddesstae.square.site
- Instagram: @hairgoddess_tae
- Other: TikTok: Hairgoddess_tae
