Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Delgado.
Amanda, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I came to Houston a week after graduating high school from a town of 250 people in the middle of nowhere, Kansas. All I cared about was going someplace BIG and interesting. After I finished hair school, I held various jobs in and out of the hair industry, never really finding a salon to call home. During that time, I also made some life choices that resulted in me being a single mom of two boys under two years old with no family and only a few friends to help. My church family became my community, and thru them and many volunteering roles, a new path emerged. After several years, I was planning to move to Africa and work with a ministry there that I had ties with. I was READY. I started getting rid of things we didn’t need in our apartment, purchased our flights. It was happening.
Until the Botswana government denied my visa, citing my lack of college education. Devastating blow. I was staying in Houston after all. That moment was a major crossroads. If I wasn’t going that route, I absolutely WAS doing hair. I had been managing a salon at the time but wanted to be behind the chair again. I love people. I love making them feel good about themselves. I love LIFTING them. I knew it would be hard. Starting over like that with two small children, all on my own. Thru a course of events, I rebuilt my clientele very quickly at a corporate salon, then opened my own suite and ran my own business. As my kids got older, I wanted more time with them and less stress of owning my own suite.
That’s when I found Sheri Marie’s Salon and Co in Cypress. When I say GAME CHANGING, LIFE ELEVATING change has occurred here, it is not even a real equivalent. My career has dramatically taken off both behind the chair and now as an Artistic Educator with Matrix. It has also allowed me the freedom to start my jewelry making business called Vintage Plum Boutique. Currently, I still work the craft markets only with this, but I know there is more to come here as well. Everything that I’ve always wanted in a career and life is at my fingertips now—Hard work. Finding the right people to link with, pushing others to grow, and overcoming all sorts of setbacks has gotten me this far.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a bumpy ride with some of the largest potholes I’ve ever seen! Single motherhood is both exhausting and enlightening. Add to that a child with severe ADHD and another with mental health illnesses. Those things alone have been exceptionally hard and stressful. And they’re teenagers now, so add hormones to all that! Thank God for my wonderful husband. We’ve been together for five years now, and he is my ROCK.
Additionally, we suffered the loss of one of my stepsons a few years ago. We then fought a long and absurd custody battle that, of course, ended not entirely in my husband’s favor since the great state of Texas is barely figuring out that dads can actually be great parents also. We are looking for ways to be activists and bring awareness in both these realms. One thing that has been an unexpected blessing is all the many horrible, long, drawn-out, usually disappointing and not very helpful experiences we’ve had with mental healthcare in Houston has finally netted some great resources and contacts which has come in handy as more of my friends, acquaintances, and clients have opened up either about their struggles or children in their families with mental health issues. I’ve been able to point many of them to places that can help, and that makes the struggles we’ve been through absolutely worth it.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
As a stylist and educator, I am working on building my brand in conjunction with the salon I work in and the corporation I educate for. I specialize in vivid hair color, Blonding, color correction, and hairstyling. I am so proud of the progress that I personally have made in my career, but I also know there’s so very far to go still! The same can be said for the salon I work at- Sheri Marie’s Salon and Co in Cypress. When I started here four years ago, it was a busy, fun salon. Now we are one of the leading salons in Cypress. We are probably the most educated and strive to offer the best service and newest techniques and, quite frankly, we are killing it! I love having a boss who supports us in this and who wants to see us all grow- she’s a mirror image of me in that manner.
I’m also very proud of coming up with an original idea for jewelry and watching it bring others joy. I am OBSESSED with statement earrings. However, they get heavy fast. With some leftover lace from my wedding dress, I ended up making a pair of lace earrings. That idea led me to start looking at lace and fabric differently, and now I probably have made 1000 pairs and sold them to people all over HOUSTON at various markets! Overall, in each piece of my career, I think my contagious happiness, spunk, and overall optimistic view on all things is just uplifting and fun to be around. I am talented. I know that. But I think the “good vibes” are what truly make me successful.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Gosh. A favorite childhood memory. As a very young kid, I remember my big brother playing with me- he with his GI Joe figures and me with my Barbies. Of course, he was at war with the Joes, taking out my Barbies, which always ended with me upset, BUT I did and still do look up to him, goofy as he is, he’s a wonderful man and husband. As a teen- all things involving my cheerleading squad. I still talk to my coach regularly and love her like a second mom. I especially remember giving her a hard time, knowing she loved it even though I drove her crazy!
Contact Info:
- Address: Sheri Marie’s Salon & Co
9212 Fry Road, Ste 160 - Website: Www.vintageplum.boutique
- Phone: 8322732454
- Email: ajrowland28@gmail.com
- Instagram: Www.instagram.com/hairgeniusamanda
- Other: Www.instagram.com/vintageplumboutique
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