Today we’d like to introduce you to Elisa Ramirez.
Hi Elisa, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Being a creative, the arts, and sports has always held a big place in my life. My parents always had displays of original art pieces in their home, so I’ve always had a deep appreciation for different styles of art and was always in awe of raw talent. Growing up, I loved going to paint ceramics, sketching and have always appreciated all genres of music. I won student of the year in my high school art class and also won an award for a self-portrait I created. I was a part of my high school basketball team, an athlete since the age of five. Creativity took a back seat in my life once I started getting very serious about sports, about sophomore/junior year of high school. I also played private league in hopes of obtaining a scholarship and playing in college. Through lots of discipline and training, I did just that, even after sustaining a knee injury that required surgery, I never gave up. I got scouted and signed to a private university in Louisiana, life was falling into place. My excitement and “on top of the world” moment was unfortunately short-lived. I was never the most studious, especially with subjects I find completely boring and the time/intensity of training at the college level made it extremely hard for me to juggle school and sports. After a year, I decided to leave and come back home to Texas.
At this point, I felt lost, had no idea what my purpose in life was or going to be. When what I had planned didn’t work out, I hit a wall and felt stuck. I was disappointed in myself and had no plan B. I started attending HCC trying to “figure things out” knowing this just wasn’t it, wasted time and money, something I think many can relate to lol. Eventually, I went to a technical school and I got my certification as a dental assistant. I ended up working at an orthodontist office for about a year and was actually fired for wearing a braided hairstyle to work because it was considered “unprofessional.” I’ve always loved changing and playing with my look, at this time, I was heavily into makeup artistry and had also gotten in trouble at work for wearing plum-colored lipstick, I guess the braids were it for them. I came to the conclusion that the basic 9-5 just wasn’t for me, I’ve always been an outlier and never done well being kept in a box. I remember driving by Paul Mitchell the school and always thinking it would be soooo cool to be a stylist.
The industry just seemed so fun and I loved the culture of come as you are. If you work hard and create amazing hair you will find success. I took a leap of faith and decided to sign up for hair school despite the fact that at this time the hair Industry wasn’t completely respected by my family, mainly because they just didn’t know or understand the industry. They thought I would end up working at a super cuts barley making it. Once Hair school started I quickly figured out I had a natural talent for it. I excelled in everything hands on and eventually was accepted into Paul Mitchell’s phase 2 program which is for more advanced students. I graduated feeling so accomplished and finally knowing my purpose. I couldn’t wait to start at my first salon home, Emmanuel Salon. I worked at Emmanuel for 2 years and in those 2 year received 3 promotions, worked photo shoots doing hair and makeup, learned the art of Photography, and how to market on social media which was becoming huge at that point in time.
My second salon home was The Upper Hand Salon where I spent the next three years. I worked along side such talented hair stylists who I learned so much from. My bosses always kept us informed about additional classes in cutting and color which is super important in an ever changing Industry. My second year at the Upper Hand I had this itch about venturing off on my own and becoming a small business owner but was also terrified and just had a feeling the time wasn’t right yet so I held off and thankful I did because covid hit March 2020. I was out of work for 3 months, coming back to the salon I had no idea what to expect. But what happened to my books completely took me by surprise! My DM’s and texts started blowing up, I became so busy I even got a promotion. The itch of wanting to venture off on my own started coming back around but this time I felt ready. After three years at my second salon home I decided to become the proud owner of Mane Lab Salon, my own private studio in the west university area of Houston. I’m currently in my third month of being a small business owner and the busiest time in my career thus far. A huge blessing during a pandemic and completely unexpected.
Running a business and being a hair dresser you wear many hats. Therapist, social media guru, marketer, photographer, accountant, receptionist, book keeper, cleaning, laundry, inventory, the list goes on. There is so much behind the scenes people don’t see when you run a business. It takes hard work, discipline, passion, and perseverance to be successful. Everything I’ve gone through in life has trained me for this moment. The years of sports taught me discipline and work ethic, working at a young age showed me the value of a paycheck, my failures in regular school and jobs made the “life doesn’t always go according to plan” saying real to me. Life and success aren’t always a linear journey, failures are inevitable and a part of the process. My goal is to keep succeeding, build something great, and help women feel beautiful along the way. I wouldn’t even be able to guess what exactly the future has in store for me because I didn’t see the present coming, but I’m here for the ride and thankful to be where I am now, doing what I love and thriving.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Success is never a smooth road, I had moments I questioned my decision to become a hairstylist. You have busy seasons and slow seasons. It’s in those slow seasons you start to question things, but it’s during that time you think of new a better ways to run your business and market yourself. As an artist you’re also your biggest critic, I have extremely high standards for myself and the work I put out which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it can also turn into an unhealthy mindset. The hair industry has also elevated quite a bit over the years, the work that is trending and popular isn’t easy to do, it takes skill and a lot of time to execute some of these looks. Pricing was something that was a challenge for some time, just getting clients to understand why hair costs what it does now. Once you’ve established a good reputation and your portfolio is on point pricing becomes less of an issue. But I think people are starting to really have respect for the Industry as time goes by.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in color, cutting, and Brazilian blow outs. I’m known for balayage and money pieces but I do it all. I would have to say I’m most proud of my passion and work ethic. I stay trying to learn different techniques and placement. I love keeping up with what’s trending and even try to create my own trends. I’m always working my butt off and I have huge goals. The diversity on my page is one of the things I feel sets me apart from other stylists, I always try to keep my feed as eclectic as possible to show case that I’m a well rounded colorist that can do pretty much anything. I also think the bond and friendship I have with my clients is special. I literally have dinner, drinks, and have created friendships with some of my girls, I’m lucky to have the dopest clients!
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
It’s so hard to say because the industry is always changing. Right now we are seeing a lot of 90s-2000’s influence in color and lots of 70’s influence in hair cutting. I’ve seen mullets make a come back and perms. For all I know the bowl cut might make a come back lol nothing would surprise me at this point but I’m here for it all. The industry has been steadily elevating since I’ve been in it so I’m sure as time goes by trends will become more challenging.
Pricing:
- Full balayage starts at 250 this includes 3 bowls of lightener. Any additional product required is an extra 15 dollars per bowl
- Ombré and color corrections are 100 per hour and can take 5-8 hours
- Brazilian blow outs start at 300
- Toners start at 60
- Hair cuts are 80
Contact Info:
- Email: hairconfidant@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hair_confidant
Image Credits
Joel cardenas for personal photo
