Within a month of living in Salt Lake City, I got in a car accident. You may attribute this to the lack of good drivers in Utah. Unfortunately, in this story that is the case. I’m usually a good driver. It was a minor fender bender, my fault, I turned left in front of a moving automobile. ‘What a stupid thing to happen to me’ I thought. Well, in hind sight, this seemingly stupid fender bender changed the course of my life. It was just what I needed. Just what the doctor ordered. It was the catalyst for the action that I absolutely had to take. So there I was, waiting to turn left on a green light, thinking, “What the heck am I gonna do with my life…” I was 20, I had just moved to SLC, I was working at a job I thought was stupid, I didn’t have any friends…I blindly started to turn and KABLAM!!! A car smacked right into me…like I said, My fault.
I’m gonna speed this up a little for you, that accident postponed my decision to return to hair school. Thank God! At the time I thought the accident was stupid, now I see it as a blessing, perhaps the biggest yet. I had started attending cosmetology school while I was living in Las Vegas. Upon moving to Salt Lake I thought it would be a better financial choice for me to delay starting again. After the accident I chose to work full time to pay off bills and get another car. Turns out I was upside down in my loan…super. A friend of mine worked at TGI Fridays and got me a job waiting tables. A met a girl there who had just graduated from hair school and was working in a salon. Her name was Liz. God bless you, Liz. We became friends and I started to go to her to get my hair done. She had gone to a school called Hairitage College of Beauty. Notice the spelling?? Very clever. She told me that when I was ready to go back to school that I should go there. That’s where she went and that’s where her friends went. Ok, Liz, I’ll go to Hairitage when I’m ready.
I tried many things before hair. I started out wanting to be a Dental Hygienist. Something about invading people’s personal space really does it for me. There was the brief desire to be a medical assistant, then a CPA (huh?) a Humanities teacher and then a manager of Jamba Juice. The bottom line is, is that I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Until an angel of the Lord appeared to me and told me to be a Hair Dresser. That didn’t happen, it was my sister Rachel who suggested it. Great suggestion!
Through many experiences, some good, some not so good, I came to finally attend Beauty School again. It took me 5 years to go back.. Many things had happened. I pride myself on being a late bloomer, doing my own thing, takin’ my time. A certain Dixie Chicks song comes to mind…
Compared to others (which I don’t actually recommend comparing yourself to others) it took me a long time to get my life together. But for me it was perfect. Just what the doctor ordered. I got to do a lot of things in that 5 years. I traveled, I worked, and I went on a Mission for the LDS church, (blog for another time). When it was time to go to hair school I called my friend Liz. She told me that her friends were turning Hairitage in to a Paul Mitchell School. I had met these friends of hers and they were two of the most amazing people I had ever met. Back in the day I would go see Liz at this fancy little salon called Lunatic Fringe. This place was different than any other place I had ever been. As soon as you walked in the door you were transported to a much cooler, fashionable time and place. I had never seen anything like this before. It was my first taste of how cool-looking hairdressers could be. I had no clue up until this point. Everyone looked like a rock star. Cool hair, cool clothes, cool make up, cool tattoos, cool shoes, cool accessories, cool loud music. Everything and everyone in that place was the epitome of cool. So when she told me that those cool people were opening a cool school I knew the stars had aligned and it was finally time for me to join the cool club.
You know how your whole life you’re looking for some place to call home, some people to call yours, a culture you belong to? Paul Mitchell is mine. You know how you go to a gathering of your people and the minute you walk in you feel every fiber of your being connected to them? This is how I feel whenever I walk in to a Paul Mitchell Hair Show, School, Salon or Event. I am home. These are my people. I belong and I am accepted. I know I can be anywhere in the world, Disneyland, New York City, Houston, Dallas, Orlando, Las Vegas and if I see another Paul Mitchell hair dresser, or they see me, we are connected.
It’s a challenge to list all of the ways Paul Mitchell Schools and the people involved in it have changed my life for the better. I’m going to attempt the top 5. We’ll see how it goes.
1. The Culture.
First and foremost. A be nice, accept others, focus on solutions and improvements culture. When people come first, success will follow, the mission statement of the Schools. The greatest thing about this is when you help others, when you put them first, you unconsciously do the same for yourself, vastly improving the quality of you own life. It’s a win, win situation.
2. The People.
It would be impossible to list everyone’s name that has a positive impact on my life that I’ve met at Paul Mitchell. Just know that if we have met, YOU have improved my life. The people that I get to spend every day with are amazing people. I marvel quite a bit at how lucky I am. I wonder, “What did I do to deserve this?” But in a good way. Lots of people wonder that same thing, but in a bad way. I GET to go to work everyday. I get to hang out with the cool club everyday! I love it!
3.The Magic
At Paul Mitchell schools we are encouraged to Create Magic everyday. With everyone. Not like casting spells and hocus pocus, but making people feel good and important. That is magic. It’s all about the little things. Little things bring about great change. Change is good. I learned that at Paul Mitchell, too.
4. The Opportunity
I love this word. In every situation we have some. I have been given and have taken most of the opportunities afforded at and by Paul Mitchell Schools. I have met amazing people, been all over the country, participated in incredible things. I am a member of an elite education team. I am constantly learning and shifting. One big lesson I have learned is to say ‘yes’ to opportunity. If I don’t someone will. Shawn asks, yes is the answer. I have created my own opportunities. It’s easy, you just ask yourself, “Where is my opportunity to ________?” Fill in the blank and make it happen.
5. The Reward
I have learned at Paul Mitchell that people are motivated by different things. I know that I am motivated by Reward. What am I gonna get out of this? I will either silently ask my self that, or I will ask out loud. There is always something in it for you. There is always a Reward. My reward has been a blessed, full, happy, exciting life. Blessed with people, relationships, opportunities, education. Full of laughter, fun, learning and growth. Happy to go to work everyday and soak up each others coolness. Excited for what’s next. Excited that there is stuff up next.
I may have taken the long way, but I’m so glad I did. I am so glad I waited. I am so glad to be where I am. To wrap up, I never hit the road in a pink RV with start on the ceiling, but that song speaks to me. I don't do what everybody else does, but I love the path I've chosen cause it's led me here, with you fine people.
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