Hair Truths Stylists Won't Tell You: Real Talk for Women

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Welcome to this week's episode of the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. Today we are here with Holly Kai of Envy Hair Studio, and I'm gonna try turn it over to her to talk about her business and all things hair. Yay, hair!

Hello, how are y'all doing today?

We're good, good, good, good, good, good.

I'm just a little bit nervous, but I shouldn't be because I talk with people all the time. But, um, I've been doing hair now probably about 35, 36 years. Going to be turning 56 in a couple weeks, so it's been doing it since I was 19. So you do the math because I have nothing.

Long time, long time.

Oh yes, over the years, so many. And I What I wanted to say was that when I was little, I always wanted to be a hairstylist since I was a little kid. And I remember watching these Vidal Sassoon commercials that would come across the TV and I would stop in my tracks and just watch them. And I was like, I wanna do that someday. That is so cool. And just the way he made the hair bounce around and flow and everything, I just thought that was so cute. So that's what I wanna do. And I love smell of shampoo. So that's another perk.

That works.

Yeah.

That's a good plus. And I'm in it all the time.

Yeah. That's a perk. Well, I think you have to be a person type, you like to be around people. Exactly. You like to talk to people and— Yes.

I have to. But I started on Barbie dolls first, so they didn't talk back. So they, you know, they didn't give me any feedback or anything. So I don't know how well I did, but obviously it was okay.

Well, it's, I know that your industry's a very, can be a hard industry.

Oh yes.

Building clientele and that kind of stuff and the trends and all that thing. Yes. So you've definitely, you've lasted for a while.

So that's good. Yes. And it's been a rollercoaster ride. 'Cause let me tell you, it sure is one heck of a ride because If anybody does want to go into hair, I mean, I totally recommend if it's something you've always dreamt about and wanted to do, I say go for it. But yes, there is trials and errors throughout the, you know, throughout the years, but you just have to keep putting yourself out there and learning new things. I've gone to— actually, I was awarded maybe about 6, 7 years ago when I had worked at Ulta at the time being when the, when the country went to crap and I lost a lot of clients because they lost their jobs. So I had to go back to work at work at Ulta and that was fine because I just knew it would be people coming in the door, and it would be a great opportunity to meet new people. Well, I was one of the best stylists there, the top, I have to say. So that did really well, and I got awarded to go to the Redken School in New York City for a weekend to get classes at the head Redken School. So that was so much fun for me. So I love that. But, and then throughout the years I've done other Redken classes. But not to say that I only just use Redken, I use a lot of different products, but I do like Redken. And so like I said, yes, you have to follow up on all the new trends and everything, especially now that Facebook's out and all the other social media, I'm constantly looking to see what other hairstylists are doing, who's putting what out there, what are the trends that women like to, you know, wanna see and do.

Yes.

Well, it's kind of like our industry, Erika, where you have so many people and there's so many competition out there. So you have to kind of learn.

Oh yes.

On how to do that.

For sure, for sure.

Okay, we're gonna wait. Holly, your hair's sticking up. I know.

Well, because it just stays.

Yeah, take it off and like, yeah, fix yourself. Yeah, there you go.

It was falling on me.

Yeah. Maybe keep it more towards the front.

Towards the front. There you go. Yeah.

Okay.

I have to do that.

All right. Okay.

Got a little curl out here.

There you go. That's cute.

All right.

Okay. All right, Frank, that's where you cut it. Okay.

Okay.

Gotta look cute.

There you go. Um, well, I imagine because of the, uh, Instagram and Facebook and like all the social media stuff, you must have people come in with photographs. I would. I would come in with a photograph and be like, hey, here's this.

Yes. How many times have I done that? And you're like, no.

Yes. Well, and also, yes, I'll have ladies that will send me through texts, you know, saying, this is what I wanna do, what do you think? Or a lot of 'em are just real like, I want this. And I'm like, well, I have to see your hair first. So it's, I love it that you would like, I would prefer that you come in to do a consultation, but if that's not possible, that's fine. Then we can always do it through text by you sending me what your hair looks like now. And then I can kind of like, see, okay, this is where she's at. Then I'll usually ask a couple questions like, how thick is your hair? Or, you know, how is, is it dry? Is it, do you, you know, do you use a lot of products or flat irons or whatever? You know, I just ask all the detailed questions that I think that I need to know about their hair. And that way I can have a pre-set notion of what they're, before they come in.

Yeah.

If not, and I also like, I thought about this a couple weeks ago, if not, We could always do FaceTime too now.

Yeah.

I could always do, and I did have a lady, she sent me a video actually of her hair.

That makes sense.

And that was perfect because I was able to see it and to see all the new growth and whatnot and then go from there. And then we just talked about, okay, this is the steps that we're gonna need to take to get to this.

Yeah. Yeah.

And that's usually, you know, normally you have to go through a process if you're wanting to, especially if someone's really dark and wants to go blonde.

Mm-hmm.

That can be a process. Yeah, sometimes women don't understand that and they want it instantly. But for the integrity of your hair, we really need to take the following steps. But Holly, on Instagram it happens like, well, but that's filtered and that's all fixed and everything to look pretty.

Yeah.

And not everybody's hair starts at the exact same canvas. So think of it, you're painting a wall, you know, it's one, it might be blue and it might be white. So like it's going to look different on the blue than it is on the white. So sometimes you have to fill it.

Yeah.

To get to the color that you need to be. So that's what I'm saying. It's nicer that you come in, we do a consultation, and that way we can talk about what we're going to do to take those certain steps.

I think social media has done great things for your industry, but has done some not so great things. People see things happen instantly. Yeah, I know. For me, like, I'm like, oh, I mean, I started allowing my hair to go gray during COVID I let my hair grow out. I'm like, I look really dull now. When I had lowlights, I'm like, okay, it doesn't look what it looked like on Instagram. Like, I have like my perceived notion of what it's supposed to look like in my hair is not that. And I sometimes have a hard time, me personally, realizing my hair will not do that.

Exactly. Because everybody's hair is different.

Mm-hmm.

No matter what.

Yeah. Yeah.

So, so it is usually like a long, like not a long process, but there are steps.

There are steps often. And often. And exactly. It just depends on where you begin and where you wanna end.

Yeah.

That's it.

That makes sense.

Yeah.

I think, I mean, as I get older, I, I want easy, You know? Yeah. Clean. I mean, I, I'm, I'm now more nervous of putting products on my hair, you know, chemicals, that kind of stuff. Yeah.

And it's okay cuz I had someone say, oh, I'll never put any heat to my hair. But there's so many different products out there, ladies, that you can put on your hair that's gonna protect your hair from that heat. Yeah. As long as you take really good care of your hair in the process, you won't damage your hair.

Yeah.

There's just, unless you're over excessively, like you've, unless you hairspray it and then flat iron it.

Yeah.

No, that's a no to go.

Yeah. Well, I know for me, like, Hair straighteners go up to like crazy temperatures.

Oh yes. So that's the other thing. So ladies, you're not using right temperatures. Thinking of baking in the oven at 350 is usually for fine hair or medium hair, medium coarse hair. Thicker hair takes higher temperatures. So it does not mean hotter the better, the straighter. Does not mean that.

Yeah. I think mine goes up to like 400.

Your hair will break off.

Or something like that.

I mean, my hair can be, my hair's very, very curly, but I can get it fairly straight. But I have to be careful with the temp 'cause I don't, I don't have ethnic hair. I have, you know, but my hair is very kinky curly.

Very kinky.

Yes.

But if I use high heat, it will, it will break off.

Yes. So you have to be very careful. But as long as you're using a good product, like I always say, if you feel like you're not getting enough product on your hair, then you wanna section it so that way you can even distribute it. Oh yeah. And comb it through. Just don't spray it and then think, oh, I can just go ahead and flat iron it. No, you need to comb it through.

Mm-hmm.

So that way you're getting it evenly.

Got it.

Yeah. Do you ever have to tell people like flat out, like, we cannot do this. Like, it's not going to work.

I have, I have.

And it breaks my heart because I always wanna make everybody happy. But yeah, a lot of times in that situation, you just have to be really honest with them. And I'm very honest because I wouldn't want that happen to me.

Yeah.

So I basically, yeah, I just tell 'em, hey, I'm sorry, we're not gonna be able to do, but maybe there's an alternative. Maybe we can do this, this, and that.

Yeah.

So there, there, there might be that as well.

Well, I think, I, yeah, I think that's a great option of giving someone like, hey, we can't do this, but we can, Yeah, to this point, to this point.

And like, again, like saying someone who's dark and who wants to go blonde, well, you might not be this pretty blonde at this time, you know, you want that platinum, but you might be a little bit warmer. And then as we go along, as you lighten it over time, then it can come. Yeah. And that's just taking better care of your hair.

Yeah. I imagine like with people coming in with photos, you probably have to do a lot of guesswork. You know, they don't if I'm coming in with a photograph and I'm like, hey, I wanna, I want my hair to look like this.

Yeah.

But I don't show you, and I don't know myself, like any of the processes by which they got to that point.

Right.

You probably have to look at it and be like, oh, well I think it's, I think they did this.

I have.

And then, so it's probably a lot of like trying to figure it out as they get detected.

So a lot of times that's why, that's a lot of times what I'll do is when someone sends me a picture and I'm like, hmm, so I'll go back through Facebook or Instagram or wherever, wherever I've seen, and I'll look at similar picture to that color and see. And a lot of times Redken posts, and that's what's good about a lot of colors nowadays, is that they're doing their own posts and they'll give you a description of what they did and what colors they used. So that way I can go back and go, okay, well, this lady picked this, this is similar to this. So, and this is what her hair looks like and this is what the color looks like. And knowing what I know about color, then I can kind of formulate Yeah. To that process.

So, oh, that's good.

That's good. So that's what I do.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And what are your, I guess, what trends are you seeing now in hair? Mm-hmm.

Everyone wants to blend their gray in.

Really?

Yes. Yes.

Gray's out. Gray's in, man. Yes. Yes.

I think your gray looks good. I like it.

Yes. I like, you know, I, during, during COVID in that time, I let it grow out and I talked with Holly and I'm like, oh, it, I actually got, I had all my color. I've, I've colored my hair has been every color of the rainbow. And in my teenage years, I had green, purple, red. I loved red. Yes, I loved red.

She loved red.

I loved red forever. My husband loved me in red. But I'm like, I— but it was that harsh line that would come through, and it, it— my self-confidence would go, and I don't know why. So during COVID I let it grow out because I couldn't go see Holly, and I was really frustrated. But I'm like, you know what, I like it. But then I'm like, I feel very washed out when it all grew and I only had that. I'm like, I looked really— I'm very fair complected, so I looked really fair. So then I'm like, well, can we add these in? And I went to someone, not Holly, that I had a free— hey, let's, you know, I won whatever. And I went, I'm like, I would like to do a little, like, a little bit low light. And it was not like— she covered the gray, and I'm like, oh, I'm not gonna start all over again. Yeah, like, it wasn't what I expected, and it wasn't what the picture said. And she didn't say, hey Marie, this is not where you can go. I wish you would have counseled me on that. She's like, okay, and then it was a very—

whatever you want, whatever you want.

I would have preferred someone to tell me like, hey, that's not realistic for your type of hair or your color or whatever, but this is, this is what I can do, and let's see if that— so I walked out like very upset and very disappointed because if you've ever had a bad haircut, you're like, oh man, you have this, you have to work with it. Yeah, yeah, it is what it is. So, um, yeah, but the gray, the gray is very— and so that's what I love watching gray trends and all the things. But, um, it's a lot of work, especially.

That's still a process, and they don't understand that either. But that's okay. That's what I have to discuss and tell them. Yeah, that it's okay. We're just going to work through it and we can blend this into it. But still, it's a step by step as well.

Yeah. And what are your favorite things to do on people? What do you love doing?

I love doing haircuts.

Yeah, yeah.

I love doing long layered haircuts and then the pretty blowout afterward.

Yeah, yeah.

That's always— because I, like I said, I've been cutting hair— well, no, I didn't say this part, but I've been cutting hair since I was like 7, 8 years old.

Oh.

Like I said, I started like cutting my own hair and doing dolls and whatnot and Barbie. So I've always just had that niche that I just love to cut hair. Yeah. So I like to, and I, especially when I would do my own, my dad would be like, you're cutting your hair again? I'm like, yes.

I can't imagine cutting my own hair.

People do it. And I, those horror stories where they take the, I'm gonna do the bangs.

Oh yeah.

And they, they pull it out and they push it out. I'm like, it's gonna be like right there. Yeah.

And I've seen those and I'm like, Oh no. That's why, so not that I'm saying try to cut your hair on your own, but don't ever do it wet because it will shrink a little bit.

Absolutely.

So, and don't put the ponytail thing in there and try to cut your own bangs. No, that never works.

Yeah.

So not the way you think it's gonna work.

You think it's gonna work, but it's not.

Yeah. Well, let's talk a little bit about you and your business.

Okay.

So you've been doing this for a good long while.

Yes.

Like you said, what do you feel like have been some of the trials that now you've overcome, you know, you feel more comfortable in that kind of stuff, but what are some things that you've struggled with, do you feel like over the years?

Hmm. Well, I guess just trying to keep, um, the client, keep a, keep a full clientele, I guess.

Yeah.

Because there's, it can be a big turnover, I guess it just, and that I don't, I can't answer why that happens. Some, well, maybe some, well, I have one answer. I think when seasons change, we change too. So I've lost clients over the years too that, and I wear my heart on my sleeve, so it really affects me. And I shouldn't say that, but it's true. It's just how I've become close with you. You know what I mean? You're like my friend also. And like, I know everything about you. You know everything about me. We get, you know what I mean? And so when someone divorces me through hair, I'm the one that cries. So that's really hard for me is like, the turnover sometimes. But I mean, that's just, you have to go, you just have to roll with the punches and just put your foot back out there and keep trying.

I bet that's every salon.

Yeah, it is.

Oh, I'm sure it is. Because I, I mean, I talked to other stylists, the exact same thing. Because like, or like, I've even had to fire a couple clients just because, you know, they're never happy and you're, and I'm always like, why do you—

same.

If you're not happy with me, then why do we— and then I, then I was always like, confrontation, it just doesn't feel good. And I don't like that either.

So I go to Holly's to relax. I don't know.

Yeah, you want to come and relax. And if you don't want to chit chat, then we don't have to. You can just sit there. I mean, I have one lady—

she lets me work.

Let you work? I have a lady who brings her laptop with her because she comes during the day because her hair takes 3 to 4 hours because she's a platinum card, because meaning that it's back-to-back highlights. So she's really blonde. So that one, you know, and we'll chit chat a little bit. And other times she'll just be on her phone playing her little game or whatnot. I don't care. It's, it's fine with me. I mean, it's, it's your appointment, whatever you want to do.

Yeah, I don't care. I think maybe sometimes the regular person doesn't understand the relationship. Like, our, our business is relationship-driven, in my opinion. Like, my relationship to realtors, my relationship with buyers, that kind of thing. But also as a stylist or a hairstylist, like, you build relationships and that trust. Because I, I don't just go to anybody to cut your hair. Like, because it's, it I don't want a bad haircut. I've done that. Don't want it again.

Exactly. Yeah, no, definitely.

So that's really probably the only thing is the turnover sometimes losing clients that, oh, you thought—

You miss them, yeah.

You miss them and you're like, especially if they've been coming to you for more than 5 years, you're like, what did I do?

Yeah.

But I have, I understand that maybe I didn't follow up with them or something or another. Sometimes, you know, I learned this in a class one time and I have to always put myself in check that you need to follow up with your client every now and then and ask them, hey, are we still doing the exact same thing or is there anything new you wanna try or, Hey, I saw this picture. Maybe you would look good in this. So I try to do that.

That's a great idea.

Yeah. Or sometimes the client's always afraid to tell the stylist, oh, I wanna try something new. But you know what? You can just be open and honest with her.

Yeah.

Or with me.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And tell me.

Yeah.

Because I'm willing to try something new and we'll just, we'll talk about it.

Have you ever had someone come in and just be like, whatever you think?

Yes.

And then I said, I have done that. I have done that to people.

But that kind of scares me a little cuz I'm like, Okay, well, but you're the one that's gotta live with it.

Yeah.

And you're the one that's gotta style it every day and take care of it. So I need to know, all right, well what if we did this, this, and this? What do you think about that? So yeah, you still have to ask a few questions and I'm not gonna say, okay, I'm gonna do exactly what I wanna do.

Yeah.

I'm a little, I, I guess for me, like when I go in, I don't, I don't really know what's gonna look good.

Does that make sense? And everyone, yeah. And everyone's hair is different, their texture and all that too. So you have to take that in consideration as well.

Yeah.

Yeah. I will say something, ladies out there. Okay. There's a misconception. I have women that will come to me and say, oh, I came in and my hair is really dirty for you today.

Yes. My mom always says that.

And you should not come in with dirty hair, ladies.

Why would they come in with dirty hair? What?

My mom always says dirty hair takes the color better.

And it does not. And it does not.

All right.

Listen, Ellie, it doesn't.

It doesn't work. Because especially as we get older, if we have more gray, the gray can be resistant already. And if your hair is dirty, then that color is not going to penetrate through that follicle and that cuticle to deposit.

My gray hair doesn't listen at all. Yeah, it does what it wants.

And I have, I have resistant gray hair too. So like, I'm not coloring my hair more often than I used to. I used to go a long time. But so I have women that will say, you know, I haven't washed my hair in about 3, 4, 5 days. And I'm like, okay, well, I'm going to have to shampoo it before I color your hair to get the best results. I don't know. You know, when I was thinking about, I said, You know, I've been, I've been told this for the last 35 years. So someone said it one time. Someone said it one time. And I'm like, I don't remember learning that in beauty school.

But you don't want to come for us to come in with wet hair. You want—

No, I mean, if you came in with wet hair, that's okay too, because I can quickly blow dry that too. And that's fine. But just not dirty hair.

Hmm.

Yeah. Because it can have a lot of buildup on it.

Yeah.

You know, especially nowadays with all the women, you know, they're all using the, what do you call it, the dry shampoos and all that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That stuff just cakes on your scalp. That makes sense.

I can't use dry shampoo.

Oh yeah. So you need to use a good hair cleansing shampoo at least once a week if you're gonna be using a lot of that product.

How often should we be washing our hair?

Me, I say, just my opinion, it really depends on everybody, but I say every other day is good enough, or maybe every 2 days at the most, but not 3, 4, or 5 days.

Yeah.

Just because our hair needs moisture too, especially curly hair is really dry and it needs more moisture. It does. So it needs a good cleanse, or, you know, I have some ladies who, who have curly hair, they'll do a co-wash in between.

What does that mean?

That's just—

explain yourself.

Well, there's different shampoos out there. It's not really— it's more like a conditioner.

So basically it's just a co-wash. Yeah, like, I— for when I wear my hair curly, I have to wet it. I can't— yeah, it's crazy. I look like a lion. Like, it's crazy out there. So in the morning— but I don't— washing my hair and drying it, it's such a pain. Yeah.

So if you don't want that you can always use that.

I use, so I'll do in between washes, I'll just do rather than shampooing it, I'll do conditioner just to get, because I can't brush my hair when it's dry. I have to brush it in the shower to get all the loose hairs.

Exactly.

You know that you lose, you lose hair all the time.

Oh yes.

But my hair gets stuck when it's curly. So I'll use conditioner rather than shampoo. But I, if I shampoo it too much, then it's too dry and it gets more frizz.

And some people with fine hair, if they wash too much, it can be too flat.

Yeah.

So you just kind of have to find your balance. But definitely if you're going to go get color done, you need to wash it the day before. I, I, that's my preference.

Yeah.

Because then I know I, we're gonna get a better result.

Yeah. My daughter is 13 and thinks she knows everything in the world. Yes.

Oh yeah.

Especially everything like beauty related. And so she told me that she has trained her hair Where she only will wash her hair once a week and she has pretty thick hair. Yeah. Like it doesn't look greasy or anything.

Okay.

But I'm kind of like, mm, like skeptical. But is that a thing? Can you train your hair to need to be washed less?

I've never heard of that.

Really?

Do you think maybe your, the oil glands don't produce as much?

Yeah. Because you're not stimulating it enough.

Maybe.

I don't know. I don't know where she hears any of this shit, but is she on the, on the, so I mean, my, my son will say same thing.

He, because he has curly hair like I do. And he's like, can't wash it every day. I'm like, you work out every day and you're out on the field every day, you get turf in your hair. Wash your head or I'm gonna be in there helping you.

It's like, it starts smelling too because you're just sweating and everything.

Yeah.

So, and he's like, well, no, my— on whatever Instagram, like, no, if you sweat and you're in the field that he, um, trains on is turf, so you get turf stuff in your hair.

I mean, I imagine, yeah, if you're working out and stuff. When I, when I work out, I wash my hair every day. Otherwise I'm probably an every other day kind of person.

Yeah, I'm every day or every other day, depending on how hard I work out.

Yeah. And get sweaty.

I tried when I was coloring my hair on a regular basis. I had told you, like, I, I, I, I was getting frustrated because I had to see Holly every 4, 6 weeks and it was getting expensive. So I'm like, okay, I'm going to try washing it a little bit less. So I would go 1 or 2 days, then like wash it, you know, because I didn't want to lose the color as fast. So that did. But for me, it made my head itch and I, and I did, I felt like my hair was getting greasy when I waited too long. So I, I'm a every other day type person.

Yep.

With washing.

So I guess the answer is it just depends on your hair, probably.

It just depends on your hair.

I mean, if your daughter's not having any trouble, not greasy and not itchy and it doesn't smell.

She doesn't feel oily at the roots or anything at the top?

No, I don't know. No, no, I don't know. I mean, she does like, so she'll wash it and then she does some kind of like a blowout style or like whatever she does. And then, um, you know, maybe the next day she curls it so it looks some kind of way. And then maybe the next day she'll put it in a pony. Like she does like a series of things where like you don't notice at autism. I'm sure it is. Honestly, once a week your hair's freaking greasy. Like, don't tell me it's not. Yes.

Yeah.

I'm gonna say it's not smelly or anything, but yeah. But you know, like she does these things to like disguise it and I'm like, okay, that seems like a lot of work.

I see that. I just see a lot of people just wash your hair.

Yes.

I have to say when I was, when I straighten my hair, I can go several days without needing, I like, I feel like I don't need to wash it. It's when it's curly.

Yeah.

I feel like I need to wash it more.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Which doesn't make any sense to me.

And a good conditioner. A good conditioner or a hair mask every now and then is good also.

And yeah, how often do you have to do that?

I say for curly hair, maybe once a month.

Yeah.

Well, and then again, it just depends on what, how much curl you have and what type of curl you have.

Yeah.

I mean, everyone's different too.

Like I feel like my, my texture, if I put too much, it might, it might weigh my hair down.

I only do mine once a month.

Yeah.

I just do it in the shower when I'm shaving.

Yeah. There you go. There you go.

Quick and easy.

Yeah.

Um, We're coming up on wintertime and so everything's going to be really dry. What do you recommend for— because like, I know mine gets like super like staticky and, and yes, whatever, because like the heater's on and all that stuff. What do you recommend for keeping some moisture in your hair?

Well, if I was to recommend one product, I love my leave-in conditioners and there's a couple of ones different out there. So like Redken has one, Pureology has one. It's just a leave-in spray, but also they have a lot of different benefits to them as well. So they can have heat protect in it, it can have color protectant in it, it can have moisture protect. It has everything. I mean, so Pureology has like 21 and then Redken has another one that's 25. I don't know what the 4 different ones are and you'd have to read the back.

That's that white bottle I got.

Yes. And that one smells like roses and it smells so good. It smells so pretty. And then like I said, there's all different brands out there that have leave-in conditioner. That's one thing I would recommend 'cause it would help with the hair, especially with this kind of, change of weather.

Yeah.

And the frizz. But also, like, again, when you say with frizz, like if you were going to blow dry it and you want to seal the cuticle down, so you want to angle your blow dryer, you're blowing your hair down. If you blow your hair out real wild, that's going to blow the cuticle out. And that's what makes your hair frizzy.

Oh, so like blowing it upside down like we were taught.

Yes.

We should not be doing—

blows out the cuticle. So that's why your hair becomes frizzy. So you want to do it in a— with the blow dryer going down with the hair shaft so it seals the cuticle and defrizzes it.

It.

And then there's other products you can put on your hair for that too, is that you spray it, comb it through, and then blow dry it down so it seals it and smooths it.

What do you think about oils?

Yes, there's all different kinds of oils for different types of hair too.

I know that's a big thing for, for curly, like for curls. And I haven't— I, like I said, I've not found one that I like a lot. Either I put too much or it just like everything I feel weighs my hair.

And I really haven't found one in particular that I really like either because I usually just what clients will tell me, oh, I've tried this one, so I'll try what they're trying.

Yeah, yeah.

And I have like 50 million of them on my counter.

I'm like, that's a big thing. I wish they had like a trial size or a sample size that you can order. No, I have tons of the like bottles because you have the, you know, you can't return them because I'm like, that didn't work, that didn't work. So I have tons of curly hair product on my house. Yep. Don't eat them, Tolly.

Same thing.

Try these.

Yeah, I guess there's like different issues or, or whatever for curly hair. I know you've talked about too, like getting curly hair, specific curly haircuts and yes. Different things like that. There's a lot of different things you have to think about.

It is funny. I remember growing up and my mom, she cut my hair. Like I, I had very, very long and I had my hair, my hair is not thick itself, but I have a lot of it. And I didn't realize that until someone's like, you have a lot of hair. I'm like, I do. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

But I do too.

No, my mom would have a hard time finding someone to cut my hair. As a child. So she just always just trimmed the bottom and trimmed the bottom. And we never wore her down because she was always afraid of us getting bugs or— so she always— our hair was always tightly bound in a braid or back in a ponytail.

Like, she didn't leave it loose.

So I'm not used to leaving my hair down. I can't do it. I still can't do it as an adult. Um, so I always had trouble, and because my hair feels like a triangle, like when the way it grows, and it's just different. And as you age, or as You know, your hair changes the— for curly hair. And like a lot of people don't know how to cut curly hair, so then you just— it looks crazy.

Yeah. So I feel like after I had my kids, my hair got weird. Is that a thing?

Oh yes. Because I used to perm my hair twice a year before I had kids.

Really?

I had straight as a board hair.

Yeah, me too.

Childhood.

It was great.

And teenage years. And then after I had Chloe, my third baby, my hair went curly.

Really?

Yep.

So your hair does change as you get older. Now, I'm not saying your straight hair is going to go curly. Don't— don't— can't say that. But mine did.

Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, your texture can change. You know, it can go from oily to dry. It can. Yeah, it can.

Is it from the hormones, do you think?

Yes.

Yeah.

Same with our skin, our nails. Everything changes.

Well, I know that as a child, my hair was really like a light brown, like I had blonde ends. And then when I hit puberty, my hair got dark.

Yeah.

Yeah. There's like almost, was it yellow?

Yeah.

They're like, did you color your hair? I'm like, no, I just, one year it just got dark.

Cuz my hair was like a light medium brown when I was younger and it went dark brown as a teenager. Oh yeah. I have pictures to prove that. I did not like it. That's why I went blonde.

I love color. I, I love the, I love, you know, the, I love all the color trend. Like I, I do. I love color in hair so much. It's so much fun.

And that's the funny thing, as a hairstylist, I was so scared to do all those funky colors.

Yeah.

I mean, yeah. I've, the most thing I've ever done is put maybe a few purple or pink strips in it, but that's about it.

Yeah.

Yeah. I'm not an overall.

Oh, I loved, I loved, man, red was my favorite. Red was absolutely my favorite. I loved having red. And I remember I did this when I got this white streak or blonde streak in the front. And then I, I said, They used to call me, my, my brother-in-law would say, hey, you look like a skunk. You have this white streak. And I'm like, I love it. Leave it alone. And then I'm like, you cursed me cuz that's where my white, my gray hair came in.

Oh, the universe was like, you wanted this, right?

You want this, work with it.

Yep.

How funny.

Oh my God, that is funny.

Um, well, Holly, can you tell us a little bit about what, what are some of your favorite things about what you get to do?

Oh, what I get to do, I love about is that especially if, you know, someone who has asked me, I want to try something new. And, and we've talked about it and I'm like, okay, let's do that. And it makes them really— and let me just say this, I've actually made some clients cry before and I was just because— and that just makes me so emotional just because they came in, they maybe they came from another hairstylist and wasn't working out. And like I said, we had a great consultation, we did the service And they just started crying. And that's what makes me feel good is like, if I've touched someone in that matter, that makes me feel good. I love that. And just every day just being around my clients, just having the conversations that we have, you know?

Yeah.

I mean, I learn a lot from them as well.

Yeah.

You know, we talk about everything and anything cuz I can be your therapist or, you know, your counselor.

Yeah.

I mean, I've been told a lot of secrets.

It's so fun.

Everything's confidential.

Yeah.

You, but you tell your hair girl everything. I do.

Yes.

Yeah. And that's what I love about my job.

Because I love to talk. So, and I, you know, I'll talk to a stranger in H-E-B. So I, that's what I love about my job is just being, having that connection with people. Yeah. Because like I said, I've just always been a people person. And so that's what makes me happy.

You know, your hair is very personal. Like it's something that's, it's part of you, obviously. And I realize even in men, my, my boys, their, it's, their hair is very important. Very important to them.

Yes.

And I, and it does like, so when you, when you, you have your hair done and it looks nice, you do feel good about yourself. It's kind of like, kind of like your teeth when you have nice, you know, a smile. When your hair looks good, it's a good day.

Yeah.

It's a good hair day. That's what a lot of people say.

Yes.

How's your day? It's a good hair day.

It's a good hair day. Yes. Yeah.

Oh, I love that.

That's so cute.

Mm-hmm.

Um, and then lastly, will you share, um, with our listeners how they can get ahold of you to get some of these hair services?

Yes. So if you mention this podcast today, I'm gonna offer 20% off when you come in for your first service.

Ooh, that's good.

Especially because the holidays are coming up, so I'm booking and I'm pretty much open. I'm going to work every day if I need to. And also, I work late evenings. So if you work till 5, 6 o'clock at night, I even had someone the other night, Sarah, that's in our Working Moms Group. She came at 6 o'clock and got her hair done. We were there for about 3 hours, but I'm willing to stay. I'm a night owl, so you can come anytime you want, as long as it's after 12. Especially if I have to stay at work the night before really late. But I'm at Salons by JC, which is at 281 and 1604. It's actually next to Best Buy and The Main Event. So I'm right behind the Firstmark Bank there. I have a studio inside there. And like I said, you can come during the day if you wanna bring your laptop and work with me while I do your hair, or you can come at night after work, whatever your preference. I work Saturdays as well, so that's by appointment only. So you can also text me at 210-900-5003.

Perfect. Well, we'll, we'll put all of that in the show notes of the podcast so people can have all of your information. Um, and thank you so much for being on.

This was so fun. Thank you. I had so much fun.

Years of trying to get you on the podcast.

Thank you. Thank you. I really appreciate it.

Of course. And then just really quickly, I will thank our listeners for tuning into this week's episode, and we will catch you guys next time.

See you guys next time.

See you next time.

Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. We hope you loved today's chat and found a little inspiration to take with you into your week. If you have a podcast topic suggestion or a question you'd love for us to cover, definitely send us an email at hello@workingmomsofsanantonio.com. We'd love to hear from you. And until next time, see you in the community.