WELL. I wr I went to school while on my maternity leave with my son. I always wanted to do hair but at that point I hadn’t found "time" in my life to go to school, so after having my son I enrolled in a program part time and went for it ! I’ve never looked back ! Within 2 yrs of graduating I had a full clientele 5 days a week and decided to try teaching. I took some training courses and started part time at a hair academy (where I went to school ! John Casablanca's institute aka JCI) I then secured two classes a week around my full time salon hours and that’s when I fell in love with hair ! Teaching made me such a stronger stylist !
I've been a little MIA on the blog for a min and I just wanna acknowledge that and apologize. Life is just busy ya'll. But I still adore this platform and one of my favorite things to do here is pick the brains of uber successful women, mostly selfishly, but also I'll share the good stuff with you guys as well.
Today I got the pleasure of interviewing Elissa Wolfe the fun, funky, talented and super gorgeous Canadian hairstylist with a killer Instagram page that has over 30 thousand followers.
I know you don't get this success and community over night, so I wanted to chat with Elissa about hair, business and life.
(LISA) Can you tell me how long you've been in the industry?
(ELISSA) I have been in the industry for almost 13 yrs now !
(LISA) how did you build your clientele?
(ELISSA) I went to school while on my maternity leave with my son. I always wanted to do hair but at that point I hadn’t found "time" in my life to go to school, so after having my son I enrolled in a program part time and went for it ! I’ve never looked back ! Within 2 yrs of graduating I had a full clientele 5 days a week and decided to try teaching. I took some training courses and started part time at a hair academy (where I went to school ! John Casablancas institute aka JCI) I then secured two classes a week around my full time salon hours and that’s when I fell in love with hair ! Teaching made me such a stronger stylist !
Fast forward some years and I turned to Instagram. Mostly for creativity and inspiration , but found my page growing quickly and it’s changed my clientele all together ! I’m def doing more of the color and cutting work I want to do than ever before ! I started doing lots of model work to show case my passion for color and people responded to it ! Some times it had me working 7 days a week and doing models at my home but it was worth it !
(LISA) What a beautiful story! You have come so far! Can you share with us how you've landed with brands like behind the chair and colortrak? That is such a huge accomplishment!
(ELISSA) I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to work with amazing companies and brands too ! Mostly they reached out to me and if it’s a product I love : them I’m in !
I truly believe that any product or tool or anything I talk about it is one that I’m actually using in the salon ! A lot of my clients follow me so they ask me about it too ! Also : I’m a believer in being honest and positive and I think that’s why companies like to work with me !
(LISA) Can you tell us about your own personal hair journey, then describe your hair now.
(ELISSA) Well my journey started when I was 12 and I chopped all my long hair off and bleached it ! I haven’t looked back since and I’ve always tried to push the envelope with my hair since !
(LISA) What is your current hair care routine?
(ELISSA) I blow dry after washing and I always curl my hair after for bounce and wave!
(LISA) How often do you wash it?
(ELISSA) I wash it twice a week ! I use a sls free shampoo and do deep treatments every other week
(LISA) What are your favorite tools to style your hair?
(ELISSA) I use a GHd blow dryer cause it’s fast ! And I curl my hair with a bioinic one inch curling iron ( but take large sections and clip them to cool )
(LISA) What is the one hair product you couldn’t live without?
(ELISSA) Hair spray ! I use it daily !
(LISA) If you could tell a client the one thing they could change in their routine to start having better hair, what would it be?
(ELISSA) It all starts in the shower ! A good shampoo is a huge difference !
(LISA) What is you favorite beauty product, non hair related?
(ELISSA) Bronzer
(LISA) What is your most important self care tip?
(ELISSA) Take the time to do masks and body scrubs and deep treatments : it’s so worth it to have soft skin !
(LISA) What is your favorite way to get inspired?
(ELISSA) Instagram ! I’m inspired daily !
(LISA) Any specific accounts we can be sure to follow to stay inspired as well? Do you listen to podcasts or read books? If so what are some of your favorites?
(ELISSA) I look for inspiration everywhere ! But mostly on IG as I’m on it all the time ! I love Hotonbeauty , PulpRiot and Behindthechair but there’s so many more individual pages that constantly inspire me to try new colours and applications !
Well, how great is she? Thank you Elissa for taking the time to share a bit of yourself with my readers.
Want more of Elissa? Check her out here:
https://www.instagram.com/elissawolfe/
Comments