So, to begin with, I’ve always been artistic, in one way or another, my whole life. I started off as an actress from the wee age of 4, acting in plays from elementary school all the way up through college. The plan was to move to Austin from Beeville, where I grew up, for 6 months and then move on to New York. There, I was to become a starving actress, but needless to say that did not happen.

            I started working at Wild Orchid Salon, located in the heart of downtown Austin. I was a salon coordinator and had the privilege of managing the books for some very talented stylist. Basically, I ran the whole salon everything from washing dishes to product orders, and receptionist to even payroll. I did eventually leave Wild Orchid to pursue my career in acting. I went to U.T. in Austin for 1 semester, only to realize I had left a business I had a serious connection with. I found that I loved working in the salon environment, except this time my return to this field would be working behind the chair, on the other side of the business.

            It was time to put my artistic abilities back into action, but in a different way. I went to Roffler School of Hair Design Barber College from 2000-2001 and had the best time of my life there! If you’ve ever seen the movie Barber Shop, that was so us. We would literally stop what we were doing, turn the music up really loud when some great Marvin Gaye song came on, and dance all around. I loved all my boys I went to school with, and to top it off, my best friend in the world went to school with me and we were double trouble!

            Before I graduated, I already had my first job with Jackson Ruiz Salon. Here, I would learn how to become a color specialist. Color started out being my main passion, and I thought that was what I wanted to focus on, until I started working around so many talented stylists that specialized in cutting. It was at this point that I realized that I didn’t want to limit myself to just color.

            After learning so many great skills at Jackson Ruiz, I then moved on to work with the most amazing group of people, I still consider like my family, at Jose Luis Salon. I apprenticed under Jose himself, so I learned from the best! I owe everything I know to that wonderfully talented man, as well as all the other gifted people I worked with and learned from. I am proud to say, that when I worked there, we, at Jose Luis Salon, were considered to be in the top 5% of salons in the United States. I was a part of that, and without a doubt, that feels great! After a couple of years, I had my daughter, and I realized it was time to be my own boss and run my own schedule, so I decided to find my own way.

            I have ended up at Crimson Hair and Skin, where I have worked for over 3 years and I love it! I love the talented group of people I work with there, and it is the cutest, most charming salon I’ve ever seen. Actually, it reminds me of my first salon, Wild Orchid and I think that’s why I’ve had such a soft spot for it from the moment I first walked in 31/2 years ago. I am very happy here, and I’m always interested in learning more and continually building my clientele. I love my clients, my co-workers, our salon, and what I do! There is nothing more rewarding than putting a smile on someone’s face, because I’ve helped them feel better about themselves by making their hair more beautiful!

-Juli