For years TV shows and movies have created this stigma for hairstylists, they make us out to be uneducated, ditzy, and appearance obsessed. Society talks down on the profession making our dream and passion one of the least respected profession. It truly takes a special person to do this job, you have to have a great personality, a good eye for design, attention to detail, passion for hair, and be okay with standing all day.. sometimes without a break. Just getting through the schooling alone is stressful- the bookwork, meeting the 1,000-to-1,600 hours, preparing for state boards, the clients on the clinic floor. A lot of people don't consider the hard work us future and current hairstylists put in. So as an educated future hairstylist I'm going to debunk a few myths and answer the low-key rude questions that many of us get asked.

All you do is play with hair in school, you don't actually need to learn anything.

This one is my FAVORITE. No, I don't "play" with hair all night in class. When I was going through the classroom mods we were learning what hair is. The pH of hair. The structure of hair. The chemicals in a perm and relaxer, do you know what kind of curls alkaline or acid waving solutions will give you? I do. The chemicals and pH balances in shampoos. We learn scalp diseases, treatments and preventatives. We learn how to keep your hair healthy and on your head, so we can educate you the right way. Our hair care tips are more reliable than google and Pinterest. Sorry.

All you must care about is looks.

For most of us? not at all. School taught us how to make the parts of the face the client likes pop while masking the ones the client doesn't like. We don't point out every flaw to the client during the consolation. What she may think is a flaw I could think is beautiful and vice versa. So we let the client tell us. The whole idea of this industry is making people feel good. And that's all it is.

Hair isn't going to be your life long career is it?

Many people like myself want this to be our career. Cosmetology is a field where the possibilities are endless, you can work in a salon, own a salon, rent a booth/chair, work with companies to do hair strictly for weddings, freelancing, work for companies and do hair for fashion shows or photo shoots. The list can go on. It's an amazing field. It's also recession proof. When 9/11 happened, women were calling their hairdressers to make sure they were still on for their appointments the next day. Some women will truly spend their last dying dollar on their hair, as they well should. We all deserve to look and feel beautiful. And hey, it's more money the hairdressers pockets. For me personally, this is going to be my career until I can't do it anymore. It'll allow me to be a working mom, yet I can still be home with my kids while they're little. I plan on working in a salon for a little while then open one in my home. Maybe even own my own one day. There's always something for someone in this career, and that's why it's truly an amazing field to get into.

All chemical hair services damage hair.

This is absolutely true, if the person doesn't know what they are doing. Licensed, good stylists know what they are doing and can give you the perm, relaxer, color, bleach out, without causing devastating damage to your hair. If you color, perm, relax or bleach your hair at home ( I seriously don't understand why or how you could do the last 3 yourself but hey, it happens) then you're more likely going to damage your hair, or even make it fall out. This can also happen if you're not honest with your hairdresser. A L W A Y S tell us if you've done box color. Do you know what happens when we throw real good color over your box color? It'll literally burn the hair off your head. So if you're not into the nub look, just tell us. Also, tell us how long it's been since your last perm or relaxer, your hair and snap off if the retouch isn't done right.

So, you'll do my hair for free/Why are prices so high?

Every hair stylist I know has a very limited list of people who can get free cuts or colors and it's usually family and one or two close friends. The more we get deeper in schooling the more we get comfortable doing what we're doing and we don't wanna offer our services for free. And we shouldn't have to. We're offering time out of our day to stand there and do your cut, color, highlights etc. Don't get offended if we give you a price. If you're good at something never do it for free. And having bills to pay for kinda plays a role in not wanting to do it for free.

Stylists at salons or freelancing put prices for what you want. If you want to go dark to light, they're going to charge you an amount you deem as too high because your 1-3 hour process (and even that time may not be enough to get your desired color) is time that they could've fit for cuts and a single process. Your paying for the service and time.

As stylists we bust our asses everyday to make people look and feel amazing. We busted our asses at school and we bust our asses in salons making sure your every need is met. We offer you advice, listen to and work in your complaints. We stand for hours, leaning over sinks, working our hands to the point of cramps because it's a profession we love and we're proud of our work. We work tirelessly on our appointments and welcome walk-ins with a big smile even if all we want is to sit down and have a snack. We may not be doctors, or nurses, or lawyers, but our job is just as important and respectable as those. We may not have a degree but our license is just as important.

We make the world beautiful one person at a time, and if I can make someone who doesn't have the best self-confidence smile when they look in the mirror after an appointment with me then it was worth every stressful moment in my schooling and career.