Decisions...(Any Cosmetologists??)

Well, things are uncertain at my job, but hey isn't that the norm for everyone??!! I can repeat the well heard saying "There is no money in retail." Let's face it, Christmas has come and gone and so has the big influx of cash. They are thinking of taking our positions to day shift instead of overnight. That means for me, paying a sitter for three of my five kids. That means FINDING a sitter I trust with my kids. Aaackk! Anyway, just so happens I had to pay the State Board my license fee for my Cosmetology License which is in escrow. Several years ago, they made it so you had to take so many hours of classes to keep your license. I decided to stay home with the kids. I'm working now anyway and could make a lot more money in a lot less hours if I go back to doing hair (and nails, but probably don't want to do those for now anyway). I just sent off an email to find out how many hours of classes I need. I think the max they make you take to make up, is 16 hours. So, what do you all think?? Do I want to be a Hair Stylist again????? LOL I know there are several here that do hair or did in the past. Why did you leave it or what do you love about it?

I am a licensed cosmetologist who no longer practices; I keep my license current, though, in case I should ever want to return to the field. I left cosmetology because I do not like to perform chemical services (perms and color, primarily), and there was not enough money to be made in my area doing haircuts, only. In addition, the work was hard on my body due to the need to stand all day, and I developed a repetitive-use injury to my wrist that required surgery. In the salons where I worked, gossip and back-biting among the cosmetologists was commonplace, and I didn't care for that at all. I think the climate of acceptance for that sort of thing has changed (thankfully) since I left the business.

Remember, it takes awhile to build a clientele, so salary is sporadic at first -- that can make for anxiety. But once a clientele is established, those folks tend to be remarkably loyal if they view you as dependable, in turn. I have nothing but respect for good cosmetologists, who train and work hard and have to have excellent people skills, in addition to patience, tolerance, intuition, good taste, sound judgement and intelligence (in my estimation, cutting hair is a form of structural engineering).

If you like working with people and can afford some lean times as you establish a clientele, I say go for it -- if you don't like it, you will have lost nothing. Good luck!



This message was edited Monday, Jan 20th 5:19 PM

That has always seemed like a lot of work to me, but I am so terrible with hair and other such works of art. And as Whiterose says, the salon gossip is a turnoff. I hated it as a patron, and it's one of the main reasons I hate going to salons. No amount of pampering can make that worthwhile for me. But if you're good at it and can provide a valuable service for your loyal patrons, you are a national treasure and a gifted artist. Personally, I wish you would inherit a large fortune and decide to be a stay at home mom, because you are even more of a national treasure in that role.

Hi Chele,

Yea, I'm an ex hairdresser too and a very frustrated client...can't ever seem to find the right haircut or if I do, they move away. lol

In the salon that I go to now, there is a lady that has two small children and she works around all the kids hours. Her biggest work time is late afternoons and Saturdays, as her husband is home with the kids. Many of the hairdressers are working later hours now, as so many people work and they don't want to ruin their Saturdays at the hairdressers. That could be a good client getter, being that you work evenings, instead of mornings.

I finally stopped renewing my license about 5 yrs. ago. The cost of the renewal was getting pretty steep, and even if I used it to get a discount at the beauty supply, it still would have never covered the cost of the discount. I guess I just decided that if I had to go back to work, it wasn't going to be in hairdressing anymore as I am way out of practice and the styles are so different. I stopped working in 1971 when my DD was born, and with DH being in the military, it was hard to get a job on a military base all of the time. I couldn't work off base, as they don't accept Calif. licenses. I guess it was just time to go.....

If you want any more recent info on this subject, why don't you email Mingsmimi, she is still practicing.

Good luck, and as Aimee said, sure wish you didn't have to work, cause you are such a great mom.

Donna

hiar styling is something you could do from home and not need a sitter. you could set your own hours and get that tax deduction for working at home office space. if you enjoyed it i would go for it. trying to find a sitter you can trust and afford is really hard these days. good luck with what ever you decide

It is true that a lot of cosmetologists work from home, but in most states, special regulations exist regarding that practice; specific licenses (in addition to the basic cosmetology and business licenses) have to be obtained, and buildings have to meet requirements for sanitation, parking, storage and disposal of chemicals, etc. A home salon owner who doesn't have liability insurance is also taking huge financial and professional risks. All in all, the expenses and headaches of having a home salon can far outweigh the benefits.

Anyone wanting to have a home salon needs to research state and local regulations and be in compliance with them, or risk fines and other consequences. The Ohio State Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists would have that information for Badseed.

This message was edited Tuesday, Jan 21st 12:54 AM

Thanks girls for the very valuable information and your thoughts! The gossip was one of the things that turned me off too. LOL But I am finding it goes on everywhere. Even third shift, by a denim and tshirt clad bunch of stockers. LOL I love the thought of working from home but it is not legal here. I once saw a show about a woman that had a mobile cart and went to the homes of shut ins and did their hair. I thought that would be a wonderful job and a great way to help people. Guess what?? Can't do that either. Either way I am going to go get the classes out of the way so I am not caught without a backup. I am thinking I can work for someone else and maybe set the goal at doing it for one year, eves and weekends. We are finally getting close to be in the position of refinancing our house which would save us A LOT of money and we could move further out of suburbia. My dream is to have a small house at the front of a property where I can do hair and have a sitter watch the kids there, close to home. I'd also like to have a greenhouse type business. I don't need to make massive amounts of money and would be happy if each business supported itself. Dreams.............

Michelle..., Like many who have posted here, I truly value a good hairdresser. (And, yes, they always seem to move away after you find them, LOL!)

Have you looked into hairdressing at Assisted Living and Nursing homes? The woman at my mother's AL home comes once a week, is always fully booked, and greatly appreciated.

I like your dream, though, of more suburban living, with a shop in front, and a greenhouse!

I finally let my license drop last year, it would have only been $35. to keep it, but I put it off til it was too late. Haven't worked at hairdressing for about 20yrs, so thought I never would again. Then wouldn't you know, a good friend of mine bought a shop very close to me and asked me to think about working for her. I looked in to renewing it and it would have cost me $185. plus I think 70 hrs re-training!

My advice is to keep your license up if at all possible. You are young and things can change. I can understand tho if the renewal training is expensive and time consuming. It is a hard job with uncertain income.

Thanks again! Renewal here has gone up from $20 to $30 every other year. I don't think that is so bad, considering what I paid for school and the time I put in. I was also given a partial scholarship because of an essay I wrote about why I wanted to be a Cosmetologist, which did ease some of the financial burden. I have always felt like I would go back to it someday, so have always kept it paid up. I am going to look into classes either way and get them out of the way while I can pay for them. I know styles have changed but for the most part the techniques are pretty much the same. As for finding a good stylist (and having them move! LOL), I don't trust anyone to cut my hair. I have been cutting my own for years. It really is hard to find a good stylist! Financially, with me working, we are in pretty good shape. All the bills are paid and I am going to pay off four credit cards with the tax refund! I already closed three accounts so the sun is finally starting to shine. :) Thanks a bunch for your ears and thoughts.

Hi Michele, you may remember I am working in this field. The advice about working nights and weekends is good, as that these are the busiest times. If there is a large mall (not strip center, but an enclosed one) near you, that would be a great place to work, lots of 'traffic' through the salon, makes establishing a clientele much easier (and less imperative). I find it is busiest first thing in the morning when the older people have to be first in line (!) and then after work and even more so after dinner. If the salon is open Sundays and Mondays, it will be busy, as many close those days in order to have two consecutive days off (having worked Saturday). By all means, keep up the license, it is valuable, and one never knows... Here in NJ it is $60 to renew! Of course, avoiding the gossip is the only way to go... but I have seen it is professional offices just as much (plastic surgeon, eye surgeon...). You are right that the basic techniques remain the same, it is easy enough to learn the new styles. (There are only two haircuts right now anyway!!!). But 'chele, as far as 'trusting' someone to cut your own hair, realistically, almost anyone should be able to do a better job than one can on oneself; I have seen the results of those haircuts people do to themselves, especially when they also color, and miss those spots behind the ears... just find someone who will actually 'listen' to you!!! Love, John

Well, I hate to hear about your situation. Its awful some of the things we have to go through isn't it? I think that if you could work nights and weekends that would be perfect if you don't have to have someone watch the kids for a long period of time. I myself am lucky and have a wonderful babysitter for my youngest (she has had her since she was 5 weeks old) she takes her to the doctors for me when I can't afford to miss work and even asks me to keep her overnight sometimes which I let her (about 1 time a month or every other month) she misses her when she's not there its so wonderful. I found her because she is a friend of my moms who is a stay at home mom, but her kids are in school. As to the greenhouse business if mine works out I will let you know what we do and all and how much it cost us to start and maybe you could do that at home and then style at night and weekends for extra money??? Hope everything works out for you. Will keep you in my prayers.

Katrina

Chele, you have received some great advice. I was thinking along the same lines as Darius, about going to assisted living homes, nursing homes etc., that would be very gratifying. John brought up a good point about a mall, many times when I am shopping I will pop in to get a quick trim or cut. I wear my hair very short, and quite frankly am not very fussy about who cuts my hair, it is a very standard cut, my hair falls into place no mater how it is cut so I am fortunate in that, but I do like to get it cut often, and usually on the spur of the moment.
Ideally, if you could have a home based business that would save on child care etc., or would it? cause the children might be a distraction, too bad you cant go from home to home (your cart idea...)
Good luck to you, and keep us posted.

Morbid thought here - but how about Funeral parlors and hospitals. And nursing homes often have a small one seat shop there. I used to do my MIL's hair there. You could put a notice on their bulletin board with days or hrs of your choosing.

My hairdresser in OH made over sixty thousand a year. It was a family owned 3 generation business. My hairdresser here has a separate building from her house and only works Tuesday through Friday so always has a 3 day weekend. She does very well too. I think it's a great profession but I'm so hopeless at doing hair. I am so uncreative. My hairdresser in OH did do her clients at home if they were sick for long periods of time and would do their hair when they died if the family requested it..

Hmmm…welp, I was a comatologist once!

It lasted for years, too. Badseed, if you were one also I’m not too sure why you would want to consider being one again. I know for me it all started when I was about 11 or 12 yrs old, then continued all the way up to when I was at least over 30. It was a dizzy time, and constantly changing. I often-times wasn’t “lost” but would go for days not quite knowing where I was. In one period I was a vegetarian/pacifist who smiled a lot, saw colors floating in mid-air, and did my best to bust my ear drums with loud noises (music it was called). Next thing I knew I flip-flopped and became a hard-core meat-eater who not only now owns guns and ammo but prefer to butcher my own supper.
Altho I no longer see mid-air colors, and I only smile when I really feel it, I guess I’m glad I’m not a coma-tologist…er, uh,…wait a minute. Just read back, you said COSmetologist.
Whoops, sorry. Never mind…♫♫♫. ô¿ô

Shoe, you stinker, you really had me going for that one. I was mentally picturing you behind the chair, backcombing the old ladies' hair or towel drying the long tresses of some hippie chick. It was a stretch, but I just about had it down when you chimed in with that last line or two.

lol shoe, you had me giggling there too

Seed
My wife has a friend who does the hair of corpses in funeral homes. Makes really good $ and no complaints from the customers.
Not me I sure couldn't do it.
Paul

Paul.. you might have a different feeling if you could get it that the "corpse" is really just someone's loved one who happens to be dead...

Shoe, it's been said before and I will say it again. YOU AIN'T RIGHT!!! LOL
Now knowing me as some of you do, you may never believe it but.....I did check into doing hair for funeral homes at one point. I also thought about going to school for Mortuary Science. In some places, school is virtually free for that because when I checked into it, it was not a field that was growing. Anyway, most parlor operators either do the hair themselves, or have one person that does it, unless the family of the dearly departed requests that someone special does it. I had asked about sitting in (just viewing, trust me!) a complete drainging and embalming (I think) and they said you had to have permission from a family member and it was too delicate of a question to ask. I was worried I would go all the way through school only to find out I could not take it. Honestly I don't deal with death too well. So, I kept doing what I was doing. I did print out the list of classes and I am awaiting an Email from the State Board. Being that I am a Managing Cosmetologist, I believe I can take ANY classes and I want to make sure. If you only specialize in one thing you can only take those classes, say Estheticians can only take skin classes, Manicurists can only take nail classes, etc. So I continue along trying to map out my future. I did tell my boss I was considering leaving because hours may get cut so far back, and I am not being the best mom when I am up all night. He asked me to wait a bit and ride it out until I have an idea of what I am doing. I told him I would for now.

Sounds like you have a good grip on things and I hope the best things happen for you! If you get to where you need someone to practice on to get back your skills maybe I'll drive up that way and volunteer my head.
H.
(See? Now that I am no longer a walking coma I CAN actually recognize good sense!) ;>)

'shoe, why not just priority mail your head up there? John

Shoe...the picture you painted is SOOO clear in my head....I can just see it! Jo

Oh John - what a thought, he might just try it! I'd sure like to see the before and after tho!

Shoe! Will you behave yourself??? ROTFLOL

Heheh...John, I believe my head would be considers "bulk" mail, or maybe 3rd class!
Jo...sounds like you may have identified w/me or had been a COMAtologist at one time.
As for you, PJ...you're closer!....maybe I can save on postage and swing by your place!

And now, ladies and gents, before this thread is entirely too hi-jacked...I'll respond to the famous Badseed:
"Shoe! Will you behave yourself??? "

♫♫ Yess, dear....♫♫ ;>)

LOL The only thing important, is that you made me laugh. :)

Michelle, I don't know how your state handles some of this, but have you considered doing hairpieces at home? I think it's not as strict here because of the different aspects of health. When I traveled a lot back in the 70s, I kept numerous hairpieces so I could be sure of never having a bad hair day. (I was a factory rep for some fashion-related people.) I have noticed more people buying them lately, so maybe there is once again a market for wig care. Mine stayed at the shop until I dropped off the mussed ones and picked up a fresh supply. It might be a little help to add to whatever else you do, and you could set your hours.

Aimee, you might be on to something there. With the ever-increasing chemo treatments, so many people are wearing wigs, usually continually. The women that I know have several, so they can wear one for a few days, then put on a fresh one.

That is what I did with my hair: when I had it cut off in '01 *sob sob* I donated it to a group who used them to make wigs for chemo kids. The stylists all volunteered their time to produce them, all the hair was from volunteers. My ponytail was 20" long (I hadn't cut my hair since '69).

Michelle, is that an idea worth looking into? Styling wigs?

A friend of mine here does wigs for chemotherapy and others who have lost their hair. She meets them at a friends beauty shop one or two days a week and the rest of the week she is working on the wigs fitting them and repairing them and styling them. She makes a good living at this and in some cases she even visits the hospitals. Doctors refer patients to her for her services knowing that what is outside makes the inside feel better.

During the time after my chemo, when I had absolutely no hair, I never went anywhere in public without my wig. I can't style them, so I just wore it the way it came from the catalog. But I would have felt much better about it if I could have had it styled. Regular wigs aren't comfortable for bald heads, especially if you have real sensitive skin. So you need someone who will work with special wigs, and who can help you learn to put it on right. Remember, you have no hair under there to pin the thing to. But I enjoyed one day when I was in the hospital and Granddarling was coming to visit. She had really taken it hard, seeing me through so much unpleasant stuff, and I was back in with complications, so she didn't know what to expect. She was, after all, only four years old. So I put on that wig, along with a soft knit hat I had bought through the Cancer Society, and applied makeup. The look on her face when she walked into that room was priceless, as if I had magically returned to my former appearance overnight. I felt better just looking into the mirror and realizing it was possible to look good with a little effort, even with no eyebrows. Would I pay for someone to help me look better while I recovered? You better believe I would, and if it was my mother in a similar situation, I would pay for her to have it done. There is so much truth in the above post, Ponditis. If you look frumpy and ill, it's difficult to feel better. And a bonus, people treat you better when you look like you made an effort. It cheered all the nurses when they came in and found me looking happy and attractive.

:~)