How the Senior Community Saved My Career

Always priding myself on being a “career stylist” I had contempt for all stylists and trends I considered were compromising the professionalism of the cosmetology industry. I’m sure you know what I am talking about…. the “at home coloring” and the “do it yourself haircuts”. Or possibly visited a salon of an disinterested stylist?

What I have learned throughout my 13 years of licensing was that some clients appreciated the skill and wisdom an advanced stylist possesses, while others feel it could easily be replicated simply by watching a video on YouTube. I understood that not all stylists cared as much as they should. After years of late nights, sacrificed holidays and a wardrobe comprised 95% of black clothing, I realized I felt insignificant.

It was the winter of 2020, and I was on the hunt for something “Differentâ€. I had my ambition set on using my large stylist contact list to become a shear sharpener through the help of Bonika Shears out of Longanville, Georgia. But fate had other plans. I received a call to service the hair of senior citizens living in a memory care facility in medical center of downtown Houston. They had been without a stylist since the COVID19 pandemic and were opening back up from lockdown. I accepted the job and was convinced I would work it until I saved enough money to purchase my shear sharpening machine. But since I first stepped into a senior community…I hadn’t stepped out since. 

Being a hairstylist of senior citizens is a rewarding career. It provides a variety of service requests for its controlled population. Within the comforts of an onsite salon, you experience your clients in a more intimate way. These customers need you. Simple tasks that younger generations take for granted like shampooing your hair or trimming your toenails are simple pleasures for senior citizens. 

Servicing an older population has challenged my skill level and my patience. Without a doubt it has elevated my service ability. Working with a sensitive population, like senior citizens, adds a new level of complexity to working behind the chair that, frankly put, my career needed. We have moved beyond talking about what we’re doing this weekend or gossiping over celebrity drama. To now being mindful of how the resident is feeling, ensuring that we are moving at their pace and comforting family members. While also trying to recapture our clients in their most dignified state.

It didn’t take long to realize the void of structure in the salon management of these salons. I knew that the only way I was going to be successful in this field of work was if I had a better understanding of my customer and the needs of the facility. I started asking questions and later had the pleasure of taking a course offered through The Alzheimer’s Association. Not only was the course I completed informational about the stages of Dementia and memory loss, but it also taught me who the “key players†were in the communities I served. (Prior to this work I had no clue the importance of anyone’s role aside from a nurse.) It granted me more insight. 

My company, Hair We Go, was built to combine professional salon servicing together with continuing care communities. Not occasionally, but consistently. We feel that within the comforts of our clients homes they should have regular access to a stylist that can take care of all their beauty needs (Hair, Skin and Nails). I understood that our salon operations had to be tailored and accommodating for our guests. We knew we had to be as committed to individualized care as the communities that we partner with. 

If I had things my way, I’d be somewhere with an oversized briefcase hunting for shears to sharpen. Never would I ever thought this would be my career and that I would be loving it. I’m very thankful that it found me. Improving my client’s quality of life has inadvertently improved mine as well.  Not a day goes by that I don’t write down a new idea or discover a better way of bringing order, comfort and style to my clients. 

There you have it…. the backstory to my story. Thank you for reading have a blessed day.

Respectfully,

C.Mack