Check Out Lisa Bryant’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Bryant.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I actually found hairdressing through being a model for Toni & Guy. I had no idea of the artistry, talent, and possibilities that this industry possessed until working with them. I fell in love with Toni & Guy’s style and decided to attend their Santa Monica Academy in 2007. I had such an amazing experience going through because I was part of the first class to open the school, so my education was really personal. After working behind the chair for a few years, I returned to Toni & Guy to become a full-time educator. While I loved shaping the foundation of so many hairdressers today, I really missed doing hair. I was spending so much time teaching, it didn’t leave much time to actually take clients. After a year, I decided to return to the salon where I landed at Hairroin Salon in Hollywood. Over the course of my time there, I really grew into the hairdresser I wanted to be. I took part in a few competitions and actually won! One of them being Wella’s Trend Vision, a color competition, where I took home 3rd place nationally, and the other being Sebastian’s What’s Next Awards, a styling competition, where I took home 1st place on the west coast. After several years at Hairroin, the time had come for me to move on. I worked at Salon Benjamin as a stylist for a bit but truly missed doing color, so I decided to leave and landed at Ken Paves Salon in West Hollywood. Working here was an introduction into being my own business, and after three years there, I decided to actually become just that. In 2020 I took the big step to open up my own salon space. I enjoy being able to curate an upscale yet relaxed place to call home for my clients.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Absolutely not! But is anything worth doing easy? I have definitely faced challenges, both personal and professional. I think one of the biggest ones has been finding a salon that I vibed with. It was really tough to find a place where I could look up to the stylists around me and learn from them as well as have things in common with them just as people. Once I found that the next challenge is the hustle. It just never stops. People’s lives change all the time. They move, they go back to school, they start families. All of these are reasons why you may never see a client again, and it’s nothing personal, it’s just something that happens. So in order to survive in this industry, you need a constant flow of new people in your chair. There’s lots of people out there, but there’s also just as many talented stylists to step in between you ever meeting that new person. Social media has made it so easy for people to be visible, which is great, but in a sense can make the competition even stiffer.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I honestly don’t like to box myself into a specialization. And I think sometimes that can become a problem because there are plenty of people out there who love to specialize in doing one thing. It’s almost what we praise at this point. But I tend to find it boring. I don’t want to do one style of haircut or color all day every day. What I love most is when clients are unafraid to try something new. I love the precision of cutting a classic bob just as much as I love razoring off someone’s hair into the most badass mullet you’ve ever seen. What I’m most proud of myself in my career is finally finding balance. I used to think that I wanted or needed all of these things that other people did or had in order to be successful or happy. I found myself in a negative headspace, not sure if I wanted to continue doing hair after all these years. But what I actually learned is that it’s ok to be myself and just want what I want, not what others have or perceive as success. I’m so much happier now being behind the chair three days a week and taking the time to explore and invest in other passions of mine.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
One podcast I absolutely love and find so much inspiration from is called “How I Built This”. It is a podcast focusing on entrepreneurs and how they built their business from the ground up. They are all very honest in the challenges they face and it’s so interesting to hear how they survive them. One common quality they all have is they don’t give up, no matter what. Its boots on the ground, let’s do this, let’s figure it out along the way, and let’s make this work…until it does.

Pricing:

• Women’s Haircut $150
• Men’s Haircut $100
• Highlights/Balayage $250-$350
• Color $125-$200

Contact Info:

• Email: lisa@lisabryanthair.com
• Website: www.lisabryanthair.com
• Instagram: lisab_hair