Check Out Emily Gonzales’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Gonzales

Hi Emily, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Well there’s tons of details in between the beginning of my journey and now, but to shorten a very long story, I got invited to hair model for a celebrity barber at a private event in Downtown LA back in 2017. It was a hair jam, which is essentially a party where a bunch of hairdressers and barbers will each bring a model and showcase their work and techniques. To be honest, I didn’t expect to leave that night with anything more than an amazing and free haircut. What I didn’t expect was for the entire course of my life to be changed. I didn’t know it at the time but many of the people in attendance were some of the biggest hitters in the industry. As I began meeting everyone, a lot of them were talking about how they started out, what their plans were, and all of their achievements, and it amazed me that so many of them seemed to have a similar upbringing as I had, which was basically coming from nothing but somehow traveling the world, opening multiple businesses, and providing not only for themselves but their families as well. The way all of these people who had already achieved so much and continued to say they were just getting started, that drive and ambition aligned with what I wanted to be. By the end of the night I was hooked and I was determined to find my way into the industry. The following day I reached out to every person at the event from the night before and asked if they would be willing to teach me how to cut hair, and in exchange I would clean their shop and help wherever I could. Only one person responded, the same guy who owned the loft that the hair jam was held in. Before I knew it, I was back at his loft space with a clipper in hand learning how to cut. He recommended I learned how to use shears, and focus on shear work, and that he could teach me all the clipper work. I began looking at cosmetology schools but after finding the school that I really wanted to go to, I realized that I did not have the financial means to pay for school entirely, and according to them, I actually made too much money to qualify for financial aid. I was devastated and frustrated, but I wasn’t going to let it stop me. I was committed to making this happen. I didn’t want to waste any time, so I came up with a plan to do the very thing that got this dream going anyways. I decided I was going to hair model. So I offered my hair to any barber and stylist that I really wanted to learn from. Luckily, my hair is super thick and grows extremely quickly, so almost every week I was offering my hair to someone new for a cut or color and asking them questions about hair while they did mine. I showed up at every barber and hair show that I possibly could and continuously introduced myself to anyone and everyone. I ended up getting a total of three jobs at once just to save enough money to get into school while I continued to network. I did that for an entire year when I finally had enough to enroll in school. Even through school, I continued to hair model and actually ditched a lot of school to take additional classes outside to build up my understanding of men’s hair. Once I graduated in 2019, I began apprenticing underneath a very well known barber until 2021. Since then I’ve been working in the West Hollywood area, and am now expanding to work on the west-side at a shop called Native Space in Mar Vista. I am currently focusing on building my clientele and just trying to be better than I was yesterday at what I do.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not ! I’ve probably had every struggle in the book over the years I’ve been cutting. From financial, loss of relationships, friends and family, doubting myself, mental health, all the way to questioning a thousand times whether or not I made the right decision to even enter this industry. At one point I seriously was almost entirely committed to just giving up my career and starting something new, but at my darkest points, I found that that’s when I found my true strength and discovered the most about myself. I found what makes me happiest and what really matters to me and those moments have helped me grow as a person. So all in all, I’m grateful for those dark times.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I never know how exactly to answer this question but I feel like I’m most known for what I call the “lived-in” style. As if you got a haircut a week or two ago. It’s clean, but it’s got YOUR personality to it. I’m most proud of the fact that even though the industry has drastically changed since I first fell into it, I’ve remained true to myself and my clients. My guys all know that what you see is what you get with me. I don’t market myself as something I’m not on social media. When you’re in my chair, you’re meant to feel comfortable, confident, safe, and we’re going to have a good time. My clients genuinely have become friends and family to me so I treat them as such.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Oh gosh the amount of people I could thank. Firstly I will ALWAYS thank Diego Elizarraras who’s the barber who first invited me to hair model back in 2017. Thomas Navarro (Leche), who gave me the time to teach me how to cut. Eli Mendoza who actually helped coach me through my first cut along with Leche. Sofie Pok who inspired me to look at hair as more of an art form which is how I even ended up in barbershops in order to meet Diego. Rikki Hixx who is my best friend and constant mentor and inspiration, I swear he’s the best and is such a humble human being. And so many more along the way. Friends, family, MY CLIENTS, even the people who didn’t believe in me and told me to either give up or reroute myself, everyone in some way, shape or form has motivated me to make this dream a reality and I still have so much more I plan to achieve, so thank you.

Pricing:

• Tailored Haircut (1 Hour) – $100
• Tailored Haircut w/ Beard Trim (1 Hour) – $120
• Beard Sculpting (30 Minutes) – $50

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Emilycutshair

Image Credits
Thomas Navarro (IG: hey.leche)
Jessica Beltran (IG: jessfilms)
Jack Noble (IG: jacknoble__)