Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Loera.
Hi Samantha, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Growing up, I always had a liking to anything in the beauty industry. I used to go with my mom to most of her hair appointments, and it was always so inspiring to watch how she would get her hair done and how it would make her feel at the end of the service. I started doing makeup at a young age, and it was even as simple as just my eyes. During that time, YouTube was starting to become really popular as far as people just doing makeup tutorials. Over time, I collected makeup and was doing my own hair. Over the years, I would get compliments on how I did my makeup or the colors I would do on my hair. This is where one day in high school, we were doing research on careers we wanted to pursue in the future, and I looked up how much a cosmetologist would make. I was a bit discouraged when I saw how much they would make, which at the time was about 20-25,000 yearly. After finding that out, it made me think whether I wanted to still wanted to go for this career or not. I did know that my passion was makeup and in whatever I do, I was still going to show it.
Towards the end of high school, I started looking into different beauty schools and decided that I was going to still pursue being a hairstylist/ makeup artist. I enrolled into beauty school at Aveda Institute of Portland full-time for five days a week, and in that time we were only on campus one day and the rest was online. As someone who is more of a visual learner, I have done good in school, this was different for me. Even though the online learning and the pandemic made it difficult, I still had a good experience meeting new people and practicing my skill set during my time in school. Fast forward towards the end, with 1835 hours, which feels like a long time but goes by so fast I finally graduated beauty school. After being done with school, we are required to get our licenses for each field of practice you want to work in. I currently have my hair and esthetic license and work for a salon company called Annastasia Salon. When we start at this company, we go through a seven-month apprenticeship program where we are paired with a trainer based off their schedule, while we also get one day where we can bring in our own models/clients. I have been at this salon for over a year now, and I am a level 1 stylist working at our Lake Oswego location.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
For me, some of the struggles I faced was going to beauty school during the pandemic. I was enrolled in school for five days a week, and during that time we were only on campus 1 day a week, and the rest was online. This was very different because the whole experience in school is more of hands-on learning and getting used to distance learning, and at the time was a struggle for me. Ever since then, I’ve noticed that it became a little hard for me to learn things; I’d say it would take me a couple of tries to get something down or to retain information. Since then, I still struggle with retaining information, but I’ve found ways to cope with this. I’ve also considered myself more as a quiet person. I do enjoy talking with people, but I find that I become drained after a day of interacting with people. As a hairstylist/ makeup artist, we are always consulting and interacting with guests. I know that I am a newer upcoming stylist, talking and engaging with guests is a part of me growing my business. To this day, I am learning different ways with engaging with guests and learning how to feel comfortable in my own voice.
As you know, we’re big fans of Annastasia Salon. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I am a Level 1 stylist at Annastasia Salon. I currently work in the Lake Oswego area. As a newer stylist, I specialize in hair and makeup. I love to do lived-in and fashion coloring, haircuts, and Natural makeup looks. What I feel sets me apart from others is that I like to do what it takes to Improve my skills. Even if that means listening to the same things a million times but in different ways. What I am most proud of is to be a part of a salon that offers education to not only better myself but to help my business and clientele. In this industry, they say that time is money and education plays a big role as well in the beauty industry, and taking both the time and investment in your education will pay off in the end.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Having a good support system has always been important to me, and that has been my family. They deserve credit because without them, I would not be in this position. My mom and grandma played a big role in paying for my education, and I will forever be grateful to them for giving me this opportunity to build my business and clientele. Even to this day, they remain my most loyal clients and let me practice on their hair as well as my other family members. They will continue to believe in me even when I have bad days and If I don’t believe it myself. My mom has always said, “You have to follow your passion and dreams” and they have helped me to be there. I am thankful for my older brother Frank for giving me this opportunity to share my story and for believing in me even from afar.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.annastasias.com/samantha/
- Instagram: @samuaaantha
