Today we’d like to introduce you to Pamela Birch.
Hi Pamela, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I had worked many years as a waitress before I decided to begin my career as a make-up artist and hairstylist. The food service industry was tough.
One evening, I came home from work and decided I didn’t want to go back. I needed another means of supporting myself doing something I loved. I thought about the little joys in my life: painting, drawing, reading, listening to music, looking at fashion magazines, watching films, being in nature. It was my desire to be closer to what I enjoyed that led me to the decision to pursue a creative career.
Make-up had always interested me, and it was kind of like painting, so it was in that moment I decided to begin my journey into the beauty industry. I worked several years for full-service salon owners never quite fitting in, and it was there that I realized I had to work so many hours doing so many clients to make little money at commission rates. I found myself coming home depleted once again. Unbeknownst to me, this began my journey into opening my own boutique salon.
I kept my big salon job and secretly began working in a quaint, four-person salon in Echo Park. Not telling a soul, I kept my exploration of booth rental a secret for the next two years, working a total of six days a week and only one day off (it was worth it). In that quaint little shop, I learned that salons didn’t have to be big and I also, for the first time, felt like I belonged. I made some sweet friendships and new opportunities to create art with others doing photo shoots and short films. I was, for the first time, seeing the fruits of my labor. I was seeing my little dreams come to life.
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?
It was after moving my clientele to another local salon and being promised a higher commission rate that wasn’t upheld after the move that I decided it was time to get my own space. Enlightened by my experience at the quaint salon, I felt confident I could create something special. I thought to myself, all that can happen is I fail, lose all my money, and find a different salon to work in. My advantage was I knew how to live on next to nothing, so it made me a little fearless. What did I have to lose, I thought. I’ve built myself from the ground up before; I can do it again. Every morning at breakfast I gave myself fifteen minutes to look up commercial real estate listings in the city I wanted to build in. After a few weeks, I found my space! It even loosely matched my inspiration board: bright, high ceilings and crown molding. I truly felt this was a gift from the universe, as all the pieces started coming together, arising with every step I took, but not without its challenges!
I have quite an imagination, and it sometimes gets in the way of reality. I don’t always see the steps to get where I am wanting to go, but my dreaming and perseverance saw me through this one. I am good at visualizing, so when I saw the space for the first time, I could “see” my future shop: the paint, the glow, the people the hope of it. What I couldn’t see was how much work it would take to bridge my dream into reality. I remember after my first day physically doing the work on my future shop I went home and cried and wondered what I got myself into. I felt the gravity of this epic undertaking. I spent several hours spackling holes in the ceiling, and it looked like I accomplished nothing! It was in those hours that I gained a better idea of the physical labor that would be involved in putting my shop together, and I had no money to hire anyone to help me, so I had to do it. It took a total of 2 1/2 months to put the shop together. After a full day shift at the salon, I headed over to mine to do a few hours of painting, sanding, or grouting by moonlight since I hadn’t set up my electricity at the time.
Despite all that, I felt like the universe was bringing me these beautiful helpers into my life. My sweet community of friends started showing up randomly, asking if I needed help with anything, such as painting, wallpapering, or taking out old cabinets, sinks, and more. I felt in my time of feeling so overwhelmed, I was being provided for through the kindness of these special humans. I wish I could tell you every detail of all the little contributions from everyone. I will forever be grateful.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I specialize in haircuts. I have been cutting hair for about 18 years and have owned my salon for 10. I have unwittingly become known for cutting bangs. I have many of my ladies coming in for Bridgette Bardot bangs or other female icons from different eras. I think because I really try to channel the spirit of whatever photograph they bring in and customize it to them so they can feel as beautiful as they imagined. I am most proud of how much I care about how someone feels in their haircut. I believe on some level, I hold their self-esteem in my hands, and they are entrusting me with it. I want to bring out their most inner beauty so they feel it.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I see our industry starting to shift toward eco-consciousness. I think Davines is a leader in that direction. They are a family-owned company that care about their environmental impact being instep with their production. I hope more companies follow suit, especially the larger corporations. I see clients wanting more options for healthy, natural, and eco-friendly products, and they are challenging companies to meet their expectations. I think we will see a bigger demand for cleaner products and environmentally friendly packaging.
Contact Info:
- Website: blackbyrd.me
- Instagram: www.INSTAGRAM.com/_blackbyrd
Image Credits
Molly O’Keefe
Aubrey Devin
