January 8, 2017

Meet Christine Chavez of Christine Chavez Hair

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christine Chavez.

Christine, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have been doing Hair for about 13yrs Since I was 19. It wasn’t my first passion or choice of career. I wanted to go into the medical field, but after 2 yrs in college, I realized my motivation wasn’t for medicine or the years of schooling & financial strain that lied ahead wasn’t for me. With the help of my very strong Single mom, she helped me see that possibly going into a trade for hair would be something I could excel at because during my high school years I loved dying my hair & styling for everyone’s proms :-). So I researched applied and completed Cosmetology school in one year. Then with high ambitions went straight to Beverly Hills to do an apprenticeship. I was Blessed to have an amazing Mentor, now the late Stuart Gavert. He was a very talented Color Specialist and from that time on, I new I wanted to focus strictly on Hair color. I loved the Chemistry and challenge of formulating. Over the years of working and living in Both LA & SF, I finally ventured out to my own studio in West Hollywood 3 yrs ago. I still Travel and do education for color &Brazilian Blowout Treatments, but you can find me behind the chair most days. I love making people feel beautiful and giving them a few hours of pampering. There’s something more than just a physical aspect of beautiful hair for me. I love connecting with people, hearing their stories and sometimes struggles. Being that safe place for them to just sit and be themselves & feel special. For a lot of my clients during their visit they say it’s very therapeutic for them. It’s a time for them to slow down and escape from their daily. I’m glad to be a positive piece in their life, even if just a few hours. Them leaving feeling that much better or confident in themselves because of what I did for their hair is Priceless! It’s not only my drive & passion to work hard for what you want, but it’s because of my amazing loyal Clients that I’ve been able to get where I am today. I’ve been very blessed to have worked with some amazing talented stylist in my career. Now I get to mentor other stylist and I would love to continue doing that as well as expand my knowledge in this industry.

Has it been a smooth road?
The Hair industry is never a smooth road lol. Its hard work, but so worth it. It’s not so much being able to do hair. It’s the long Days of assisting and making practically nothing to only have to work even more on the side to make ends meet. I was very blessed to have only done it for one year, where some do 2-4yrs. I also started my career at a time social media was not popular so not many people saw your work unless you did magazines or photo shoots of some sort or had a celebrity client. So even my first 2 years of building my clientele was hard. I had to network a ton, good old fashion way of going to events, getting models & clients off the street by passing out business cards. So making money from doing hair doesn’t come over night, but through hard work and 14hr days and sometimes no clients at all on days you just hope for a walk in, your effort & perseverance starts to pay off. There were lots of times working like that makes you question if you can succeed in this industry while making not very much. But I truly love what I do, it wasn’t just another job for me I could have went back to school and quit the hair industry, but I loved the fashion and art of it. I loved the ever changing techniques, the vibrant people I’ve met, and I wasn’t going to quit. 13 going on 14years later I wouldn’t change anything for the world. I’m right where I need to be.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
My hair studio Is located in a Suite style Salon. Called Salon republic who has created a creative space where entrepreneurs in the beauty industry can have a private studio of their own and do business. I created Christine Chavez Hair in Studio 68 3 years ago. Is been such an amazing journey. I started with just myself then a year later had 1 stylist join me & then a few months later had 3 more. We all are independent stylist who makes our own schedules but work in my studio. I specialize in Haircolor, Brazilian blowouts, and extensions. I would say I’m known for color the most. Doing color corrections and Balayage/Highlights for majority of my clients. I’m most proud of my studio because we truly are family. We want each other to succeed there’s no competition. What sets us apart is that we work out of a small hidden gem of a studio, with no PR and we still get countless new request because of our amazing referrals we get. That’s not easy in a big city like La. I’m proud that we do such quality work that people are stopped and asked where they get their hair done.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Yes, Los Angeles,Beverly Hills, Hollywood. Major areas in the beauty industry and I think is a great place to start because the overflow of people is crazy. There are enough clients to go around. And it’s an amazing talented city, so many great stylists and salons to learn from. It’s very saturated which can get competitive but its worth it. My experiences have been so rewarding here.

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