Today we’d like to introduce you to Holly Seidel.
Holly, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I was a little girl, I started getting bored with the same look all of my Barbie dolls had, so I started cutting up the clothes they came with and designing new outfits for them. I would cut their hair into bobs and pixies, gave them bangs and used watercolor markers to give them colorful streaks in their hair. Years later, after attending to the art institute of Seattle for fashion design, realizing working with fabric was not my thing, I dropped out to pursue my true passion, hair! I love working with hair it’s like sculpting a constantly moving thing. It will look different depending on the wind, it’s of the head or if it is wet or dry. It’s completely fascinating and satisfying to work with. After graduating from the prestigious Gene Juarez Academy in Seattle, I went on to apprentice with a Vidal Sassoon master who fine-tuned my sculpting skills and my understanding of shape, angles and the architecture of hair. I cut this way for a few years with scissors, until I discovered the less mainstream art of razor cutting, I went to a demonstration and watched at 22 years old.
With stunned admiration, the Howard Mc Claren of Bumble and Bumble NY cut the most glorious bob I’d ever seen. That was it for me, I was smitten, with razor cutting that is and made it my mission to master this art and make it my own. I went to New York and trained at Bumble and Bumble University. I took every class I could find and found inspiration everywhere I could. One of my biggest inspirations is hair of the 60’s and 70’s like Bridget Bardot, Edie Sedgwick, Goldie Shawn and Muck Jagger to name a few. I find inspiration in the lived-in less perfect look of surfers, art school kids who cut their own hair and small children with their soft free-flowing texture. I feel like my Vidal Sassoon years, taught me structure and perfection and what I’ve learned and now teach about razor cutting have brought me to where I am now. I have kind of stumbled into my own little brand of cutting style specializing in makeovers, creating looks that are unique to the individual and really define that person’s style from Modern bohemian, vintage Beatnik, Rock n roll iconic and all things in between. I approach my cuts in a more organic way these days with an emphasis on the natural texture and movement of the hair. I’m based here in LA with Collective Hair in Pasadena and also travel to do pop-ups in Seattle and SF, cutting hair and sharing my passion and teaching razor cutting to other hairdressers.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Moving to LA from Seattle with my husband three years ago and leaving a well-established business behind was a life changer, I debated giving up hair, maybe I would find a new career path. People said this town is fickle and tough and the beauty industry like the film industry is incredibly competitive. I had been blessed with so many clients in Seattle. How would I possibly make a name for myself here? I didn’t even have an Instagram account! I just couldn’t see giving up what I loved doing, so I decided to focus on the absolute heart of what I do, I started taking models for free in exchange for pictures. I only did what I loved doing the cuts and styles I thought would set me a part. I opened an Instagram account, I learned about hashtagging. I posted my work, I waited. I started getting paying customers, then more, people were liking my work. I was getting followers finally and messages from people who wanted cuts and classes. I was being featured by some of the biggest names in the industry like Behind the chair, American Salon and many others. It was finally happening for me here in this city everyone said was so tough. I had multiple job offers on the west side at fancy salons. Surprisingly, I gained 500 followers in one day! I am grateful for all of this, but I’m so happy creating my own brand of hair working for and relying on myself and am going to stay true to that .im excited to see where this road takes me, I truly believe it’s never too late for anyone to follow your passion. You just have to focus on the positive and what you do best.
Collective Hair – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
So, my brand is hollygirldoeshair and I specialize in haircut makeovers. But, I work out of Collective Hair in Pasadena, which is just like it sounds a collective of similarly experienced well educated artistically minded hairdressers. I’m known for creating dramatic changes for people. I find the beauty in women especially and bring it out. I’ve always been good with face shapes and I’ve found ways to structure a cut to bring out the best features in a person. I feel most happy when I see a girl making my haircut pics of then their profile picture or send me messages about how beautiful they feel with a picture of how they are styling my cut on their own. I’m also known for not giving the same old cut that everyone else has. I’m going to give you something fashion-forward yet unique so you actually have your own look, become your own icon. I’ve been told be my mentor and s couple of other people that I greatly admire that say they can recognize my work in a photo before they read it was me. I’m most proud of that and how I make people feel good about how they look.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Honestly, I was raised in a very non-materialistic way. Of course being successful and busy with a full client load and making money to live and have the things you want feels great, but it’s not everything. I feel that the ability to feel empathy and compassion for others and realize the impact your words, body language and actions have on people you come into contact with on a daily basis really matters is the true measure of being a successful human. I want to touch peoples lives in a positive way andvkeave my thecwiks a better place even if in such a small insignificant way as smiling at or saying something kind to as many people as I can and make someone feel a bit better about this world.
Pricing:
- Haircuts $100
Contact Info:
- Website: Collectivepasadena.com
- Phone: 626-787-1336
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: hollygirldoeshair
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