Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Cook.
Jessica, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My interest in hair started at the ripe age of 14, I was approached on the street by a hairstylist who was building her clientele at the time, she told me to come into the salon and that she would give me a discount on my first hair service. At this point, I’d never been to a real salon or even considered getting my hair done. I kept thinking how cool she looked. I went to school the next day not really knowing about the salon or even what hair could do for a person, shortly thereafter I realized it was the same Salon one of the older girls I had kind of idolized got her hair done at. So as I started looking into the salon I realized it was a high-end salon and that the prices were something I probably couldn’t afford and would never even dream of asking my parents for.
My siblings and I were allotted a small amount of lunch money every day throughout the week so I started saving. After what felt like forever I finally came up with the money to go get a haircut! When I went into the salon the salon owner approached me immediately and asked me if I had ever been a hair model. I said no and he intern told me that he would give me my haircut for free if I would get a permission slip for my parents and could sit on stage while he cuts my hair! One thing led to another and I became a hair model for that salon for about two years. Behind stage one of the makeup artist asked me if I ever wear makeup outside of the hair shows, I told her no she showed me a few tips and tricks and between the new haircuts and the makeup tips it definitely changed my entire game in middle school. My parents worked a lot and my mom was sick, my sister was always out and then I had two older brothers and a younger brother so I never really learned how to get ready! I remember walking through the halls in school one day being so grateful that I had these women backstage to show me these new tips and tricks on getting ready.
At the next Herschel, I was then I felt a certain kind of energy a certain kind of new confidence that I had never felt before, I remember that day I walked up to the salon owner and told him that I wanted to be in here in the street because I wanted to make other people feel the way that they had made me feel a new and improved version of myself! I started her school when I was 17, I was in high school full-time and her school part-time, I ended up graduating high school early and graduating her school at the same time as my high school graduating class. Right at the end of her school, I was nominated for North American hairstyling words at that time I was the youngest person in North America to ever be nominated! Needless to say this cake started my career. I was offered a job at Oskar Bond Salon in Soho New York, I assisted under Oscar and Wendy until they sold it to Sam Brocato Who I then assisted.
When I offered a stylist position, I decided that New York wasn’t quite for me so I move back to Utah and started assisting under the bus people I could find about two years after that I took a job at MAC cosmetics doing makeup I still always did hair on the side. I worked at Mac for quite a while but realized that Hair was my main passion. I’m very grateful for my time at MAC cosmetics Because I was able to carry out the makeup education they gave me into the freelance world in both New York and LA! After that & assisting in Utah, I took a salon job on my own and became a very busy stylist when I felt like I hit my cap in Utah I decided it was time to move to LA! I moved here eight years ago and have built a beautiful career, I feel like I’ve learned so much and there’s still so much to learn! I’ve been fortunate enough to work in the production side of things doing hair and makeup and primarily behind the chair in the salon! At this point in time, I am most highly recognized for my color correction and blonde services, I can’t wait to see what the next chapters bring, for some reason, I feel like I’m just getting started!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Doing hair is definitely not easy, it takes an insane amount of perseverance mental stamina, patience and above all and almost a unnatural passion. Fortunately, I would say one of my best and worst qualities is that I am overly passionate about every aspect of my life! Haha! When I get into something, man do I get into it! I mean there were years I had to have a serving job on the side while slowly building my clientele or assisting. People in the hair industry can be extremely cutthroat, unfortunately though my mentors and successors were phenomenal and talented people, that’s what I learned most in NY!
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I’m a freelance hairstylist, my clients are my passion and I’d like to believe I specialize in making them happy, making them feel good about themselves, making the day little bit brighter. I don’t quite know how this happened but when I move to LA I started freelance hair & MU on productions, while building a salon clientele on the side, a bunch of blonde hair later, and after eight years of being here day in and day out I would say blondes and major color corrections have definitely become what I’m known for. What sets me apart from others is my insane work ethic, I’ll work 15 or 16 hour days and I won’t even notice because I was so focused on getting a color correction perfect.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
So many people to thank, my family my friends for dealing with me being an insane hairstylist all these years. And oh man I have so many people I’ve looked up to throughout the years, I have so many people I still look up to, I have so many I still learn from every day, there’s probably 20 people on the top my head right now the owner of the first salon I worked at Jagged Edge his name is Chris Pietz, he is absolutely the person that showed me the Hair world brought me to hair shows cut my hair on stage, etc. Teddy Button, one of my successors I went to hair school with him, and he is to this day one of the best cutters I’ve ever seen in my life, even getting my haircut by him (no one else cuts my hair) teaches me more than I ever learned in hair school. All, and I mean all good & bad salon owners I have ever had the opportunity to work under because I can’t even imagine how difficult it could be to own a salon. All the people I ever assisted, bless your heart… man the list goes on. And it seems there are new ones every day.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jessicacookhair.com
- Phone: 8016712832
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @jessicacookhair
Image Credit:
Aaron Feaver took the last editorial shot, on the car.
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
