Meet Vanessa Soltero of Messycolours_

Today we’d like to introduce you to Vanessa Soltero.

Vanessa, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
As a young punk kid growing up in Las Vegas, I wanted to have crazy hair colors to reflect the music I was into so I started bleaching and experimenting on my friends and my own hair. It wasn’t good, and my hair was definitely in shambles, but it made me feel good.

Being able to see these vibrant, crazy colors that I did made me proud so I decided that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Has it been a smooth road?
Besides the struggles as a teen and the reasoning for me moving to Los Angeles, a lot went wrong while trying to become a professional.

Now I’m not knocking community college beauty schools, but for me the lack of structure really made me feel like I sucked and like I failed, so I dropped out. Being that I knew what I wanted to do since I was 11 that was really hard for me and I had to not the slightest idea of what I wanted to do. So I would start school for some random career then realize it wasn’t for me and quit.

I did this for about three years until one day I went to visit a friend who was attending Toni and Guy to get my hair done and completely fell in love with the school and everything that came with it and I signed up the following week. It definitely was the best decision I’ve ever made I just wish it came sooner!

We’d love to hear more about your business.
So I’m a vivid color specialist! I also specialize in blondes and balayage, but my passion is bright, wild colors. Being that I am self-employed, I’m most proud of the fact that I am able to do so. I know my journey and what a pain it was to get here and to sit back and be able to see that and say “yeah, I did this sh*t” is the ultimate pat on the back.

Especially since I specialize in such vivid colors that aren’t considered the norm and I have made an entire career out of it. What sets me about from others is me and my personality, fashion sense, and how real I am, I don’t sugar coat anything, and I have a knack to building such great friendships with my clients.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I work in both East Hollywood and Valencia which are two completely different places.

East Hollywood is amazing for expressing yourself in clothing and hair, whereas Valencia I’m basically considered a freak for having neon hair and it’s hard to get the people there to see me for more than just my bright colors I do and me as a person. But I definitely see change coming in the SCV, and I’m optimistic!

To everyone starting out, find what sets you apart and run with it! This industry is SO saturated, so it’s super important to find what makes you stand out. Also, don’t forget to network and support. Yeah, homegirl to the left is doing the same thing as you but talking smack isn’t going to make you a better hairdresser.

We can all learn from each other, and there is always someone out there that has more knowledge.

Contact Info:

• Phone: 310-213-7435
• Email: nessarie77@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/messycolours_?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=1b17t6ztx8vv2

Image Credit:
Katie Oros

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.