September 13, 2016

Meet West Hollywood Hair Artist & Salon Owner: Audrey Rae

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Audrey Rae.

Audrey, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
As a youngster, I was constantly cutting my own hair, styling it in crazy knots and persuading my friends to let me do the same to them. The love for hair and art was innate. I went through beauty school while I was still in high school, where it really became apparent to me that hair was to be my career path. I enjoyed the freedom of it, the rewarding feeling of having a craft that could take me anywhere in the world and keep me busy. Later I discovered one of the true reasons hair is my passion is the human healing aspect of it. What I do is more than cut/color/style hair, I transform people. Let them become who they want to be and act as a solid ear as I work with my hands. I’m blessed to have found other artists like me who share the same value in hair artistry. My two partners and I started our own movement just over two years ago. At the end of last year, we moved into a beautiful space that compliments all that we are creating- the RA_ Hair House! Now, I’m not only behind the chair but doing much more on the business side of things as well. The journey has been incredible so far and we have so much farther to go.

Has it been a smooth road?
First of all, assisting is hard! It’s hard to get yourself out of the way, to listen, learn and have the patience to grow until your truly ready to be on your own. Then, it takes more patience and ALL of your time to grow a clientele. I think this is where most people struggle. The beauty industry is a super competitive place, especially in LA. Nothing is going to be handed to you, you have to work and stay focused on your end goals to make things happen. It’s easy to get distracted. There were many bumps in the road for me where I doubted if I was good enough or lost focus because of personal things going on. But the love of what I do (and finally the understanding really of what that is) always pulled me back. The hardest part is going all out for what you want and not settling!

What’s your outlook for the industry over the next 5-10 years?
I feel the Industry is constantly evolving. New techniques and looks pop up every season! It’s what makes the beauty industry so fun. It’s an art and a way to express yourself so experimentation is the foundation of it all. Also, I think the way salons operate is changing. It’s becoming more about individual stylists and their talent as opposed to a big name salon. Which I love. I think it’s optimal to have a great team in one place, of course, but choosing an artist for their individual art is important.

What would you say has been the biggest challenge for you over the course of your career?
My biggest challenge turned out to be my greatest blessing in my career. I built my clientele at a very high-end salon in West Hollywood over the course of five or so years. The salon closed down permanently with only giving all of our staff THREE DAYS NOTICE. This was my home. I was crushed and terrified of where to go or what to do next. After touring all of the salons in the city with two other artists who I wanted to stick with, we decided we had to take a leap and start our own thing. We started in a small studio, building our name and business for a year in a half until we moved just less than a year ago to a bigger location and built out an amazing work space for other artists to join!

Let’s change gears – is there any advice you’d like to give?
Don’t give up. Go hard for what you want. Know your worth. It takes patience and lots of hard work to get to where you want to be. Most of all, WATCH AND LEARN. Take in everything you can from the talented people around you. Everyone has different techniques and styles. It’s important to learn all you can and eventually incorporate it all into your own style and technique.

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