June 29, 2016

Meet West Hollywood Hairstylist: Audra Tong

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Audra Tong.

She has been passionate about hair from a young age and jumped in head first right after high school. Since then she has received a TON of training and is one of the most highly trained stylists in LA. She’s a rising star and we’re pumped to share her story with you below.

Audra, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?

I wanted to be a Hairstylist from a very young age and was able to pursue it right out of High School. I researched schools and quickly discovered that Paul Mitchell the School would be the best fit for me. Paul Mitchell gave me a good foundation to build off of and I have since received advanced training in hair color, cutting, and styling techniques from Schwarzkopf, Wella Academy, Vidal Sassoon, Oribe, Bumble & bumble, Toni & Guy, and Nick Arrojo. After receiving my Cosmetology License in 2008 I started working at a salon in Santa Monica as an assistant.

Two years in I got promoted up to a full time stylist and started building my clientele. While working with this salon for a total of 6 years I pursued hair in all different fields, editorial styling, styling for film and television, runway shows, and weddings. I had a great time exploring all of the different avenues but decided that behind the chair was where I wanted to be. In 2013 I opened up a private salon within Salon Republic in West Hollywood – Salon Kingston. I have since stayed busy focusing on my clients and my four chair salon. I love creating beautiful hair that is soft, natural, and healthy. I cater to both men and women, but the majority of my business is balayage and dimensional hair color.

What are your plans for the future?
I have a couple of goals and plans for the future, one would be to expand Salon Kingston to a store front. Right now the salon is in a shared studio space, we love it but room is limited. The salon currently has four stations and stylists, I would like to see that double in size. Another goal of mine is to start working in the education realm of my field. Possibly working with a product line or creating my own online education for stylists and clients.

Let’s dig a little deeper into your story. What was the hardest time you’ve had?

The hardest part of my career was that time between getting licensed and becoming a stylist. It’s very trying to be an assistant these days. Especially in large upscale salons, assistants can be mistreated and over-worked. There were a lot of tears and learning in that time but in the end I am a better stylist for it. The moment that I felt extremely proud of what I had done was the day I quit my salon and began working for myself. It was a very hard decision to make and it was scary not knowing if enough of my clients would follow me to even be able to pay my bills. It worked out better than I could have ever imagined and my clients were equally as proud as I was.

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