June 24, 2016

Meet West Hollywood Hairstylist: Teresa Kim

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Teresa Kim. She was academically gifted, on track for a lucrative career in finance when she decided to leave it all to pursue her passion for hair. Years later it’s clear it was the right choice. Below you’ll find excerpts of our interview with Teresa.

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

Growing up my mother’s god daughter was our family hairstylist, I would watch her work and go home and try to do my friends hair the same. Then in college I worked as a server in a restaurant and would do hi lights on the side to make some extra cash. A coworker of mine suggested that accounting was not for me and that I had to become a hair stylist. With just a few semesters from being done with college I dropped out knowing all I wanted to do was become a hair stylist. 14 years later I still love what I do, I’m grateful for all the different kinds of people I’ve met and the doors it has opened for me. I’ve worked behind the chair primarily, but I’ve also have facilitated for high end brands, worked editorial and high fashion. And traveled the world sharing what I love to do.

Has it been a smooth road?

I’m lucky that I’ve had amazing and talented mentors support and mold me in to a strong stylist. The industry has changed so much in the last few years. I’ve worked from the bottom up and paid my dues. There are always struggles and insecurities but it’s rewarding to be challenged and overcome some situations. You never stop learning something new, with some many outlets in social media affecting trends so fast you have to keep up! I believe education is the key, whether I’ve been able to pass my knowledge to someone else or vice versa. Not everyone an ombre and a fun pastel color, classic I timeless and there is something to being able to execute different looks and not just one.

What are your plans for the future?

I have some stuff in the works. I’m working on my own line of products, but not every day styling products, more for healthy scalps, I’m a believer that the health of the hair comes from a healthy scalp, our water is so harsh and full of chemicals here, I want something that’s Eco friendly and nourishing to our bodies. Also I would like to have a bigger salon that has a teaching space that can help develop already in business stylist to fine tune and advance in their knowledge.

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

When I started out my career I was still working at bartending and serving at night. Building up a clientele you have to be patient. I didn’t start off with a full book of clients, I had to meet new people and put myself out there but also pay the bills, I did this for months, no days off working double shifts one at the salon then working nights. It was hard at the time but I appreciate that it let me know the worth of working hard for what I wanted! I don’t feel lucky that I did grow really fast and was able to taper off to hair styling sooner than others but I only had myself to count on and take care of. I didn’t want my family and friends to know I was struggling in the beginning, I had dropped out of college to follow my dream, and there were a couple of times I had to sell clothes to make some extra cash to pay a bill. I had too much pride to let anyone know that there were some very hard times.

Do you ever just stop and think WOW – I’ve made it?

I was at a very high point in my career, running my own business, mentoring an assistant, contributing for a magazine, working on editorial prints and fashion shows, and Educating for an established brand. I hit a wall and was not happy, I wanted to restart, I felt selfish but I didn’t want to start hating what I love to do. I found an opportunity for me to move to London, I went and worked with people that I looked up to in my career, I was assuring to know that all the time I spent making sure I kept learning and growing had paid off, the fear of working with mentors that might have thought I was a horrible hair stylist was gone, my mentors became my peers and learned a couple of tricks from me!

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