Meet Melissa Souza

We recently connected with Melissa Souza and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Melissa with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
Growing up my dad was a go-getter. I remember stories about how he had a career goal in mind from the time he was about 16, but knew he had to put in the work to obtain that goal. Throughout my life, he was always setting goals and doing whatever it took to make them happen. While my mom stayed home raising me, she had little jobs that helped make ends meet. Seeing my parents work hard to provide while pursing passions is probably what lit my fire early. I’ve always been a dreamer; maybe it’s my Gemini nature, and I set high standards for myself. I think I’m very much like my dad in that regard, and I think I felt a sense of ‘if you can dream it, you can achieve it,’ attitude from him. So with that fire under me and passion in my heart, when I set my mind to something, I go after it full force. In what seems like another life, I went to college, obtained a Bachelor degree in Animal Science, knowing I wanted to be a veterinarian. While I was not only going to school full time, I worked two part-time jobs, but it kept my dreams alive and gave me the income to fund it. As life does, it moved in a different direction, but I always gave 2000% at whatever I pursued, and this ethic stays with me today. I’m a hair extensions specialist, color artist, and hair educator, and as an entrepreneur at heart, I opened my own studio suite a little over a year ago. I’m driven by a desire to help provide for my family, but also the relationships I build behind the chair are so dear to my heart. I love that I get to help elevate my guest’s image and create and challenge myself every day.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
After finishing my Bachelor’s degree and moving around from California to Tennessee and then eventually to Texas, I made my way back home to California. I found myself in the beauty industry, kind of by chance, having always been told I had an eye for design and fashion. From an early age, I’d found the beauty industry captivating, but I was always intimidated by an industry that seemed out of reach for me. Fate allowed me the opportunity to enter the industry as a celebrity and editorial stylist. At this point in my life, I’d already had my daughter and was staying home with her, but I knew I wanted something for myself. Ultimately, after a lot of hard work, I resided as the Fashion Editor for the luxury magazine CVLUX for a period of time, and eventually, I landed in cosmetology school. Now, I’ve been in the industry nearly 15 years. I’ve worked on set, styled hair for red carpet events; most notably the Golden Globes, and I’m a color enthusiast, hair educator, and I specialize in extensions and dimensional color. I’m passionate about helping my guests elevate their image to feel as beautiful as they are on the inside, and I believe in educating them about every service, how to recreate styles, and I enjoy sharing stylist tips.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Narrowing down the qualities that have had the most impact on my journey, not just in my career, but my private life as well led me to three: resilience and commitment, confidence, and faith.

Resilience/Committment- I’ve had to bounce back and pivot more times than I’d like to admit. I mentioned a previous career path that I set out on the journey of obtaining a Bachelor’s degree for, and most recently during Covid when I started focusing more on hair as the world of celebrity and editorial beauty shut down. I believe, especially if you want to be your own boss, you have to have a resilient spirit. You must also be willing to fail. In my opinion, that’s where you learn the most. You have to have the motivation to do the hard work, and maybe not achieve success on the first attempt, but be able to get back up, dust yourself off and keep going. I truly believe anything worth doing, will be hard. Nothing great comes easily. Resilient people make the commitment to themselves to work hard and go after their dreams, and see it through. Whether that be to a successful end or to pivot when the time comes, but commit to doing the work and the rest will follow.

Confidence- this one’s probably a bit more challenging. I think if you commit to becoming an expert in your field, the confidence will grow. I didn’t always feel confident, especially starting out in something, but I took every opportunity to research and learn about whatever it was I needed to know for my business. Educate yourself, immerse yourself in whatever service you provide or business you are dealing in. When you know your stuff, it’s easy to feel confident.

Faith- For me it’s my faith in God, but letting go and having faith in the outcome. Maybe it’s faith in yourself, in God or a higher-power, or the universe, whatever it is for you. I have the faith that there is a path and that what is meant for me, will be for me. It doesn’t mean you can’t go after what you want and help yourself on that path, but knowing that if I’m putting my heart and soul in, then faith will get me where I need to be.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Absolutely! I love collaborating with others. In my business behind the chair, I’m often seeking hair models for challenging projects or trending styles so that I can hone my skills or try something new. As an extensions specialist, I love working with other stylists who don’t offer them and referring clients between each other. For example, I’m not a pixie haircutter, so if you have girls looking for long locks send ’em my way, and I’ll send the short haired girls over to get expert cuts from the cutting specialists! I also work with brides so partnering with other vendors for referrals and collaborating on projects is always a fun opportunity for creativity and working outside the studio. I also love to partner with other beauty and wellness professionals. I think recommendations go a lot farther and it’s nice when I can share other business owners and their services with my guests. I mean when you find an amazing specialist, you want to share it with your friends! Of course, I say friends because my guests are friends and often become like family. When you’re working closely with other collaborators you develop priceless relationships as well and I can’t keep a secret, if I love something, you’re going to know about it!

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