Meet Sarah Kastanek

We recently connected with Sarah Kastanek and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah , so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

I think confidence is an ongoing process of building but the older I get, the more comfortable I am in my skin. I find it helpful to remind myself of all that I have accomplished personally and professionally. We live in a ‘doer’ society and I think it’s easy to finish one goal and kind of forget about what an achievement it was and how hard we worked to get there because we have another goal to reach. Remembering how much I do have and how much I have accomplished helps put things into perspective of all that I am capable of and how cool that really is. It’s often just about reminding ourselves of how amazing we are and hopefully having a support network that can help us with that on the days we can’t do it for ourselves.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Ive been a hairstylist for the past 7 years and I couldn’t tell you where that time has gone. For me doing hair was a bit of a career change from what I got my bachelors in which was Health and Exercise Science. I think I have always had this drive in me to figure out how to be well in a wholistic way. So while it isn’t directly related, I find that I can bring a lot of that to the table when I’m doing someone’s hair. First and foremost, my goal is to make each and every one of my guests feel celebrated for who they are and to find the healthiest way for their hair to also represent that. I always say, our hair is the one accessory that goes everywhere with us and is one of the first things others perceive us by and that makes it a beautiful way to express our authentic selves. Additionally I think after the onslaught of Covid we were forced to realize how impactful it was on our mental health to be isolated from others. I believe humans are meant to be pack animals for a lack of a better phrase and getting back into the salon after that gave me so much more purpose because so many people deeply benefit from human interaction and human touch. I realized how lucky I was to have a career that I enjoyed going to everyday that had such a beautiful impact on my little hair community.
In April of 2023 I launched my own business, Sarah Kastanek Hair Co., and that has been such a whirlwind in figuring out how to run. I have had to learn how to wear so many different hats but it has been so rewarding!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Three qualities that I think were important to develop early on in my journey were firstly a strong work ethic. I believe I get that from my midwestern parents. When I was 10 or 12 my sister was helping me with a school project and asked me “Why bother doing something if you don’t do it right the first time?” and thus my perfectionistic tendencies were born. I think the next important quality is building strong integrity. To me you have nothing if you don’t have integrity. It is doing what you say you are going to do and from that comes reliability and dependability with not only others but with yourself. If you have no integrity you have nothing, its my guiding light. Thirdly id say it would be to figure out a way to get comfortable in the uncomfortable. I have always found that the most rewarding things in my life came out of being a little uncomfortable at first. I believe this so much that for the last 3 years my New Years mantra has been to practice doing things that scare me and make me a little uncomfortable.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

Honestly, I usually call my mom (bless her)! After I vent to her, I try to figure out what an actionable step is that I can take to chip away at what is in front of me. Ill usually I try to go for a walk to quiet my mind and get the feel good chemicals pumping through my veins. This typically helps my creativity in coming up with out of the box solutions to the problem at hand. Ive also been trying this new thing where I tell myself to slow down whenever I’m doing the mundane tasks of my life, try to savor in those moments rather than rushing around all the time. I don’t know if its doing anything but it feels good and that’s enough for me!

Contact Info:

• Website: sarahkastanek.glossgenius.com for bookings
• Instagram: @sarahbepaintin
• Other: Tic Tok: Sarah Kastanek (I think)

Image Credits

The image of me was done by my friend, client, and small business owner Sheryl Crawford Photography

All other images are my own.