Meet Lindsey Holmes

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lindsey Holmes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Lindsey, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

To be honest, I have never fully overcome imposter syndrome–self-doubt, intrusive thoughts, or feelings of being “unworthy” still creep in once in a while. However, I’ve found that the best way to fight that off is by constantly competing with myself instead of trying to compare myself to others.

Prior to being a hairstylist, I taught middle school language arts. I earned my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees and put all of myself into being a good teacher. Those years taught me a great deal, but ultimately I realized that career path was not right for me. I switched careers at age 27, and pursued my new career as a hairstylist aggressively. Though a lot of skills in the hair industry “clicked” with me quickly and I received plenty of praise and support, I would see work from highly successful hairstylists and initially think “will I ever get there?” I wanted to make up for lost time in the industry as much as I possibly could, so instead of comparing my work to those who had been in the industry for years or even decades longer, I started telling myself “I want to be that good. I will get there.” I decided to learn from the people I admired instead of comparing my work to theirs. Keeping this mindset kept me motivated to challenge myself, invest in further education, and to not be afraid to post my work.

I started entering hair competitions roughly a year into my career, and initially I only entered a few looks just to participate. I never anticipated receiving nominations or gaining recognition, so when I did in my second year, I was genuinely shocked. Though most of my validation comes from my wonderful and loyal clientele, having my work acknowledged on national and international levels ignited even more creativity and inspiration. I don’t pursue competitions in order to win; instead, I want to keep up my momentum and achieve the same level of accomplishment or better than I did the previous year. Instead of comparing my work to that of other nominees, I focus on making my art true to what I love, and aiming to reach the same level of success or higher than I did before. I love to admire the work of others, make connections with other industry professionals, and just put my work out there. All of the other extremely talented individuals I have met have expressed that they feel imposter syndrome too–but we all decided to do it anyway. It’s intimidating but also validating. There is nothing to lose, and the only thing that could make me feel like I don’t belong there is me, if I decided not to give it a shot. Any time I feel like I’m not good enough, I remember what I’ve been able to accomplish in my career in just the last 5 years, and make my goals for the future by competing with my own previous successes.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Being a hairstylist is honestly more than just “doing hair.” Hairdressers are actually in the people business, and doing good hair is just a fraction of it. Knowing how to make connections with people, make them feel comfortable, and being a “hair-apist” are what can make a guest choose one stylist over another even if they got good results from both. My teaching background helped me a lot here because I do love to educate my clients, and I view my strategy for creating a new look for my clients as a collaboration. I ask lots of questions to not only determine what they want, but also what they don’t want–not just in their result, but in whatever maintenance is required, if we can reach their goal in a given session or across several, what their at-home care should look like. I also firmly believe that if their hair cannot be the way they want, I should be able to thoroughly explain why. I focus a lot on educating myself not only with new techniques, but also on understanding the theory and chemistry behind them. More geometry, chemistry, and color theory are involved than many might expect!

My favorite part of doing hair, besides being a total nerd about it, is making people feel confident and good about themselves. Countless clients share immensely personal things with me, have had “hair trauma” in the past, or might be feeling stressed or down on themselves. I strive to give them a great experience in the salon, where they can feel pampered, heard, relaxed, and like they’re hanging out with a friend. And of course, that at the end of their visit they feel refreshed and like their inner badass beauty is shining on the outside as well. Hair (and also a lot of the beauty industry in general) can sometimes be thought of as unnecessary or frivolous, since the focus is on outer beauty; however, hair is the accessory you wear every day, and anyone who has experienced a good hair day compared to a bad one can attest that feeling good about your hair has a major impact on how you feel about yourself and your own personal confidence. In many ways “it’s just hair,” but in actuality, hair and the relationships built between stylists and clients are so much more.

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?

Firstly, though it’s easier said than done, banish any thoughts that you can’t do it. In my industry I’ve learned that everyone’s path is different and even if you have a similar goal to someone else, your journey there can look completely different, and that’s okay–it’s actually a good thing. I absolutely learn from others and how they got to where they are, but carving one’s own path is also important. It makes you get innovative, creative, and can push you through any setbacks. In hair, you get out of the career what you put into it. Every hairstylist doesn’t need to be a social media influencer, or work 50+ hours a week, or become a stylist to the stars. Decide what your own definition of success is and pursue that, and refuse to believe you won’t get there. The only thing standing in your way is your own self-doubt.

Secondly, regarding skills, I believe truly learning the fundamentals of hair design are crucial. Head shape, silhouette, skin tone; all of that contributes to the overall success of a given look. In this age of social media, clients have access to looks that require advanced techniques as well, but understandably wouldn’t know the techniques involved to achieve them. Investing in advanced blonding classes had the biggest impact for me, because I specialize in blonding and creative color. Knowing how to safely and effectively lighten hair, and understanding color placement and color theory, are what I’ve consistently sought out when I’m continuing my education. The further I advance this skillset, the better I can achieve the desired goal. Additionally, being able to clearly explain what will be involved to my client is important to me. Clients want to know what to expect, and while they may trust my expertise, explaining along the way what I’ll be doing and why goes very far in earning and keeping their trust.

Lastly, business and interpersonal skills are something to really focus on. Like I said before, hairstylists are in the beauty business and the people business. Making sure your communication skills and ability to connect with others are strong is a major key to success. Moreover, even though I am not technically a business owner, I do run my own business–my business is myself. Understanding one’s earning potential and goals, product costs, investment in education, etc. are things I’ve learned and am still learning along the way. If you are early in your journey, especially as an entrepreneur, it’s important to learn about the dollars and cents and how to understand business data so you can make the appropriate moves to grow.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

I believe it is important to invest effort into improving areas that aren’t just your strong suits. While I’m in a career that allows me to specialize in my areas of greatest skill and interest (in my case, anything involving haircolor), I also invest in educating myself in areas in which I’m not as confident. For example, though I absolutely cut hair as often as I color it, I am not a creative cutter–whereas in the world of color, I feel like I thrive creatively. I don’t dislike cutting hair, but my specialties lie in coloring. Because of that, I make sure to take cutting and styling classes throughout the year as well so I can feel more confident and creative in those areas as well. In industries in which you can specialize, I think it’s wonderful that I can prioritize the types of skills that I love the most, so I invest the most in advancing those and advertise myself as a specialist in those areas. However, I do not think it’s great to be a one-trick pony. Strengthening skills in the areas in which I don’t feel as naturally confident is only going to contribute to my success in my areas of expertise. While there are some services that I do not enjoy or have demand for, and therefore I don’t invest in learning, many areas of my industry are interrelated and connect to my overall success as a colorist. I believe it is important to push oneself outside of the comfort zone to get inspired by other skillsets and artists who are strong in other areas.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @land_of_ozz

Image Credits

Photos of hair: me
Photos of me: Emily Pastrana