Meet Maggie Bell

We were lucky to catch up with Maggie Bell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Maggie, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

This is a good question. I think any creative person would agree, at times it can be difficult and others it flows so naturally it can be hard to explain into words. I really try to keep an open positive outlook even if I’m having a bad day/ week/ month and look for other ways I can be creative besides just with my work. I always find myself back with nature to reflect and redirect myself.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am a hairstylist for 17 years, I’ve spent most of my career at Ulta which is quite unexpected from where I began in the industry. I managed the salon I work at for about half that time, thinking one day I would go on to have my own brand of beauty products and salons. During that time I have come to meet a lot of really amazing people and had a lot of really cool experience’s! One of the most unique things I have been asked to do in my career happened this past year, I was asked to travel from small town Pennsylvania to Maui, Hawaii to be a personal stylist for a long time client of mine! I’ve had many other exciting experience’s professionally but that is defiantly the most special to me!

I really believe being a hair stylist is such a special gift! I spend so much time with a group of typically close co-workers that I rely on. Then I bond with my guests to listen on just quietly sit with while making their natural beauty enhanced! It can be difficult at times but all worth it at the end of the day.

I am currently a mom of 2 young kids and have been spending less time behind the chair and more time with my family. I am unsure of where I will head with the rest of my career and if I will take on a different creative art form. I will always do some kind of hair I think it’s a part of who I am as a person. Where ever I go I know I will have had some great experiences along the way!

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?

Along the way, I really feel being open minded and listening to advice and guidance from my peers always helps. Even today 17 years into the industry my fresh out of beauty school assistant has knowledge to share. Timing and planing or pivoting on your feet you have to be able to adapt. Be around good co-workers and happy work environment if your in a toxic place don’t give up and leave the industry or let it beat you down go somewhere that’s a good fit for you!

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

Currently I am facing the early aging process, how can I survive in an ever changing industry of mostly younger people. My career field is physically and mentally demanding, how to I go about this in the long run? I am working through this challenge by not only looking to people who have been doing this for a long time but how can I also be productive and not take a toll on my body. Where can I adapt, what new skills do I need to learn to stay doing what I love but still love myself and family.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: marvelous.marghoulis