Meet Mathea Emery

We recently connected with Mathea Emery and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mathea, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

I was lucky enough to be raised in a household with an amazing parental example of hard work and dedication. My mom always inspired me to be a better person and against all odds, as an adult with 3 kids and one more on the way, she decided to stop working long hours for a corporation and decided to go to law school and take the bar exam while pregnant with me. You could even say I was born from that determination. As soon as I was born, my mom started working in a huge law firm in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, where I was born and raised. With me being a newborn, she would bring me to work with her every day breast-feed on her breaks and take clients in between caring for me. My grandparents had no money and neither did my parents. My mom worked multiple jobs while raising us to afford to go to law school because she was determined to be able to help others. After working at corporate law firms she knew the blatant disrespect and poor treatment of women in the male dominated workplace were not something she would tolerate or want for her own daughters. She spent several years working and saving to start her own law firm while now raising 4 kids with a fifth on the way. Times were extremely tough for my family financially- we never ate out and we could barely afford one road trip together a year, but my mom knew how important this work would be for so many people. My mom progressed to opening her own law firm specializing in Elder Care, and leased her first building. Now after 20 years of having her own firm, she owns her own building and firm where she employs 6 other amazing women, as well as her own daughter who graduated from law school and is a new attorney. My mom watched her parents struggle to afford certain care and specialists as they got older and specializes in compassionate and affordable care. The way she has conquered her goals and taken the hand life has dealt her, molding it into exactly what she wanted it to be, inspires me every single day. When you’re this successful people always look on and ask, “why can’t that be me?” Or “I wish I could be that successful.” And in reality you’re missing out on the 30 years of work that went into that success. You are the same as the people you look up to, you’re just on day one of the journey if you choose to take it. I’ve learnt to take the bad times with the good and always continue to work hard. Inspired since a young age to work for my dreams, and moving out of my house to start my own life and career at age 17. I can’t even thank my parents enough for the amazing values they helped instill within me from a young age. I am only 25 and own my first salon. I founded a Wedding Guild to support my local small businesses and lift up my local community to give back. I am published 4 times and 6 times award winning. I aspire to one day be as hard working and successful as my mom, who is the most empathetic and selfless person I have ever met, and in 30 years I want to be the one that can continue to inspire others to achieve their goals. My work ethic comes from a deep rooted desire to help other people and to thank those who worked so hard before me for all that they have done.

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?

I have been spending my free time building up the Skagit Wedding Guild as well as the Skagit Wedding Show. It’s so important to be able to advertise and be a voice for small local businesses in my community that otherwise would not have a platform. We meet bi-monthly and talk about marketing how we can support each other as a community and what ways we can create together. Being a bridal hair stylist and Makeup Artist goes beyond supporting only my clients and deep roots into the support that I feel and want to spread within my community.

When I’m not working on guild or show events or working weddings – you can find me hiking with my three dogs. My husband and I moved to Washington four years ago so that we could enrich our lives with beautiful nature and all the activities that come with living somewhere so beautiful. Growing up in Arizona I never went camping or hiking and moving to Washington has really uplifted my life in a way that I never knew I needed. I am a huge animal lover and have volunteered at local shelters my entire life. I encourage my clients to bring their own pets into the salon for their hair appointments, and I believe that animals are therapeutic and healing.

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

One of the biggest qualities you have to have as a small business owner is confidence. Not in the typical sense where you like the way you look or have a basic sense of confidence – you need the type of confidence where your bank account is completely empty but you know you still have to keep going. You need the type of confidence where other businesses are trying to bring you down but you just know you have to succeed. The type of confidence where the plumbing blows at the salon and you have to be there at 1 am to get it fixed. There’s this fire within you and if you really channel that and allow yourself to believe that your dreams can become a reality- that confidence will take you far.

One of my biggest strengths (and weaknesses) is my ability to empathize with others. I always knew I wanted to be in a service field so that I could help others. Empathy is so important to have as a business owner and just as a person. Nowadays, so many encounters are all transactional and it’s so important for people to know that they have someone there just to empathize with them. Yes I am a Hairstylist and a Makeup Artist and people pay for those services but that starts to trickle down and translate into direct friendships and amazing relationships. I now have amazing, added, chosen family members who I never would have met if I didn’t decide to open a salon. I now have baby showers to attend and an entire community of people who support me simply because I decided to take a leap of faith and open my small business. The very best part is getting to be there to support them back.

One thing a lot of business owners forget is the fact that we all start somewhere. There’s no need to shame those who are beginners because you know exactly what that feels like to be the beginner. Some of the greatest advice I can give is to never compare yourself to others who are in the place you want to be. Instead, ask them how they started so that you can start your own journey. As a small business owner, you will meet a lot of people who gate keep and don’t foster a positive community. Remember how that feels take that feeling and decide to help the next person you meet. Always remember that growth is important and there are always new things to learn. Stay humble and always support those around you because I wouldn’t be here if people didn’t choose to support me along my journey.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

The most important thing my parents did for me since I was little was to believe in me. Not only did they believe in me, but they expected the absolute best from me. If you set the bar low, people typically will meet that bar. But if you set your expectations high, then people will typically rise to the occasion. My parents knew from the very beginning that their support was everything. My dad showed up to every single sports game from middle school to high school even when I was the worst one on the team. He would sit in the stands and cheer and holler at the top of his voice, and it was the only thing that kept me going sometimes. My parents also put me in cosmetology school during high school. They knew that this was something I was extremely interested in and allowed me to move schools in order to pursue my dream. My mom would sit every single night for hours and let me practice hairstyles in her hair – she was also the first haircut I ever did and that takes so much trust. They never once doubted me. Having parents who truly believe in you makes a world of a difference in your own confidence and the way you proceed for the rest of your life. I’m so thankful that my parents were able to help me get a headstart in my career and believed in my dreams since the beginning.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hairbymathea.com
• Instagram: @hairbymathea
• Facebook: Hair by Mathea

Image Credits

My Stache Photo
Twinflower Design & Photography
Natasha Brielle Photography
A + K Photography
Lillian Jean Photo