Meet Natasha Glatz

We recently connected with Natasha Glatz and have shared our conversation below.

Natasha, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

The funny thing about resilience is that it can only be developed through necessity.

If I had time to give you my whole life story, you might assume resilience is what got me through my complex childhood and countless experiences of betrayal, failure, and heartbreak. But resilience was merely the byproduct. What got me through was hope.

What allows me to push through the dark seasons is believing so whole heartedly that things can be done differently.

I’m determined to see self discovery through self expression become the focus of the women’s beauty and fashion space, while still keeping it fun and edgy. An industry that was once a place for creative outliers and unique perspectives, is now often shrouded by shame, vanity, poor quality, and slimy sales tactics, especially at the consumer level. It’s time to refine and refocus.

My desire to see woman confidently running after their dreams, knowing who they are and proud of the way they’re showing up, doesn’t just make it possible to keep moving forward, it makes it imperative.

I believe what can be achieved by the women who find support, safety, and confidence because of my work will cause a much greater ripple effect that goes beyond my studio walls.

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

While hair began as Theory 88’s foundational service, I’ve often approached my work differently than my peers.

I have always been deeply fascinated by how things work and why people do what they do, but as an unconventional thinker, I didn’t do well in traditional university structures and ended up in beauty school as a last resort after failing psychology 101.

As poetic fate would have it, I discovered to truly master hairstyling, you must not only master the scientific principles of color theory and hair chemistry, but develop a sharp awareness of the human spirit and the shift that takes place in one’s outer world when it aligns with their most authentic self.

With this is mind, I’ve taken ancient a la carte salon services and given them a comprehensive, empathetic, and professional update.

At Theory 88, we seek to understand your real life goals and frustrations, what inspires you, and how you’d love to see yourself. Then, we use our knowledge and training, and eye for detail to problem solve and educate in terms that make sense, allowing you to recreate your style with confidence every morning.

In addition to luxury hair and extension services, we’ve partnered with fashion and beauty brands to offer head-to-toe styling sessions for a full makeover experience, and virtual advisory sessions where we unpack everything that’s not working for you in your current routine and set you up for success with mood boards, style guides, shopping links, and user friendly education that reflects the woman you are and all you dream to be.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

As a young scrappy entrepreneur, the number one thing that has moved me forward is ironically also the number one thing that gets me in trouble: my ability to dream delusionally big.

As a woman of faith, I believe that our deepest desires were not placed in our hearts by accident. That they were a gift, a road map of sorts, that continually leads us towards our purpose. If I can dream it, if it sparks a sense of wonder and joy that feels like heaven itself, then I believe I’m meant to run after it here on earth. It usually doesn’t turn out exactly like it was sketched in my mind, but the real beauty of the dream is the journey it takes you on, and while I am laughing as I write this because it seems so hard to believe in the valleys of the first year of business, I still believe that by staying on this journey all things work together better than I could ever imagine.

In order to balance the wild dreams I’ve been lucky enough to envision, I’ve also been careful to keep a strong grip on moral integrity. As strongly as I believe nothing is impossible, I believe the only way to hold the impossibly big things is to be anchored with a deep reverence of character. Of course I still make mistakes and foolishly novice decisions, and often find myself in the less than ideal consequences of those decisions, but I do my best to approach everything with honor.

After dreaming really big, keeping your moral character in check, the 3rd would be to stay curious- about life, about science, about art, about politics, about travel and culture- about everything!

I have found so much inspiration and motivation in my professional life just by going down seemingly unrelated rabbit holes about a song I heard or something a politician said, or the meaning behind a designers collection.

Curiosity demands that we lay down judgement and personal preference and simply approach with “hmm I want to know more about why that exists or why they did it that way” – this has opened doors not only to interests I didn’t even know I had, but also connections with people I never would have expected to relate to.

One of the most beautiful things about why we’re all here together, is that we’re wired for connection. There is so much to learn from each other.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

The past 12 months have been filled the highest highs, lowest lows, huge gains, and devastating loss. There were times where I would park my car and just sit in my parking spot, crying harder than I had ever experienced because I truly didn’t know how to continue. I had no direction, no inspiration, no motivation, and the bills were piling up faster than I could manage- all with no sign change or support coming.

I’ve never experienced hopelessness to this degree. And without hope, there were times I truly didn’t feel I could continue. It shook the core of who I was and threatened what I was most proud of – my ability to turn dreams into reality.

Beyond the fear of financial or professional ruin, was the realization I had lost my spark and no one seemed to notice or care. I felt completely and utterly alone.

While I haven’t had a storybook childhood with present supportive parents, and I didn’t get the fairytale romance full of unconditional love (yet), I had to realize that just because everyone has left so far, doesn’t mean that everyone will.

I wasn’t giving the people in my life the chance to change the story and prove me wrong. I figured it would be easier to handle the weight of entrepreneurship if I kept everyone at a safe distance in order to avoid the inevitable rejection and abandonment, and the debilitating grief that comes with it.

Turns out it wasn’t. And when I finally collapsed from the weight of my hyper independence, I had no choice but to pick up the phone, come clean about how much I was struggling, how scared I was, and how much I needed support. Even though the shame and embarrassment felt blinding, I was met with nothing but a home cooked meal, arms I could finally cry into, and the assurance that no matter what happens they weren’t going anywhere, and it will all be okay.

The most important lesson I’m learning, is how to receive love without having anything to give in return. Even in the mess and mud, even while feeling worse than worthless – I am still worth fighting for. I am still worthy of unconditional love.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Theory88.com
• Instagram: @tash.glatzxo