We were lucky to catch up with Christina Kelly recently and have shared our conversation below.
Christina, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
Growing up in an extremely broken household and raising myself, i learned at a very young age that no one was going to take care of me but me. I struggled in my earlier years but after years and years of therapy in my 20’s, i’ve honed in on my trauma and used it as a superpower to overcome literally anything. Now, nearly nothing scares me and when i do feel anxiety or fear in a situation, i know exactly how to handle it.
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 own a small salon in the arts district in downtown santa ana. Crook + Co Salon is mental health focused in its hiring and creates a safe space for individuals to freely express themselves without fear of judgement or attitude. We pride ourselves in our mutually respectful relationships between stylists and clients. As strong as we preach compassionate and respectful attitudes, we also expect that from every individual who enters our door and no single individual will be allowed to break the safe space that is Crook + Co Salon. Our small but mighty team of 5 are all extremely strong, independent, mental health informed, emotionally intelligent folk and together we create an environment that is welcoming and warm for everyone. Besides all of that, we do some pretty badass hair! We have been features in magazines 8 times, been nominated for just about every hair award that there is and won numerous awards for our color and cuts.
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?
Hands down the most important skill that has impacted my business is emotional intelligence. It affects almost every area of business and helps me thrive from relationships with staff and clients to running ads and targeting audiences. A second quality that has been really important to my journey is humility. I don’t say that lightly as i have definitely had more than enough moments of frustration not being able to get things perfect the first time. Having humility and reminding myself that my clients may love me and i may be able to give a good color, but its SO important to keep up with continued education and also welcome feedback from clients with grace and not on the defense. These are opportunities for growth and i think as an artist, its so easy to get offended at someone not liking your art, but we work with people for a living and its a lot easier to take feedback as learning opportunities than get offended and let it ruin your day. Lastly and more specific to my industry, color theory is incredibly important as a colorist. Personally, i took art classes my entire life since the young ripe age of 5 and have a good understanding of the color wheel, but hair color is a whole other monster with so many variables. If you dont have a good grasp on the color wheel, you cant get anywhere!
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
ALWAYS! i loveeeeeeee teaching classes and now hosting classes at our salon! im always looking for rad colorist or haircutters to collaborate with on either a class or a photoshoot or just to play on some doll heads. You can connect with me via email or instagram! tina@crookand.co ; @Tina_doeshair
Contact Info:
- Website: www.crookand.co
- Instagram: tina_doeshair
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/crookandcoCA
- Youtube: @tina_doeshair
- Other: Google Review: Crook + Co Salon
