What you are about to read will change the foregone conclusions and misconceptions many people harbor on the subject of beauty and achieving your best self. I’ve personally been in the business, specializing in hands and feet, for 44 years now and have enjoyed helping people feel good and/or better about themselves through appearance. Non-essential is not a word I personally take lightly concerning my industry. As a happiness and confidence builder for me and my client, it is also a privilege to have such a profession in so many ways and I have cherished my decades of creating beauty for my clients.
While going through and organizing my mother’s professional hairdressing and styling magazines I came across an insert by a master hairstylist, Michael O’Rourke, who is best known as the creator of Big Sexy Hair. This was an extremely popular look during the 80s and 90s of the last century- not so long ago! As I read through it I was so impressed with his contribution to the Celebration of American Salon magazine’s 125 years informing the industry of beauty, that I’ve decided to share the following words about a singular experience he shared with us. This past year has been a definite trial to our industry because of the pandemic. When all manner of folk were unable to come to us for their most precious ‘me’ time I’m sure we all felt in need of encouragement as well. Hence:
The Gift
A woman came into a salon one day, long ago. She was perhaps 5’4” and weighed close to 260 pounds. She requested all of the best treatments for her hair, plus a manicure and a pedicure. As she went through her day of beauty, she smiled and laughed with everyone. There was definite, positive energy flowing through the salon and when she left, as she hugged each person in thanks, she left behind a strange sensation. It was as if she still remained. The next day, she called the salon manager and said quietly: “I came into your salon yesterday and requested all your best treatments because I was preparing to commit suicide. I wanted to feel good about myself just one time. My self-esteem had hit an all time low and I just wanted to end it. But all of you were so accepting and made me feel so special that I’m not thinking that way anymore.”
It is my pleasure to share this true story of one woman’s journey with you, my hairdressing friends. It’s time we celebrate your gifts, your enormous talent and energy. Only you know why you became a hairdresser, why you chose this joyous path. Perhaps, it’s because you felt that you just didn’t fit in. Maybe it’s because you weren’t like your sister the brain or your brother who went to college on a football scholarship. Maybe it’s because your unique sense of creativity challenged educators who tried in vain to chart you on an I.Q. scale. For whatever reason, no matter how painful or how rough the beginning, I urge you to celebrate your choice.
Your mathematical prowess…
You are a mathematical genius. Think of what you do. You may have trouble balancing your checkbook but you cut angles with the precision of a surgeon and lines and shapes with the clarity of an engineer. You do so in the middle of a three ring circus called a salon. I doubt NASA could do it as well.
Your resourcefulness…
Your heart and soul…
No one feels life more than a hairdresser. Here’s to all the marriages you’ve saved, the children you’ve helped raise, the clients you’ve buried, and the divorces you’ve weathered. You have experienced life on a level that only a hairdresser can truly understand.
Your compassion… Hairdressers are givers. We share all that we have, without hesitation; our tools, our knowledge, our opinions, our advice. We teach without knowing, understand without analyzing, and grow without intention. In fact, the more we teach others, the more we teach ourselves.
Celebrate your instincts… But most of all, Celebrate life.
Live life to the fullest and know that as we go forward, each phase to come is filled with a sense of adventure. It’s a journey of self-discovery and self-celebration. We are hairdressers and your gift, my gift, our gift- is to revel in the beauty of what we do and what we bring to humanity. To be a hairdresser or beautician, nail technician or an esthetician is the greatest gift I can imagine, and perhaps the greatest gift yet to be discovered. I urge you to discover this extraordinary gift each and every day.
Michael O’Rourke
In closing, I would like to thank Michael O’Rourke for writing this and taking the time to share something very important to us all and that is our self-worth, our resilience and hope in a better us. It made me fully believe that no matter what we face in the future, our work and our contribution to society is as essential as eating and sleeping. Nothing inspires us more than to know that we have left this world, in some way, a little better than the way we found it.
The Castle Lady
