How to Second Act Your Career

Photo by Honor Photography

 

The brilliance of spring is that while it is welcome, it's kind of just the opening act for me. I live for summer. I love the feel of the sun on my skin, the sound of the pool pump humming in the background as I read on the deck for hours.

In a way, that's sort of how I look at my career as a hair stylist. My opening act was the hustle and grind of being a baby trying to build my skills and clientele. I thought I would keep doing that until I retired, but I knew I was beyond burn out in the industry when I started looking at nursing school as an alternative. I opened my salon in 2016, thinking it would help. It did for awhile, but really my second act began in 2018 when I found handtied hair extensions.

Shifting my focus from being a do-it-all stylist to specializing in luxury hair extensions + lived-in color has brought so many ups and downs--from peers and clients who were critical of the changes, to the thrill of creating a completely unique experience for the women who sit in my chair, to the absolute crush of realizing certain people and businesses work without the same level of integrity as I do. This time has been so helpful in allowing me to be a beginner again, and I love that I've been able to continue learning and growing in the hair industry.

So, where does that leave me now? I find it interesting that I still assume I will be standing behind the chair creating transformations until I hit retirement age. This job is very hard on you physically, if you don't take care of yourself continuously. I guess I think I'm younger than I really am, but I don't feel like I'm at a point where I'm done with this part of my career. I feel like I've finally begun to IMPLEMENT all of the lessons I've learned over the past two decades (ok, I get it, I actually am old lol) and create a new level of excitement for my extension business. But keeping things where they are would bore me to tears after awhile, I'm sure.

I realized my purpose is to share the knowledge I've gained on this journey, in whatever way that feels right. Not just hair how to posts on social media, or creating a new extension method or hair line. Not even building my own digital school. Maybe it will be some variation of those things, but maybe it will look completely different than any of that. I know that my life is full and warm, and I need to celebrate it every single day as more than the sum total of what I've done for work. 

What I know is that I'm not even close to the final act of my career. I love feeling this renewed sense of excitement about what I can create for myself. Maybe this is the intermission...when I can move around exploring options, talking to different people, stretching my legs until I'm ready for the next act. I guess we'll see what blooms where I'm planted💖💮