A New Hairdresser and a Billion-Dollar Hair Day

A commitment to show up and write my truth | Day 287 of 365

Today I got my hair done, and I feel like a billion dollars.

Yes, a billion. We're well past a million at this point, and I'd appreciate it if everyone respected the updated valuation.

Not long ago, I wrote about leaving my longtime hairdresser in Setting Healthy Boundaries When Loyalty Outlasts the Relationship. His work had changed, and I'd reached the point where loyalty alone wasn't a good enough reason to keep sitting in his chair. That post was about knowing when to go. What it didn't cover was the stretch afterward, when you've made the brave decision and you're still walking around with the hair that prompted it.

If you've ever walked away from someone you relied on for years, a hairdresser or a doctor you kept seeing mostly out of habit, you know that in-between place. The old option is gone, and the new one hasn't shown up yet. You tell yourself you'll find someone soon. Meanwhile, the clip and the ponytail start getting a lot more use than you'd like to admit.

Eventually, I stopped waiting for the right person to appear and went looking.

How I Found a New Hairdresser: I Asked

The answer was right in front of me, in the form of a woman whose hair I genuinely loved. I noticed it every time I saw her. The color was soft, and the cut moved the way hair is supposed to move. So one day, I simply asked who did it.

There's something reassuring about a recommendation you can see with your own eyes. You don't have to decode reviews or scroll through filtered photos wondering how much of it was the lighting. The proof was right there, catching the light while she talked.

She gave me her hairdresser's name, and when I looked into her background, my confidence went up even more. Fashion Week experience, and years of serious professional work behind her. This was someone who knew exactly what she was doing.

Was I nervous about sitting down with a new hairdresser? Of course. Anyone who has ever settled into a salon chair with a stranger standing behind them holding scissors knows that particular flutter.

But somewhere along the way, staying the same had started to feel riskier than trying something new. I already knew what another month of being unhappy with my hair would feel like, because I'd been living it. Choosing the unfamiliar wasn't reckless. It was me deciding that my own satisfaction counted.

Building the Right Foundation

Today's appointment was about toning my hair and bringing it back to a proper base before we highlight. The color came out darker than I'd pictured, and I loved that she explained why. This is the foundation the highlights will be built on.

I appreciated that more than I expected to. She didn't try to cram every step into one visit to impress me. She was thinking about where my hair would be two months from now, not only how it would look in the mirror today. Patience like that tells you a lot about a professional.

She was also wonderful to be around, warm and easy to talk to. She's the kind of person who makes you relax back into the chair instead of perching on the edge of it.

Letting Someone Good Do Her Job

I'll be honest. I'm particular about haircuts. Even when I know I need a trim, watching my hair fall to the floor makes me a little sad, and some part of me would like a moment of silence for every piece.

So I told her the truth. I don't like taking off a lot, but cut whatever it needs to be healthy.

And then I let her.

I didn't hover, and I didn't try to negotiate with the scissors. I sat back and trusted her.

That trust surprised me almost as much as the result. I hadn't stopped caring about my hair. I'd simply found someone whose skill I believed in, and that made it easy to step out of the way. There's a real freedom in that. When you've done the work of choosing well, you no longer have to guard every decision. You get to let someone who's good at this take care of you.

Maybe that's the gift of discernment. Leaving the wrong fit took courage, but choosing the right one is what finally let me relax.

Sometimes It Really Is About Your Hair

I don't need to turn this into an enormous life lesson. I wrote about letting some days simply be days in Personal Growth Doesn't Mean Every Day Has to Become a Life Lesson, and this one gets to be a happy one.

Something had been quietly bothering me for months, and today it got fixed by someone who cared about getting it right. You don't always realize how often a small thing has been nagging at you until the nagging stops. On the way out, I caught my reflection in a shop window and smiled at it. That hadn't happened in a while.

It felt good to look good. I'm allowed to enjoy that without explaining how it contributes to my personal growth.

Sometimes I would simply like to like my hair.

I'm So Glad I Asked

That earlier post was about recognizing it was time to leave. Today feels like its happy ending, because I found someone I'm excited to go back to.

I'm grateful to the woman who shared her hairdresser with me so freely. People don't always do that, and plenty of us guard a good stylist like a family recipe. And I'm grateful for the care and skill that went into every minute of today's appointment.

Maybe there's something like this in your life right now. Something small and fixable that has bothered you for a while and keeps sliding to the bottom of the list. It might be your hair, or it might be a provider who stopped being the right fit years ago.

You don't have to wait for it to become a crisis before you deal with it. Being a little unhappy is reason enough.

And if you see someone whose hair you love, tell her. Then ask who does it. Most of us would be thrilled to be asked, and that one question is how this whole good day started for me.

I walked out with healthier hair and a new hairdresser I can't wait to see again.

A very good day.

A billion-dollar day, actually. 🩷

About the Author | Day 287 of 365

I'm a soul-led coach, entrepreneur, mother, and recovering perfectionist, currently navigating healing, uncertainty, temporary chapters, motherhood, work, big transitions, grief, nervous system healing, overstimulation, emotional growth, and the ongoing lesson that life works a whole lot better when we stop trying to carry everything alone. Today that lesson looked like asking someone with beautiful hair who does it, then trusting a new hairdresser enough to let her do her work.

Day 287 of 365. Still showing up, and still admiring my hair. 🐧