A Career in Beauty: There’s No Place Like Home

Almost everyone has seen the movie The Wizard of Oz, right?  If not, you really need to go out and rent it.  However, if you have seen the movie, you know what I am talking about when Dorothy clicks her sparkly red heels together and says, “There’s no place like home.”

Well, my question to you is: What makes a Home A Home?  Don’t worry you will understand in a minute how this relates to cosmetology!  To me, a Home is someplace where you can be who you are with no judgement.  A home, to me, is someplace where you can create, feel safe and be with the ones you love.  Cosmetology is “home” to a lot of people and it can be home to you too!

Being a Career Planning Specialist for the past 4 years, I have the opportunity to meet a lot of people.  One student stands out in particular because she found her home.  The student came in to my office and sat  down.  We started to talk about what her interests were and why she came for her tour.  She looked at me and said “I don’t know anything about hair, skin or nails, but I know that I can be myself, be who I am in this field.”  I asked her why felt that way.  She then pulled up her sleeves and what I saw was a ton of very colorful and creative tattoos up and down her arms.  I was floored because I never would have known that she had so many tattoos when she was so covered up.  She then told me that she had more and also had piercings that she took out for our interview.  She was having a really hard time finding a job that would accept her – all of her.

I knew then that this was going to be her “home” for the next year while she studied cosmetology.  She also found her home to her future career.  She knew that by joining the Cosmetology world, people would accept her.  She could have “crazy funky” hair, tattoos and piercings, if she wanted.  No more covering up for job interviews or being denied a job because of how she wanted to look.  Cosmetology became her home.  She felt safe, free and knew that she was accepted.

Now, don’t get me wrong some salons have dress codes, but that is the beauty of this industry.  You can be who you are because there will be a salon out there that fits your personality.  If there isn’t, you then can open a salon of your own!  Maybe one day you will click your heels together, and say “There’s no place like home,” and end up in my office on your path to becoming a Cosmetologist.