featured notice
Over the bridge and through the neighborhood, to Ends of the Earth we go!
This past summer I received an email out of the blue from someone I had metjust once at a hair event in 2024. In it, he explained that he planned toretire at the end of the month and wanted to pass his clientele along. Soonafter, he asked if I would also be willing to buy his business.
Now, I definitely did not have “buya full salon” on my 2025 bingo card. In fact, I was most likely eating potatochips in bed watching a movie at the time. I had my suite on Capitol Hill andwas renting at my friend’s barbershop, Hatch Hair & Company down inColumbia City. My schedule was pretty set. And while I had once dreamed ofopening a brick-and-mortar salon, I had eventually let that idea go.
Growing up, you hear stories about people who get lucky, where the dominosfall perfectly and the universe just opens a door for them. I’ve never reallyseen myself as one of those people. But despite all my fear about stepping offthis cliff, the whole situation felt like a clear “just say yes, here’s yourchance” moment. From the name of the salon, to the interior design and evenlogo, everything happened so fast and organically I couldn’t bring myself tosay no.
I remember talking through my anxiety with my good friend Karin, someone Iused to cut hair with right out of beauty school in Bellingham, Washington. “Isit insane if I take this?” I asked. Her response was perfect. She reminded methat in our industry, passing the torch, passing on a business, is one of themost natural ways any stylist gets to have an opportunity like this. She wasright. I once Googled “best way to start a salon,” and most of the articlessaid either “have a lot of money” or “ask someone with a lot of money forhelp.” I kid you not!
This industry is not for the faint of heart (which is one of the reasons Ilove it). From beauty school onward, I learned that you get out of it exactlywhat you put into it. Sure, you can skate by without much effort inadvertising, education, or client building and still see some growth, or there’seven a chance you could get lucky. But the stylists I see truly thriving arethe ones who grab their careers by the horns and really step into it. I neverreally thought I’d be one of those people.
My introduction to the hair industry was not the typical one. People oftensay they got into hair because they grew up doing friends’ hair or were raisedaround a salon. That wasn’t me. That’s a longer story for later date but I’vequestioned my place in hair more times than I can count. I didn’t fully feelcomfortable until I moved to Seattle and finally stepped into my own. It took atleast five years of my career to get there. And now? I have a hard timeimagining myself doing anything else.
Anyways… Here we are, nearly four months into being at Ends of the EarthHair Studio. I could go on about the entire process and the dozens ofsynchronistic moments that lined up to make this place possible. And maybe oneday I will, if only to document it all for my future self. But the message thatwants to come through right now isn’t the one I expected when I first jotteddown notes for this entry.
What stands out to me most right now is how powerful a simple opportunitycan be. An opportunity to step forward, to try, to be seen, to see what you cancreate when someone opens a door for you. My hope is that this space becomes aplace where other artists can experience that same chance — to be noticed, tobe heard, and to grow. The biggest gift an artist can receive is simply theopportunity to show what they can do, and I wouldn’t have the opportunity Ihave today if someone I had met only once, over a year ago, hadn’t seensomething in me and believed I was worth taking a chance on.
