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What do i do to become a hairstylist ?
I’m in high school & i love doing hair & i wanna know more about becoming a hairstylist.
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Katherine’s Answer
Hi Kyarah,
I’m Katie, a licensed cosmetologist in Florida.
What I recommend is checking your state laws and requirements about cosmetology school, what is the earliest age you can attend, and how many hours it is. In Florida, you can start at 16 years old and it’s 1200 hours which is about 10 months to a year of schooling. Since you’re in high school, you’d have to take night class and it’s about 6 hours each day for 5 days a week. Also, check and see if you can get a scholarship. I was able to get one and it really helped, plus I was able to graduate early at around 9 months.
Cosmetology is very well rounded and you definitely learn about hair and styling! After you’ve completed your schooling, see if you can become a salon assistant to build up a clientele. It’ll give you tons of experience. Additionally, DON’T booth rent until you have a clientele built up. Booth rent when you have 15-30 clients per week or when your weekly income is $1000-$1500. I say this because there’s a lot of salon owners who push young stylists into renting so that the owner can keep more money, I was in that spot for two months until I switched to skin treatments. And make sure you go through a legit interview and when you get hired on, make sure you sign a physical contract for employment under a W-2 or W-4 tax form. The last thing I would say is call around and get a service done at the salons that peak your interest to see if you could envision yourself working there. Salon culture is very important because that’ll help you build your clientele.
I’m Katie, a licensed cosmetologist in Florida.
What I recommend is checking your state laws and requirements about cosmetology school, what is the earliest age you can attend, and how many hours it is. In Florida, you can start at 16 years old and it’s 1200 hours which is about 10 months to a year of schooling. Since you’re in high school, you’d have to take night class and it’s about 6 hours each day for 5 days a week. Also, check and see if you can get a scholarship. I was able to get one and it really helped, plus I was able to graduate early at around 9 months.
Cosmetology is very well rounded and you definitely learn about hair and styling! After you’ve completed your schooling, see if you can become a salon assistant to build up a clientele. It’ll give you tons of experience. Additionally, DON’T booth rent until you have a clientele built up. Booth rent when you have 15-30 clients per week or when your weekly income is $1000-$1500. I say this because there’s a lot of salon owners who push young stylists into renting so that the owner can keep more money, I was in that spot for two months until I switched to skin treatments. And make sure you go through a legit interview and when you get hired on, make sure you sign a physical contract for employment under a W-2 or W-4 tax form. The last thing I would say is call around and get a service done at the salons that peak your interest to see if you could envision yourself working there. Salon culture is very important because that’ll help you build your clientele.
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Megan’s Answer
Hi Kyarah! I would practice as much as you can and watch video tutorials to learn. You can go to a cosmetology school after high school. Some high schools even have cosmetology programs where you can start learning in high school- see if your school has anything available to you. There are many cosmetology schools and I would start looking into them to see which ones best fit your needs. I hope this helps!