To ease my doubts, I began an intense process of researching everything I could about the Cosmetology industry. The research eased my doubts. There were endless possibilities. There were many possibilities for me to build a consistent clientele, continue my education, training and achieve excellent income earning potential. Though the Cosmetology School I attended taught me a lot; it did not teach me half of what my research revealed. So, I was not all the way at ease. Yet, I pressed on full steam ahead with excitement to bring something new to the world of Cosmetology.
One of the first things that shocked me about growing into my new career was the equal level of excitement from potential customers being flattered and overjoyed at being serviced by a Cosmetologist who was punctual, honest, charismatic and educated with a smile on her face. I can recall people asking me did I have my Doctorate in Cosmetology! Now that was funny. I was amazed that the last "thing" they were concerned about was the actual hair style and it's cost. The first time I worked a full 8 hour day, I laughed at the amount of money I made. I even went as far as to look over my shoulder, laughed to myself and jokingly asked God, "Is this legal?"
My career excelled so fast, I did not realize the vast amount of success even as it glared me in my face. Yet, I still questioned the validity and longevity of it all. So, I peered a bit more. This time I decided to solicit the help of the customers. Let me tell ya, I was floored at what was being disclosed to me. On a few occasions, I contemplated calling the "Hot line." Only to realize, "Fool, this is not social work." Exactly what was being disclosed to me? Women, teens and children from all walks of life, nationality and so on were basically telling me stories of how horribly they were being treated by their professional Cosmetologist. 99.9% of every customer I serviced never had a consultation that included a questionnaire, an analysis of their hair and scalp or told in ADVANCE what the cost would be. After so many horror stories, my social worker came out. I thought to myself, "something must be going on with this group of professionals." So, I looked in my DSM IV and there was no diagnosis (it's a social worker thang...you wouldn't understand...lol!) for such behaviors.
Day after day, customer after customer; they were disclosing to me their fear, embarrassment, emotional and psychological abuse inflicted on them by their licensed Cosmetologist. Since I could only be a sounding ear that would actually listen to them, I decided I would label those unwanted and unprofessional practices as the "Hair Stylist Oppositional Defiant " disorder. What is that? Basically, it is defined as a very moody, mean, fake, disrespectful, self absorbed, habitually late, over the counter purchasing, only CEU (Continuing Education Units) getting, attitude of been there seen that, you better not go to another hair stylist threatening, weed smelling, telling bar hopping stories, disclosing too much hanky panky, cocaine snorting, switching salons to work at every 1-5 years, disrespecting the salon owner, degrading and gossiping about their booth renters/employees, don't know any of the Ohio State Board rules, half sanitizing, working in a dirty or uberly clean salon, thinking that having their salon in a suburb is better than ones in the city, snobbing city salons, spreading eagle/crawling across the advertisement and don't know they are being exploited and their kids are embarrassed of them, never have their hair combed, never wearing their own hair, never applying the relaxer correctly, bleaching/highlighting the hair too often, round brushing the customer's hair off their head, re-using processing caps, not sweeping up the hair after they have provided a hair cutting service, cutting too much hair off, getting upset when the customer is upset that the hair stylist cut off too much of their hair or/and over processed their hair, using too much glue, never teaching their customers what to do when they leave the salon, intimidating their customer into never telling them that they honestly do not like the hair style the hair stylist just gave them, not answering their cell phone, referring to their customers as the "one o'clock is here," referring to the new cosmetologist as the "assistant or shampoo girl" knowing damn well the State of Ohio license us all the same, never or half giving back to the community, charging too much just because they have been, excuse me, "in the game for a long time," charging what every body else is charging, limited English speaking LICENSED by the State of Ohio Cosmetologist.
While the "Hair Stylist Oppositional Defiant" disorder is not recognized by the psychology profession; trust and believe it is very real. To think that the extreme success of my career actually lies in my abilities to have a standard of exceptional customer service, fair pricing and honesty kinda makes me say, "Ooooh mother was right again." You remember the childhood golden rule, "honesty is the best policy." When I received my license from the state, I was intimidated and afraid because I was much older. I had very little hair styling skills, dressed way too something and had only been inside a salon twice in my life prior to becoming one. Another childhood golden rule comes to mind, "nothing to fear but fear itself." So, I rolled my sleeves up, jumped and "the net" actually appeared!
If you are a customer and your Cosmetologist displays 3 or more of those behaviors listed above, speak to your stylist in private. This will give them a chance to do a check up from the neck up. If you do not see a change in two weeks, try another hair stylist. If you are a Cosmetologist reading this and you can relate to 3 or more of those behaviors defined in the "Hair Stylist Oppositional Defiant Disorder," you are not alone. Remember, "nothing to fear but fear itself." The solution is to stop isolating yourself with your own kind. Find a mentor that you can shadow and follow. Challenge your "feel good" area. If you always feel the same the minute you stand behind that chair; I assure you, you are not growing. The only thing that will grow is the ego. Therefore; pray, read more and attend different kinds of training. Do not think for one minute that customers from: varying ages, religious backgrounds, sexual orientation or income brackets are not aware or is tuned in to what is going on around them. Why? One last childhood golden rule to help you along the way; "You can fool some of the people some of the time. And you can fool some of the people all the time, but you can't fool
Do the right thing.
5000 G
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