Today we’d like to introduce you to Jade Williams
Jade, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have loved doing hair my whole life. I would cut and color my friends and families hair starting at about the age of 14 and I knew as soon as I finished high school I wanted to go right into the hair industry! So I worked a job starting when I was barely 16 and I saved my money and I went to go get into school. The way that MTech does it is a raffle with about 500 people and I got in my first time. I started school in March. They originally told me it would be about a nine month program but you can do it faster, depending on how quickly you learn things and if you stay longer and come before school and things like that. The way that MTech does their schooling I don’t recommend they are very very strict. You can’t even miss one day or you have to pay for additional hours and from everything I have seen and read they require more haircuts and colors and things like that to pass off, than the state requires. So I decided that I was going to get really good at what we were learning for each unit and get done as quickly as I could so that I could start into the industry. I did the whole program in barely over seven months and immediately started looking for a job. I quickly realize that the hair industry is really really bad right now, it is extremely overpopulated. There are not enough jobs, and they are not willing to pay hardly anything. The way that they have it set up is you can either be an apprentice or start by either washing hair, or doing basic things like haircuts and taking care of salon supplies for about a year until you prove that you are ready to move up. That’s called level one. From there you can move up to level two which at most salons, ss more advanced haircuts like beginner chemical services and root retouches and just simple things like that and then you do that for another year about. And it just goes on and on and the more that you level up the more you can start doing and on average from everything that I’ve seen around here it takes about five years to do things like all over colors, vivid colors, and all over highlights, which is what I want to specialize in, and I have gone to additional education and taken classes specifically on specializing in colors. So I thought that that was not fair because I have every qualification that everyone else has I just don’t have the time and experience under my belt. So I decided well I have space in my parents house. I am going to open my own salon! I have a good clientele that follows me around and I just need a business license and all the certification, so I got them and I opened my little Jade’s Fades and Shades! It was definitely rough at first kind of trying to get my name out there and build a clientele. The clients that I did have all needed their hair done at a certain time and then they wouldn’t have to come back to me for a month to three months, depending on what they are needing and wanting, so there would be dry spells where I just wouldn’t have many clients cause I would see them all at about the same time. I tried things like making a bunch of business cards and going and putting them out wherever I was allowed to and wherever I could, at small businesses and Bridal Center’s and grocery stores places like that. Then I made a sign for my front yard that I would put up anytime that I had a new client come and they had all my information on it and they could share that with any of their friends. A lot of it is word-of-mouth so I try and give my first time clients and even my returning clients a unique experience. I have little goodie bags for the first time a new client books with me, a music system that plays, comfortable seating. And slowly, but surely I’m getting more and more clients and I’m slowly starting to takeoff! I love all of my clients! Client-stylist relationship relationships are really important to me, so I like to make everyone feel as comfortable and as welcome as they possibly can when they come. My end goal is, I wanna be able to, when I do end up having kids and a family be able to be at home with my kids, and still be working and doing hair and doing what I love but be able to be around my family as well!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Getting my name out there has been the hardest part for sure. I’ve had all of my family and friends tell their family and friends, and my whole ward has told everybody they know about it, and I’ve gotten quite a few clients from that. My Google page brings in people and so does my social media, but I’m still trying to figure out how to expand my business and get my name farther out there than just family friends in my neighborhood!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am known for my vivid colors so things like rainbow hair or bright purple hair. I have had colored hair pretty much since I was in seventh grade and I would change it every couple of months or so. I use lesser known products for my vivid colors and a lot of the other stylist that I talk to her kind of surprised by it. I know a lot of tips and tricks for colored hair like if you get your hair colored bright blue I’d recommend using a vivid blue shampoo, which is basically a shampoo that has a teeny tiny bit of blue coloring in it so every time you’re washing your hair, you’re kind of renewing it and you don’t have to come in as much. A lot of people won’t commit to a vivid colored hair look just because of how much up keep it is, so the color shampoo definitely helps with that and it’s a very much lesser known thing in the hair industry. I’m very proud of my product knowledge. I have gone to Many product classes. I’ve worked at product stores to expand my knowledge on local products. I worked at Sally Beauty for two years through high school and before/during hair school, and I became their color specialist there. I was very proud that any time we had anyone wondering about color come in there, they would always send them to me and be like “oh yeah Jade knows the most about color here she can help you!” I feel like what products you’re using for your hair is just as important as getting your hair done in taking care of it. I’ve always been somewhat of an artist too. I’ve been drawing and painting since I was very young. I took every art class they had all through middle school and high school, and I think that’s what I like about doing hair the most as it’s away for me to be creative and make peoples visions and dreams come to reality!
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
So I have an IGA deficiency, which is basically I don’t have IGA antibodies, which is over the stomach and the respiratory system, which basically means that I get sick a lot and it’s usually pretty bad for me. Covid was a huge deal. They told me that if I get it, they don’t know what would happen, but they knew that it would be really bad and possibly life-threatening. My dad also has an immune deficiency disease and he does not have any antibodies at all. So trying to get through school and life and everything while Covid and all that was going on was really hard. And then while I was in hair school, I also found out that I had endometriosis and I had to have a lot of procedures and doctors appointments because of it, so trying to go to school for 60 to 70 hours a week and then work 20 to 30 hours a week on top of scheduling doctors appointments and being in the hospital was very difficult. But I feel like it has made me a better and stronger person because of it. I’m very persistent and it changed me as a person, because I realized I can do hard things even if I’m struggling with my own personal events in my life. Hair school was definitely the hardest thing that I’ve ever done in my life. It was so demanding and it was so fast paced. But it helped me realize that I can do anything,all I had to do was put my mind to it and I could even open my own salon!
Pricing:
- Women’s haircuts are $40
- Men’s haircuts are $30
- Kids haircuts are $15 (ages 0-10)
- All over color starts at $115
- Highlights vary from $90 for mens to $180 for a full balyage
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jades-fades-and-shades.square.site/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jade_hair.stylist/profilecard
