Today we’d like to introduce you to Kerra Coticchia.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Growing up, I knew I wanted to be a hair stylist since I was 8 years old. I went on to receive a BS in Fashion Merchandising and Marketing from Kent State University. Diving deep into the fashion world, earning coveted internships, studying abroad in Florence, IT and New York City, I knew I still wanted to pursue the cosmetology industry after I graduated. I had the pleasure of attending the Brown Aveda Institute in Cleveland, OH and acquired my cosmetology license in 2011. Off to Chicago, IL I went to live the dream, doing hair.
I spent 10 years in Chicago and what a wonderful decade it was. I worked as an assistant for a year and a half closely studying the ins and outs of salon life and client relationships at Ladies & Gentlemen Hair Salon. I tucked many continuing education courses under my belt including Vidal Sassoon’s ABC’s of hair cutting, a 5 day private course with Vivienne Mackinder, and a 3 day intensive with Sharon Blaine . Many coffees and twelve-hour days later, I built a steady clientele and eventually acquired assistants of my own. I developed a love for doing makeup at this time and began to hone my craft of styling, especially for bridal hair. I became the manager of Kaizen Bridal, communicating with brides, creating wedding day timelines, and executing life-long fairytale visions. Securing a spot as the Artistic Director of Hair Styling for Kaizen Education, I began traveling all over the US and Canada teaching licensed stylists in hair cutting, hair coloring, and photoshoot work. After six years at Ladies & Gentlemen, I went on to help my dear friends as their Artistic Director while they opened their new space, Reverie Salon.
While maintaining my clientele at Reverie Salon, I gained opportunities like traveling to Parma, Italy for Davines’ World Wide Hair Tour as the makeup artist for the Kaizen Education showcase. I completed the Bellami extension certification adding even more options to my service menu. I began leading the salon’s social media and marketing by designing e-mail’s, curating content, and building promotional imagery.
After a successful career in Chicago my family and I moved to start a new journey in the south suburbs of Nashville. I am accepting clients out of Encore Off Main Salon in downtown Franklin, TN. I love the charm and friendliness of working in this area!
Most importantly, I’m a wife to a wonderful husband and a Mom of two amazing children. In the precious spare time I have, I love practicing yoga, cooking, getting together with friends , and being with my extended family!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
“The path isn’t a straight line, it’s a spiral.”
I think the hardest struggle is understanding that you cannot please everyone. As a hairstylist or makeup artist, it isn’t one size fits all and not every client is for you and you might not be right for every client. You can do the absolute most beautiful work and someone still might not be pleased. At times it’s not really even about the hair but maybe something else going on in their life. At the end of the day I know I always try my best and give each person my all.
It was also so hard for me to leave what I built in Chicago but I was ready for another adventure and building a new clientele in a new market. It was a challenge to navigate at first but I made sure to keep working hard to understand the market and deliver quality services and it’s absolutely paying off with a new and wonderful clientele base.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
One of my favorite things to do is be a part of photoshoots. I love creating looks for print, editorial, competitions etc. With my fashion background I know how important it is for everything to be cohesive in terms of vision. I’ve done a lot of makeup for various photoshoots and it has challenged me in the best way and I love having a portfolio of unique images. I am proud that I have been able to execute the vision of other hairstylists and photographers when it comes to makeup for their shoots. I think what sets me a part is that I know it’s not all about the look I’m creating for the model but it’s about the collaborative effort of all of the artists working on a shoot. I don’t take offense to any constructive criticism and I work very hard at communicating and understanding inspiration.
I also love to do weddings! I feel like hair and makeup is such an important part for a bride because she wants to look and feel her best. I take being responsible for that look very seriously.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Something surprising might be that I have a huge love for Italian food and cooking it. I grew up in a big Italian family and learned how to cook from my grandma and my mother and have now developed a style of my own. I really enjoy nutrition and knowing where my food comes from!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.itskerra.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kerrakerrakerra
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KerraHMU
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerrahmu/
