Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Jones-Jacobsen.
Hi Natalie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started doing hair when I was in Jr. High just styling my friend’s hair for dances and graduations. Throughout high school, that’s what everyone knew me for, and one day one of my friend’s mom’s said “You’re good at this, you should go to cosmetology school!” After some extensive research and not knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up, I found it! I was going to be a hairstylist! The name of my business “SheHasRadHair” was actually thought up in beauty school!
Being from CA and having “rad” in my everyday vocabulary, the business name came to me while we were doing an exercise in class and dreaming up our own beauty salon! Little did I know that this name would be my official business name years later. Immediately after beauty school, I got a job at one of the top salons in Bakersfield, CA (where I lived at the time) working for the owner of the salon as her assistant! I wanted to be the best so I was determined to work for the best! Leah Lay was my mentor for almost 7 years, and I still consider her a mentor and friend to this day! She taught me all the inner workings of owning a business as well as running a successful business behind the chair.
I worked my way up the ladder at InSpire Salon and Spa from Leah’s assistant to the salon assistant trainer to her general manager, all while running my own successful behind the chair of my own booth in her salon. I absolutely loved what I did and I knew I wanted even more and to keep getting better! I continued my education by attending classes and hair shows as much as possible and even started looking into being an educator for Redken. Due to some unfortunate events in my personal life, I was forced to leave my dream job and dream clientele in an instant. I had to give everything up and start over in Nashville, TN!
But I’m a firm believer in “everything happens for a reason.” After moving to Nashville, broken from trauma and losing everything I had worked so hard for, I began the grueling process of getting my Cosmetology license transferred from CA to TN which took almost a whole year! But like I said, everything happens for a reason, because the job I had to get to pay the bills before restarting my hairstyling career is how I met my now husband! I’ve been doing hair now for a decade! I’ve grown so much between beauty school to now and I’m so thankful for every stepping stone and hardships along the way that helped me grow into the successful businesswoman I am today!
I now have my own Sola Salon here in Brentwood where I specialize in extensions and bringing that California blonding and beachy hair to the south! I love helping my clients look and feel their best all while getting to listen to their stories and hardships and create lifelong relationships! I continue to work on myself and my business by expanding my knowledge of extensions and all things hair. I’m currently working on my Master’s certification with the top extension company in the industry.
I’m also working with another company in the industry that helps stylists grow their business through different marketing techniques, I love coaching other stylists who are just starting out or starting over (like I was forced to 3 years ago). Onward and upward from here, and I can’t wait to see where this business takes me in the years to come! #SheHasRadHair
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?
It definitely hasn’t been the smoothes road… as I mentioned before, I was forced to give up everything I had worked for in California. For mine and my family’s safety, I’m not comfortable going into detail about the situation, but to sum it up I had to move to Nashville in a somewhat safehouse situation to completely start over.
My past relationship kept me from going back to the life I built in CA, but everything happens for a reason, and I wouldn’t be where I am today in my life or business if I didn’t go through that hard time! One day, I hope to help other women who have experienced similar trauma get through it and know they are not alone.
Also, I think every hairstylist goes through similar challenges in growing their business when searching for that perfect clientele and growing into doing the specialty things they love every day! It takes time and hard work, but I was here to do the work especially because I was forced to start over. It gave me a new outlook on starting my business again and doing things I wish I had done when I first started as well as not doing some things I did back then!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Artist, Creative, Entrepreneur, and Business Owner.
I specialize in extensions that actually promote hair growth. The integrity of all of my client’s hair is the most important thing to me in my business! I love starting a healthy hair journey with each and every one of my clients to get their hair where they’ve always dreamt it could be.
I have certifications from hair restoration to advanced cutting techniques to creative color techniques. I’m not sure if I’m legally allowed to list out the company’s with who I have certifications, but I would say hair restoration, extensions with specialty color is my specialty! And bringing my CA vibe and techniques to the south!
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
What makes me happy is getting to go to work and changing someone’s life by making them look and feel their best! I love those total transformations I achieve by utilizing my extension expertise and giving my clients the hair of their dreams!
It’s the icing on the cake when my guests are brought to tears at the end of their appointment because they love their hair so much and didn’t think it was possible to get there!
Contact Info:
- Email: shehasradhair@gmail.com
- Website: www.glossgenius.com/shehasradhair
- Instagram: @shehasradhair
- Facebook: @therealshehasradhair
Image Credits
She + He Photography
