The past year has been quite a blur for me. I hired my first ever beauty assistant, bought a house, adopted a dog, started dating a great guy, took on a new role as a social media manager with Product Club in addition to teaching nationally, did some TV appearances as a Beauty Expert, all while running both my hair & makeup business and managing Thirteenth and Washington! Phew! I’m exhausted just typing all that!

With all that change there comes a learning curve. I call it “learning how to juggle”. I have had moments where I just wanted to quit everything but also moments of pure gratitude. For me doing hair behind the chair is just a very small piece to my big dream puzzle. I see so many people in all industries not just hair, literally going to “work” and then going “home”. That is honestly a nightmare.

I truly believe in order to live the life you want and have the experiences you want to have you must learn to juggle to keep it interesting. Do a lot of different things that challenge you and put you out of your comfort zone. It’s the only way to grow at a steady pace. Those folks going to work and going home have many plateaus and unfortunately for some their plateau is their whole life.

It’s important to take continuing education no matter what industry you are in. Davines has become one of my favorite brands to work with. They offer amazing classes that inspire as well as contest to push you to be your creative self. This past Fall I entered their Beauty Harvest contest because it looked fun! The idea was to create a look that incorporated the colors of Fall. So this was what I came up with…

“Pumpkin Spice meets the Pink Lady Apple”

ONE: This was SO much fun to do. It forced me to think of color in a different way. It made me better.

TWO: I freaking won 2nd place in a national contest! I literally did not expect to win anything! I was just excited to play around with some color and try something new. My grandpa always says, “You can’t win if you don’t play!” Those are words to live by.

If this past year taught me anything, it would be to keep on learning as much as my brain can handle! Which is a lot since my brain is huge. 😉