Today we’d like to introduce you to Ansley Johnson.
Hi Ansley, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I would say my “story” in this industry started in 2014, my junior year of high school. I had completed all three years of the cosmetology elective class and was going into my senior year. That’s when I realized how much of a burning passion I have for the beauty industry. I have always loved making women look and feel confident and beautiful. I had family asking daily what I wanted to do after high school as a career and I knew in my heart it was hair. The morning of summer break I told my mom I wanted to go tour Cosmetology schools. We ended up touring several schools that afternoon but the problem was they all required a high school diploma and I still had a year until graduation. My mom mentioned to me that this was my last summer before “adulting” and was I sure I didn’t want to enjoy it with friends. I told her I wanted to keep searching for schools that week that would accept me to start that summer leading into senior year. The next school we toured was Cobb Beauty College in Kennesaw, they were glad to have me interested at such a young age and I actually enrolled that same day of touring. I spent that entire summer full-time at the school and had set a goal to have my Master’s Cosmetology license by age 18.
Senior year I was able to do dual enrollment and leave school at 12:40 every day to go straight to Cosmetology school. Shortly after graduation I passed the state board, got a job at Jordan Scott Salon on Main Street in Cartersville and started college at Georgia Highlands. I worked at my first salon job for about four months, quit college and got a job working as a commission stylist in Rome. I was born and raised in Dallas, GA so all of my closest family and friends lived in that area and I realized how far that drive would be for most of my potential clients, so I left that salon about five months in. I then took a huge risk by renting a booth at Salon 3-forty-1 in Dallas. The first year or so was very hard because as a booth renter you are basically running your own business and are responsible for paying for all of your supplies, retail, rent, scheduling, etc. I had hardly any clientele as a new stylist so the thought of all of my overhead costs starting out was scary. A close friend of mine who owns a salon called The Cutting Crew in Cartersville offered me a position to assist her with hourly pay two days a week which was great for me while building clientele because I learned so much from watching her take clients and saw how she ran her business and the money I made from assisting Traci paid for my booth at Salon 3-Forty-1.
I continued to assist Traci for over a year while working for myself the other three days a week in Dallas. That entire year I focused on posting my work on social media, going to hair shows, watching as many continuing education videos as possible and of course mentioning to everyone at barrel races I went to on the weekends that I do hair. A fun fact about me, I’ve ridden horses since I was 5 and travel often competing in barrel racing so I have met a lot of people while traveling that has helped me build my business and now have many out-of-state extension clients. In 2016, I started working for a special event hair and makeup company based out of Atlanta. This company required training often for hairstyling and also got me out of my comfort zone and took me through many makeup training sessions. If I wasn’t traveling on the weekends to a barrel race, I was doing two sometimes even three weddings every weekend. I truly enjoyed traveling for weddings, meeting so many brides, bridal parties, families and of course working with many different vendors in the wedding industry and seeing so many beautiful venues.
In 2017, I finally felt like I had saved enough money to really start investing in my education more and take my business to the next level. I had worn extensions since high school and loved how confident they made me feel, so the first class I decided to take was The Mermaid Maker class in Dallas, TX. My mom and sister tagged along with me and we made a girl’s trip out of the class to Texas. It was a great experience, the owner and creator of mermaid hair extensions, Katie was very successful and taught me the Mermaid microbead method of installing hair extensions. This was a very popular method and I was the 3rd person to be certified in the state of GA. I completely started focusing my business on Mermaid Hair because I knew it was one of the least damaging extension methods on the market. After this class, I knew that transformations were my passion and I fell in love with seeing how excited my clients got after I installed their new set of extensions. I knew immediately that I had a true talent for color matching these extensions for the most seamless blend and really enjoyed custom coloring my client’s hair with the extensions as well. I did this method from 2017-2020. I had about 50 extension guests with Mermaid hair that came in regularly for maintenance and color.
In December 2020, I received an email that Katie will no longer be offering her certified Mermaid Makers the hair extensions or the special beads used to maintain the hair. I was crushed, I was so afraid I was about to lose all of my extension clients and not even be able to maintain the extensions that they had already invested so much in. Long story short, I got married in March 2020 and used Chrissy Rasmussen, creator of Habit Hair extensions videographer for my wedding and had followed her on Instagram for years, so I decided to talk to him about training with her. He told me how amazing her work was and that I should definitely go learn the Habit Extension Method. In February 2021, I went to Arizona and shadowed Chrissy and her team for the day, went through the Habit Hand Tied Extension Method training and got certified in her method. I also got my hair done at Habit Salon because I had never personally wore hand-tied extensions and felt like I couldn’t offer a method I haven’t worn myself to clients.
I then started offering this method to my clients and they all have switched to it and love it so much more than the microbeads. I always do the Habit Extension Method, but I am certified through Covet and mane as well and believe that Habit and Covet and Mane offer the highest quality of hair extensions. Between offering special event hairstyling and makeup for so many years, as well as blonding, balayage, haircutting and hand-tied hair extensions, my dream was to open a full-service Beauty Bar. I wanted to offer a one-stop-shop for all things beauty so that women could have an experience like no other, all in one place. I contacted my real estate agent and told her I was ready to start searching for the perfect location to open my dream beauty bar. My next dream is to brand my own hair extensions and teach my own method to other stylists, so I wanted the name of my brand to focus on extensions. My husband and I wrote out names off the top of our heads every night. He called me on my way home from work one night and said “Extended” that’s it babe, that’s your brand. I absolutely loved it and knew it represented what I do just perfectly.
So after touring places with my parents and real estate agent for a few weeks, we walked into an attorneys office in Marietta, it’s like I knew exactly what which room would be and had the design all planned out in my head the first 5 minutes of touring the building. We closed on the building November 15, 2021 and began the remodel process, I designed everything myself that I have had in mind for the last five years. The remodeling process took about six weeks, then the building of course had to go through several inspections, and the grand opening was February 26, 2022 just after my 25th birthday which was my goal. This experience as a Beauty Bar owner has been amazing so far, I have the best family, friends and clients that have given me an overwhelming amount of support that I am forever grateful for. Sometimes it still doesn’t feel real that I am the owner of such a beautiful space that not only I can enjoy and create in, but grow a talented team of stylists that feel like family and love Extended Beauty Bar as much as I do. We are so excited for this journey of offering Marietta all things beauty.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One of the biggest obstacles I’ve had in this industry is learning to set boundaries. For years, I would work until 9pm, 10pm or even some nights later and would end up working 7 days a week most weeks. Yes, it takes long hours and a lot of hard work to be successful in this industry but I learned how important it was for me to balance my work/home life and take better care of myself such as scheduling lunch breaks, taking Mondays off from behind the chair and prioritizing family time and getting more sleep. Self-care really is so important for me to be able to give it my best behind the chair every day and have a relationship with all of my clients.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’ve been researching the highest quality hair brands and the least damaging methods for many years. I’ve traveled to top salons across the country to train in these methods and become certified and offer my extension guests the best luxury hand-tied hair extension experience. Extensions are definitely what I would say I’m known for and all of the artists so far at Extended are certified in hand-tied extensions. The services I offer include hand-tied extensions, blonding using babylights/teasy lights, balayage and lived-in looks that are low maintenance. I have an eye for cutting extensions to blend and love cutting layered looks. I also offer special event hairstyling and enjoy doing makeup that enhances one’s natural beauty.
There are so many unique things about just the building itself that I feel sets us apart from others. It’s a historic building just off of Marietta Square and was one of the first “beauty schools” in the state, so it’s fun to bring it back to its original industry. At Extended, you’ll be greeted by our friendly receptionist with a glass of our signature champagne (if you’re of age) and while you wait for your services, you can check out our bar area featuring several photo ops, our beauty bar merchandise & our all of our favorite products.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
My parents are business owners and have helped me more than I can put into words and I’ve always looked up to them both. They own a construction business, so when I was a little girl my mom & I would bring my dad lunch on his job sites and he would always take me for a stroll on his tractors. I remember being very young and realizing how hard he worked on those job sites and how late my mom would stay up in their office located in their garage, doing all the business side of things. They also always wanted to show my sister & I the world, and how people live so differently in other countries so we did a lot of traveling and I got a passport at a young age. When my parents weren’t taking us on a trip, my sister and I spent all the weekends we could at our Mawmaw and Pawpaws house. I would set up bowls of water in their living room and paint their nails and give them pedicures. I also would always bring all of my barbies from home over to their house and chop their hair off. Another favorite memory and something I am so passionate about and still do to this day is barrel race horses. I have always braided their hair before competitions and groomed them. I had an amazing childhood and I am so thankful to be so close with my family.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://extendedbeautybar.glossgenius.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/extended.beautybar/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theextendedbeautybar
Image Credits
Photos 1, 2, 5, 8, 9 by Lyndsey Schappe Photo & Film #6 by Applehead Photography & Design
