Conversations with Maria T. Esparolini

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria T. Esparolini.

Hi Maria T., please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Born in Washington DC,a family of seven siblings.
As a young child in school I styled my dolls’ hair.

In high school, I bought hair styling magazines and tried those styles on my hair.

My Mom would ask me if I was going to be a hairstylist, I said no!

Once in high school, she suggested I go to Vocational Education
beauty school , I agreed.

During that time, I shampooed hair in a small salon near home. I Made lots of tips!
Loved it and got my license before I got my diploma.

By the time I was 27, I had my first two chair salon in an office park.
It was great!
A built in clientele right there.

Advance Education has always been and is still so important for my career growth.

I am a former educator for Aquage and Conair, teaching

special occasion hair and advance hair cutting techniques in salons, major hair shows, our Annual Aquage Academy and worked with major distributors

Currently I am an independent educator, for special occasion and vintage hair design ,my number one passion.

Thanks to Instagram, My account grew from Dec. 27 2024 2,140 followers to 120,000 followers by Dec 27 2025.

Due to consistent hard work and sharing time saving no nonsense styling tips and helpful techniques.

My business is located @ Sola Salon studios in Johns Creek Ga.

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?
No smooth road for certain. After a good many years, I decided to work in a larger salon with more stylists, as the two chair salon was so isolating.

It took a few salons before I settled into one for many many years over in Dunwoody.

I was booked 6 months in advance with a waiting list.

That resulted in a major burn out with me leaving the industry for less than a year..

I opened up a custom drapery workroom, of which I had lots formal training over the years, sewing has been a long time hobby and still is.

It was around the same time the economy went into a very deep recession. Workrooms were closing up left and right due to that.
Here I was just new in the business and had barely built a clientele.

I had to go back into the hair business, and fortunately, back to the salon I left.

Everyone there was great, the best boss (Tim) ever,

Then he sold his salon and unfortunately, it was sold to someone who knew nothing about the beauty industry.

It was not a good situation for us, so we all left , myself and few of the other stylists relocated in a salon down the street.

That was a very good place as well, the owners were great, very caring about us and the business.
.

After several years, Sola Salon Studios started opening up, one near my home.

That was my next and final move., a one chair studio.

I came back full circle, but surrounded by many other wonderful professionals.

Its like a family there.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in Balayage and special occasion & vintage hair design.

I am known for keeping things simple, I call it the no-nonsense approach.

I most proud of the work I did for Aquage and Conair as to apply, everyone has to do three 45 min videos doing work on a mannequin, plus using the products and educating ourselves on what, how, when, for each product inside and out.

If 100 stylists applied for the job, only 1% actually did the work required to get hired, I was the 1%

What sets me apart, I tell it like it is, I share my failures and my strength is in Vintage hair design, as I have the foundation that I learned years ago.

Those fundamentals are no longer taught in the beauty schools and the majority of professionals are not trained to do looks from the 1920’s-1960’s

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Kindness, being transparent with clients and stylists who I train, helping others in and out of the industry.

Under promise over deliver

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hairbymariaesparolini.com
• Instagram: MariaEsparolini_Hairstylist
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teresa.esparolini/