Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Matthews.
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?
When I sit back and really think about my beginning I never really wanted to be a hairstylist, growing up I wanted to be a pediatrician crazy how life has its way of working out.
I attended a career Academy high school where you had to select a career to focus on for your four years, I selected cosmetology. So when I graduated I received my license for cosmetology alongside with my diploma but I can remember always playing in my mom’s & sister’s hair so I guess it was a part of my destiny.
Hair was something I just was good at, I was always trying to perfect my craft but it took time for me to find my niche which now I know is short hair & color. When I started out I was doing a little bit of everything From weaves to men’s haircuts, I worked at this Predominantly Caucasian hair salon at one point in my career and we had to cut a lot of Men’s hair and that’s when I realized that I loved a short hair because When you really think about it a Black woman haircut is really no different from a Caucasian man’s haircut besides maybe texture, So I started focusing more on short hair because I really enjoyed the different styles, the different looks, different variations of cuts, I just loved everything about it!
Fast forward to October 2016 I’d been thinking about moving to Georgia for a while but fear of relocating and starting over rebuilding a clientele weighed heavy on me Well one day I just took a leap of faith I had this friend she actually applied for me a job at this salon in Atlanta lol I had no idea that she was doing this but I’m glad she did.
I flew to Atlanta auditioned for a stylist position, flew back to New Orleans they told us they were going to call us within let’s say 24 hours they didn’t call So I thought I did not get the position then about two days later they called and told me I had the job and I had two weeks to move to Atlanta, lol. To say the least, I was scared! Here I was this mom about to move to a new state with my children away from my family & friends and only knowing one person in Georgia! I thought I must be crazy but I wanna give it a try.
I’ve always been ambitious so I knew God wouldn’t lead me to something that wasn’t for me, not going to lie when I first moved here, it was really rough; I did not have an easy time it took a while for me to build a clientele and I was frustrated.
But I feel like I got my big break when I was offered to do K. Michelle‘s hair for a TV appearance she was doing and a few of the hair pages on Instagram like the cut life, the voice of hair, and mob hair reposted the style and it was like my clientele kind of grew overnight.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
For me, it was not a smooth road and when I first started doing hair it was no social media you literally had to get clients by word-of-mouth flyers and newspaper articles definitely sound crazy and it tells you how long I’ve been doing hair but in New Orleans, they used to have a little ads you could buy in the newspaper to advertise lol you really had to work to build a clientele, Social media has made it so much easier to connect people with other people and I love that for us. With doing hair, there’s a lot of trial and error especially when you’re just getting started. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes but I’ve also took those mistakes as lessons and learned from them and used those lessons to perfect my craft and make me a better stylist, I’m always a student constantly learning because in this industry there’s always a new trend. You have to stay up with the times to stay relevant.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a short hair stylist I specialize in haircuts and colors, I’m most proud of my resilience, I don’t get discouraged easily. What sets me apart? My aura is inviting, my work ethic is strong, I’m consistent. I feel like I make people feel comfortable and to me, that’s important you want your clients to be comfortable and feel confident in you.
What are your plans for the future?
Eventually, I would like to step from behind the chair, I really love decorating so maybe interior decorating, flipping houses…
Contact Info:
- Website: Styleseat.com/brittanym444
- Instagram: @shearbangin
