Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Thomas
Hi Courtney, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story starts in the small town of Romeo, Michigan. I had just moved back home to my parents house and had no idea what I was doing with my life…like most 20 year olds. Around that time I had started experimenting with self-taught special effects makeup and wanted to try that route as a career. I went online to see where to start and it lead me to either be good enough to get recognized on your own, get certified in makeup, or go to cosmetology school. At the time my reasoning for getting a master cosmetology license was to have options if makeup thing didn’t work. Little did I know, my back option of doing hair would be my passion.
When I told my parents I wanted to tour Paul Mitchell School of Michigan, they weren’t exactly thrilled. I didn’t have the best track record of seeing things through, and they also had a bit of a negative view of cosmetology as a career choice. I was determined to prove them wrong. I started full time at PMTS, sometimes 6 days a week, and graduated in a year. The first salon I ever worked at was in walking distance from my parents house right next to the local Tim Hortons. I worked there for about a year. During that time, I was in a long distance relationship with my boyfriend (now husband, Ashton) and flying from Michigan to Ge0rgia every month. After almost a year of that, I booked a one way ticket to ATL and never looked back.
The first salon I worked for coming to Georgia was a lot of uncomfortable growth. Not only because I was still a baby stylist, but also that I didn’t realize I had been working in a toxic environment till 4+ years in. I think every stylist, especially in the early stages of our career, can relate to that. It wasn’t all for nothing, I am still so grateful for that experience. It helped strengthen my work ethic, build my clientele, and showed me what I didn’t want from a salon.
Fast forward to fall of 2020, I met Stephen Posta for an interview to work at his new salon, Salon Posta. The building was nothing but walls and a roof, but his vision for the salon was spectacular. He talked so highly of the women he was bringing with him from his previous salon and how much he just wanted to take care of his employees by providing health care options and 401k’s. 2020 was a scary time for many reasons, personally I was a new mom with a 5 month old and about to jump ship from a long time successful salon to a brand new salon in the middle of a pandemic…terrifying. The faith Stephen had in this salon and the genuine love and care for his people made me hopeful that this was the right move. Since day one, he has been one of my biggest mentors. Tough love and all, he helped me grow and set higher standards in my career. He gave me the space to rediscover myself and what I truly wanted from this industry. Having a boss and friend that trusted me and supported me in my growth is something I didn’t have before. I told him when he first hired me that I wanted to educate. He gave me the opportunity to join our in house education team and other opp0rtunties for more education. He always believed in me and the team had built. What many people didn’t know is that during all of this, he was in a 13 year battle with cancer. July 29th, 2023, Stephen Posta passed away leaving behind the beautiful legacy that is Salon Posta. I am so thankful for him and all he gave me in our short time together.
Early that same year, Stephen introduced Salon Posta to R+Co’s color line, R+COLOR. I fell in love with the line and knew that I needed to be apart of this team. This would be one of the final opportunities he would gift me to pursue my goal of becoming an educator. Just before an R+COLOR class in June, he called me up and told me that I better show them what I got at that class. “They’re looking at you, so show up!” The week following his passing, I was offered a Regional Educators position with R+COLOR. I have been through training and teaching since then, and have loved every second of working with R+COLOR.
It’s not that the grass is greener on the other side, it’s just greener where you water it. Surround yourself with people that support you and believe in you.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Moving away from home was hard on me at first, which made the other struggles more challenging. My first salon I worked at after moving here was full of challenges. I worked for someone that has been a successful salon owner for 30+ years, but with that came much reluctancy to grow and adapt to an industry that is always changing. This made it hard for anyone working there to want to grow in their careers. The pandemic was also a struggle all on its own, but was a very scary time for cosmetologist where the salons were on of the first places to be open. As a new mom back to work during all this, I really thought I was going to quit doing hair. I hated where I worked, I was scared to work in a place that wasn’t following the covid guidelines, business was so slow and salons were closing everywhere. If it weren’t for finding Salon Posta, I probably wouldn’t be doing hair right now.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a color specialist and color educator at Salon Posta, and a Regional Color Educator for R+COLOR. I specialize in lived in color and fashion color. I also do a lot of alternative, transformative, and gender affirming haircuts. What I am most proud of and what I believe sets me apart from others id my constant drive to make an inclusive and safe space in my chair for humans of all walks of life. One of my favorite classes I’ve taken was a Genderless Haircutting class taught by Jo Wilson (hairstylist at Atlanta Hair Church) that discussed not only about taking gender specific verbiage out of our consultations, but the difference between being “welcoming” and being inclusive. All of this helped me to really focus on the physical, mental, and emotional needs of all of my clients, but especially those in the LGBQIA+ community.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
The ability to “shape shift” and also not lose shape. Every person that sits in my chair brings a different energy and different needs. Of course everyone wants to leave feeling gorgeous and sexy after their appointment, but we all know that a hair appointment is more than just hair. Sometimes its wedding hair, sometimes its break up hair, sometimes they gotta spill the tea, sometimes they’re seeking support. I’ll see 6-10 people in my chair in a day, and that is just my clients. Each one of those clients might need a different part of me that day, and a huge part of my job is that, to shape shift into who they need to feel supported by and trust. But I also had to learn to keep my shape by learning healthy boundaries with those clients so that I don’t get burnt out, resent my job, and take home all of that energy at the end of the day. I love getting to take care of people, not just by doing their hair, but making sure they feel heard, safe, and loved. And that requires me to take care of myself too.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.salonposta.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/c0urtnastyy
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/courtsan_cosmetology
Image Credits
Madison Stahl, Founder of Creative Cowboy (black and white photo), hair pictures taken by myself
