Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Duckworth.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Alex. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
While I’m not someone who necessarily grew up doing hair or makeup, I’ve always been drawn to doing both. I’m an only child raised mostly by a single mom who a) has a very different hair texture than I, and b) has always been low maintenance. I remember watching her French braid her hair (out of laziness, mostly), and practicing on myself until one day I’d learned. I have thick, curly hair, and my mom has straight, fine hair (and no patience). Because of this, I always ended up looking like some version of Shaun White, and I grew up hating my curls. By high school, I was flat ironing my hair every day. My sophomore year, A friend’s older sister went to cosmetology school and I became her guinea pig. I’d wanted to go to hair school after high school, but at the time, there was a large push for bachelor’s degrees, and all my friends were going to four-year universities. Therefore teenage Alex (whose friends were her primary concern) wanted to go to a four-year university. I changed my major a couple of times, and I’d even thought about dropping out at some point but finished nonetheless. I graduated from the University of Georgia in 2014 with a BFA in Interior Design.
After graduation, I had a couple of jobs. I’d struggled to get into the field, and realized I didn’t love design enough to work as hard as was required to be successful, so in 2016, I went back to school. I attended Paul Mitchell the School Atlanta from 7:30-3:30 Tuesday-Saturday. I worked full-time serving and bartending at night and on weekends, only sleeping 3-4 hours most nights. I graduated almost exactly one year later, in the fall of 2017.
In the hair world, I’d had a late start. Most girls I’ve met here in Atlanta grew up doing hair in some fashion and were only in school because the state requires a license. Most girls were under the age of 21 and either grew up braiding their younger sisters hair, had an aunt or a mom that was in the industry, or even had had their licenses before in other states, and were just there to make up hours and then there was me. Because I didn’t get started in the industry until I was 25, I’ve felt a need almost to overcompensate. I wanted to make sure I went to a good school, got a good education, and I wanted to work at a salon with an internship program so that I could further my education and get an idea of how the salon world worked before I threw myself into it.
I worked at a well-known salon in Atlanta from 2017-2019. I completed a one-year internship and worked full-time as a hairstylist the following year. I learned a lot, gained a lot of awesome friends in the industry, and wouldn’t trade any of it for the world. In October 2019, I got let go, off some politics mostly. Luckily, I’d seen it coming, so I’d already had job interviews lined up. After interviewing at a few salons in Atlanta, even having four whole interviews with one salon, being told after all of that that “they didn’t have enough space for a new stylist,” I decided to give up looking. I contacted my friend, Shanaya “June” Johnson, who I’d worked with at my previous salon. She had been let go about a month before I did, and we had always talked about one day owning our own salon, so after realizing that I couldn’t find a salon in Atlanta that was currently hiring that felt like home, we decided to start our own. We’d wanted to create a salon environment that is welcoming for all personality types, races, hair textures, genders, and styles, and thus, FLOW studio was born.
Has it been a smooth road?
Nothing about my hair journey has been a smooth road. I took car naps and survived off of Five Hour Energy when I was in hair school. I continued to bartend full-time throughout my internship, even though I’d thought working so hard would be done when I was done with school. I’d never been let go when I was let go from my previous job, which was financially and emotionally difficult to deal with, and I still work way harder than I ever thought I would have had to when I started this journey. I still bartend part time and sell drawings and graphics to help pay my bills.
As I type this, the COVID-19 outbreak has flipped my life upside down. Since starting my business, I’ve been working part-time at Drybar, doing women’s blowouts, and part-time bartending, both of which have been shut down due to the virus. I am now unemployed, with the exception of my small business, that I’m still pouting money into every week to build it. At the end of the day though, I’ve realized all of these trials and tribulations have bettered me and I wouldn’t change any of it. I’m so glad I realized what was going to make me happy at a young age rather than having to work this hard in 30 years.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
FLOW studio is a hair salon in Reynoldstown. My partner, June, and I both specialize in blonding, balayage and extensions. I also specialize in creative cuts, vibrant colors, and hair design/updos, while she also specializes in short cuts and sew-ins and wig making and installation. However, one of the things I’m most proud of as a company is that we both can do, and will do anything. We’re both of the mindset that where there’s a will, there’s a way, and we both are constantly educating ourselves. As I stated previously, the main goal of FLOW is to be a welcoming environment. Regardless of hair texture, length, age, gender, or desired outcome, FLOW is here to serve you.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I think Atlanta is a great place for hairstylists. Atlanta is diverse. Therefore I feel that allows for a diverse group of people to enter the industry. I also see the growing tv and film industry as an even bigger draw for starting a business in our city. Lastly, the constant growth and construction in our town lead to even more opportunities.
Pricing:
- Balayage Highlight and Haircut – $205
- Haircut and Full Blowout – $45
Contact Info:
- Address: FLOW studio
Salon Lofts (LOFT #4)
955 Memorial Dr SE
STE 522 (Floor 2)
Atlanta, GA 30316 - Website: flowstudioatl.com
- Phone: 6784716314
- Email: flowstudioatl@gmail.com
- Instagram: @_alexdartistry, @flowstudioatl
- Facebook: facebook.com/flowstudioatl
- Other: https://goo.gl/maps/G2SeyuKQeKS2rgBC7
Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
