Rising Stars: Meet Julie Kleine

Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Kleine.

Hi Julie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My husband and I were teen ministry leaders for our church…I had lived that life for 8 FULL years. It had been my life since my mid-college years. Although I finished my degree mid-way through school when I was asked if I wanted to go into the ministry full time to help be a support to teen girls, I 100% gave up pursuing my career to pursue giving my heart and support to helping these girls feel a positive encouragement to live their best lives. Three years in, I married my husband who also made the decision to be full-time in the ministry. So, together we spent our lives hanging with high schoolers, giving inspirational lessons (I hope), traveling abroad and across the USA, having our apartment be a revolving door full of teens and Bible studies…and coffee…because, well, we loved coffee lol!

After the 8th year, our international church went through a MAJOR crisis. Things needed to change and well, God has a tendency to shake things up that need it. The church leadership changed, money was no longer being given because support and trust dwindled. There were financial cuts that needed to be made and we were a part of that madness.

So, eight months into my 1st successful pregnancy, two months after buying our first house and one month before Christmas, we found ourselves jobless. Good times!

After the initial shock, I found myself in the hospital in the high-risk unit for three weeks on bed rest while my husband spent his days pursuing his job hunt. He wound up taking on a full commission sales job and I ended up being a stay at home mom while we shared the one car we had. If you were not aware, ministry work doesn’t pay much. We definitely hit the bottom of the ocean floor financially. He was out during the day chasing leads and I was at home with the newborn avoiding the phone calls from bill collectors (We had landlines back then). It was messy…very messy.

After a few years of the same and one more kiddo later, I took on a part-time mall job at Bath & BodyWorks. I called it my sanity job, lol! That didn’t last long…my pride couldn’t handle having a college degree and getting paid minimum wage.

I remember crying one day to my friend, Mary Tilton. Telling her, I was tired of wearing hand me down clothes, being stuck in t-shirts and yoga pants all day and I needed an out. Well, she gave me one for sure!

The hair salon she worked at was looking for part-time help at the front desk. Well…no way!! I knew the salon. My old college roomie was a hairdresser there, I had been a client there a few times and Mary was training to be a hairdresser there too. SCORE! So I made the 45 minute drive to interview there. When you’re desperate for a change, what’s a daily 45 minute drive anyway!? Well, found out a few days later that hope was still alive. I got the job!! Whoop whoop! I started and absolutely loved it. I loved the energy, the people, the industry. I felt alive again.

After a few months, I was asked if I wanted to apprentice to become a hairdresser. At the time, my girls were three and four years old and the job was 45 minutes away. I said no because I needed to put my girls first. I spent the next four years part-time at that front desk. In the midst of that, I started a side hustle of creating a jewelry business because my creative side needed an outlet. Didn’t tell you, but I started my college career at The Fashion Institute Of Technology in Manhattan and ended with a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Industry at Georgia State University. Art and business apparently are my jam.

There was definitely a time while working that front desk that I said I never wanted to do hair. I saw the stress the hairdressers felt at times and some of the things they had to deal with and I said, NO WAY! But life has a funny way of twisting and turning. After four years there, my girls were a little older, The finances were still a struggle, and hairdresser life looked a little more appealing. Sooooo…I did it. I jumped headfirst into training. I was scared.

Starting a second career at 38 where people were “old school” by the time they hit their 40’s was a bit intimidating, lol! Remember, most hairdressers start in the biz at 18 or 19. At my age, they had already been doing hair for 20 years. I was definitely behind the ball and I felt it! I became what my manager called a “heat seeking missile of education”. I didn’t just want to learn what to do, I needed to learn all the deets on why things worked the way they did. I’m a total “why” girl.

As I started to dive deeper into my training, I realized there were pieces missing in the education on how and why to use the chemicals I was using. I thought, If I’m going to walk away with a Master of Cosmetology license, why do they make it SO hard to find the information you need to Master this!?

So, I went on a hunt to find it and the people who could teach it to me. I ran into the likes of David Velasco, Dennis Gebhart, Mags Kavanaugh, Gary Call, and John Halal. These guys knew the inside scoop and so I learned it from them. I took their classes, I read their books, I asked the questions, I trained in it thru experience and I’ve even gotten to teach with some of them. I came up with my own way to communicate the information in a simple and clear way so that we can reach more and more hairdressers. There is A LOT of work to do in our industry. Too many hairdressers are left uncertain and confused in their chemistry and color theory. Our mission with the education company I created, Colors With Chemistry, is to help as many as we can. If the information is available, there’s absolutely no reason anyone should get left behind!

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?
It has definitely not been a smooth road, but what road is right!? I think sometimes the bumpy road is what actually creates the magic. There’s always the educator out there who doesn’t like the way you teach something because it’s not the way they think it should be done or said. There’s the company who won’t allow you to give your information because they don’t think the hairdresser wants or needs all of it. There’s the stylist who wants you to give them all the information for free because who isn’t giving information out for free on Youtube or Instagram these days!? There’s also the internal struggles of learning to balance putting yourself out there in the public eye in a big way. Learning how to strive forward, leaning into having boundaries and not allowing the opinions of other people sway the big picture, your why.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My work is finding ways to create fun and simple ways to clarify hard information for the hairdresser. We take the complicated chemistry of color and color theory and make it VERY visual, fun, relatable and easy to understand. These classes are specifically for the hairdressers that want to be clear in the how and why of their chemicals and colors so that they can be in more control of the art they’re creating behind the chair everyday.

We have a three part course that they can take that helps put them in the driver’s seat when it comes to learning how to formulate with purpose, no matter what color line they choose to use. The first course focuses on getting them grounded in the foundations of color theory and learning to identify the colors they see in the hair in their chair and the tube of color they choose to use. The second course focuses on the chemistry of color, learning the in’s and out’s of how their chemicals work so that they can be in control of the natural lift they’re creating in the hair. The third part of the course is called “Formulating With Purpose”. It’s where we put the puzzle pieces together from the first two classes so that they have a solid process to walk thru when they formulate their colors with anchors, clarity and solid ground. I have an incredible teammate, Alisha LaShun, who helps me run each and every program we do! So far, we’ve been able to teach stylists from many different countries: Spain, UK, Ireland, Scotland, Romania, USA, France, Australia, Iran, Trinidad and Tobago!

Our goal is to eventually be able to hire more educators that will be able to help us reach more and more hairdressers all over the world!

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
The qualities most important to my success?? That’s a tough one because here’s what I’ve come to realize, the bigger the goal, the more I’m having to face in order to get there. The more specific my message, the more polarizing it can be and the more I’m having to strengthen myself from the inside out. So, I would have to say, resiliency and always staying open to learning and growing. Can I give more than one?

In this business, you have to be able to handle a lot that comes your way, especially because it’s such a visual and public industry. The goal HAS to be something bigger than yourself or you won’t be able to handle all that comes your way. With this goal, it’s definitely going to take a lot of inner resiliency, willingness to grow, learn and pivot to get there.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: colorswithchemistry.com
• Instagram: @colorswithchemistry

Image Credits
Photo Credit: AYPhotodesign