The Community Spotlight series showcases innovative GlossGenius Educators and Ambassadors who go above and beyond, not only to educate their community but to inspire them, to dare them to dream big, and to empower them with the tools to succeed in managing and growing their business.

Marissa King is a veteran in the beauty industry, coming up on her 18th year as a stylist in the Metro Detroit, MI area. She is the owner of Hair by Marissa inside a Sola Salon and has been an active GlossGenius member since 2017. In 2019, Marissa became a GlossGenius Educator and is currently our most successful referrer in the program. You can follow Marissa at @hairbymarissar.

Dani Berkowitz

Hi Marissa, thank you so much for joining me for this conversation. I feel kind of like I'm in the presence of royalty since you are our top educator at GlossGenius right now.

Marissa King

Well, thank you!

Dani Berkowitz

I'd love to start at the beginning and learn a little bit about what your early days were like in your quest to become a hair stylist and what that means to you.

Marissa King

So, early on – I mean, like, I was a kid – I knew after I destroyed like every single Barbie that I owned and told every person in my family that I wanted to do hair. I was super nervous about it, so I would talk myself out of it a lot and tried different ventures, tried going to community college – that was a fail.

So then I just took the leap, but then I of course didn't like any schools that were necessarily around me, so then I kept looking, then I found one. That was definitely an interesting year of my life – beauty school is no joke, and I think a lot of people think that it is and it is not by any means. And then once I graduated, I found a salon. Well, I still was a little bit nervous, took my time trying to find a salon and then found a salon and I stayed there. I'm a creature of habit – I stayed there for 12 years before I quickly realized at a little before the 12-year mark that it was time, I needed to be able to grow, and things had changed there.

But being a hairdresser is scary, and it's a lot of work and a lot of people don't give hairdressers the credit that we deserve because it's intense, it is very intense. And when I decided to go out on my own, it was all at the same time as having a new family, just had a baby, had been in a house, me and my significant other, now husband, we had moved in together – it was a thousand different things all at once. And then also it happened a week before Christmas, so I was like, 'Oh, sure, no problem. Let's just make this all happen.'

Dani Berkowitz

Wow. Needless to say, you like to pile things on. I know that you're currently planning your wedding, which is happening in a couple of days from now.

Marissa King

Yeah, I think the countdown is at like eight days.

Dani Berkowitz

Wow, that's unreal. So, you've got your wedding going on, you're managing to be the top educator at GlossGenius, and you have completed tons of events, personally and professionally – how do you do it all?

Marissa King

No lie, I cry a lot – out of like happy tears and stress tears – and I have my moments. But thankfully, my husband and my family and my friends and my co-workers in my Sola know that I just have to have my dramatic moments... and I make tons of lists. I have literally lists and notes of what I have to do in my calendar, my planner, I have a million – half of them have the same thing – but if it makes me feel better... I am like the most organized/unorganized person ever, but somehow I make it work. I try at least.

Dani Berkowitz

You're trying and it's showing off – your effort is there, so pat yourself on the back for that. I want to go back to what you said about how beauty school is no joke. If someone was just starting out, maybe they are, you know, on their second or third career and wanting to become a hair stylist or maybe they're fresh out of school and wanting to get out there, what would you suggest for someone who was looking for a beauty school?

Marissa King

One of my things was – at the time, which they're not here anymore, but at the time – when I was looking there were a lot of beauty schools still open that were the school that every Wednesday, a big RV bus would pull up, drop the little old ladies off, they'd get their hair washed and set, and I was like ‘That is not me, I don't want to do that.’

And then there were other schools that focused only on one specific brand or line and I knew that the majority of the salons that were around me where I would potentially work weren't those. So I didn't want to spend my 10 to 12 months focusing on that brand and then basically graduating and then going to a salon that I learned nothing about with that and then having to retrain.

I was fortunate enough – well, I guess I was fortunate but then also it was really scary because there was a school that had just opened in my area, they focused on more than one line, but one of them was one that I was very familiar with and that I knew most salons carried. But I was the second full-time class to start and I was part of the second full-time class to actually graduate.

So it was kind of one of those things where it was like I was just taking a chance on myself and on them because I didn't know anybody that had gone to that school until I started there and for all I knew they could have been the worst school ever.

But once I toured it and then just looking at certain things, like I mean, they were a little bit trendier, they weren't the typical school where it was going to be like all these old ladies coming, like all of that stuff, it was much more geared and focused on things that I saw myself doing in my career. So that was why I kind of jumped in with them.

Dani Berkowitz

Ok, thank you for giving me that background, that's super helpful, because it's amazing to see where you are now and it's helpful to know where you came from, so that maybe someone else can see themselves in your shoes based on your struggle. We kind of talked about the challenges that you faced when you were starting out but working for someone else.

Let's talk about the transition from working for someone else to working for yourself. What did the early days of that transition look like?

Marissa King

So for me the early days of transitioning from a commission salon to a Sola – it was very chaotic. I had known for a little while that I wanted to make the move, leaving my commission salon and going off and trying to do something on my own. Honestly, not even 100 percent necessarily doing a Sola like this – I just knew there were a lot of changes that happened where I was and it was just time. And then I kind of found out a couple other girls were wanting to leave and they weren't necessarily sure if they wanted to, like same thing, do a Sola, do a suite, or do just a different salon.

So then we kind of started working together to figure out what we wanted to do. Then there were tons of changes that were happening in my life and then in the salon where I was, in that situation. But those first two weeks, honestly, I think would have been so much more dramatic and stressful if it wasn't for the owner that we had of the Sola – he is actually the one who told me about GlossGenius. So then I was like, oh, okay – I didn't know anything else.

And so then once I spent my night with GlossGenius on the app, figuring stuff out and playing around with it I was like 'Oh, this is going to be nothing.' And it made it so much easier because I didn't have to spend my time calling all these different people that I had on my books, I could just shoot them a message right through my GlossGenius app. I was like 'This is great!' So that I feel helped the transition of doing everything so much more.

Dani Berkowitz

What would you suggest to someone who's just starting out, when you're just building out your own business?

Marissa King

So when you get out of school and you have your license, a lot of girls I found think that they should just go right into their chair. Don't go right into it. Yeah, there are some girls that are amazing when you're in beauty school, okay. Become an assistant at a salon that you like that has successful stylists there. You need to be extremely humble. And you need to not be somebody that thinks that they can work three days a week, get off early on Saturdays, like you have to be prepared to be always having a stack of business cards with you.

I mean, on your day off going wherever you go and commenting on somebody's hair, giving them your card, like just non-stop. And not being that person that is complaining that they're working because you literally need to be prepared to work every single day just to get in a habit and just get your name out there. And if whoever you're assisting for, you know, wants you to do extra things, whether it be like 'Oh, you know, we're doing this event...' I'll always volunteer – you have to be prepared to work your behind off.

That's the biggest thing, like if you're not prepared to hustle and be motivated all the time, even when you have other crap going on, it's not going to be an easy road for you.

Dani Berkowitz

So for someone who is just starting out, what would you suggest to look for in software?

Marissa King

Definitely user-friendly – user-friendly for yourself and user-friendly for your guests. You want something that isn't going to screw you in the end, where with GlossGenius I don't ever feel like that's a situation. I'm not one that's like 'Oh, I checked my bank account today and I got charged this from so and so and this from so and so,' and like, 'Wait!' like it's a surprise at the end of the day – you aren't going to experience that. So that is something: making sure it's cost effective – GlossGenius is. Especially in 2021, customer service is so important.

So I feel like with GlossGenius, like I've said from before everything that had happened, it was just the easiest, they had the best customer service. I would be shocked when I would send an email or try to get an answer to a question and I'm like 'Oh, they already responded.' Like it was shocking. So you want something that is like that.

Dani Berkowitz

What should a professional look for in software to help them stand out and how has GlossGenius helped you with that?

Marissa King

I don't like to go with just whatever everybody's using, I've always wanted something that's different, unique, geared towards this industry. When I heard about GlossGenius, obviously at the time I had used whatever my current salon had been using, so I knew how software worked. But I wanted something that was super stylish, I wanted something that was essentially smart and would do what I needed it to do – and only what I needed it to do. I didn't necessarily want something like 'Yeah, I went to, you know, the local fair and I bought something and they used this booking payment or system that I'm going to use at my salon.' I wanted something that people were going to be like 'Oh, wow, this is so cool.' In the beginning after I signed up, a lot of people were like 'Oh, I'd never heard of it but this is so nice, this is so easy. Oh my god, your site is so cute.' So those things, I was like 'Okay, I made the right choice.' And then once I got into it, I was like 'This is perfect, it's literally so easy.'

Dani Berkowitz

Can you share your GlossGenius story and what features make your experience?

Marissa King

Once I signed up and then started following on Instagram, and like really seeing everything... and honestly, I feel like during that time, GlossGenius was just starting out, so I feel like we've kind of grown together. One of my biggest things, because I definitely mentioned in the beginning how I am such an organized/unorganized person, I love – love, love, love – that GlossGenius texts me all of my notes, I can put all of my notes in.

But then my biggest thing is I can just go on my app and if I need to get – you know, last year I did from this time to this time – my reports, that is a huge thing. My tax guy appreciates GlossGenius because it makes it so much easier for him, because like I said, I'm very scatterbrained and I try to stay organized and keep everything and then I'm like 'Oh, wait, I don't know what this is, hold on...' and I just go right on my app, it's all laid out, and it's so easy. Like, I don't have to go through a million different things to get to it – I just go right to what I want and it's there.

So I think honestly the reports are probably by far my favorite thing. And because then, again, I'm always in competition with myself so that I'm forever checking what I'm at now compared to what I was, you know, from a year ago?

Dani Berkowitz

Did you have a mentor during this process or do you still have a mentor that you look up to?

Marissa King

So in the beginning, who I mainly assisted for, he was the owner – I definitely looked up to him a lot. But then I would say on the whole, most of the girls that worked there had all assisted for him at one point. And I mean, there were girls that I would see what they were doing and I'm like 'God, this is great. They make it look like it's so easy.' So I definitely looked to them a lot.

I would say now there's a handful of girls and there's a couple girls that I had followed that are through GlossGenius that are educators with me that, before I ever was an educator, I followed and I was like 'Oh god, look at what they're doing' and things like that. So I don't think I have like one person but I definitely have a handful that are my go-tos, that if I have a question or if there's things that I'm unsure about that I would go to and ask.

Dani Berkowitz

So that's how you would become a hair stylist like bar none, like getting to that point, paying your dues, giving all that you've got. You know, first one there, last one to leave – everyone knows that ladder that you've got to climb. What are your go tos, like, what are some things that you typically look up or want to explore?

Marissa King

The main thing that I'll just go to, for instance, would be off of my Instagram. I mean I don't know if other stylists are like this but I have 7,000 boards on my Pinterest and on my Instagram that are color, that are extensions... I just recently signed up with a girl who taught a class that I did for extensions. She's offering her own monthly type service, so I signed up for that and I have a board for her. So I'm definitely geared towards bridal updos and braids, but literally just 7,000 different boards, like my brain is always somewhere else.

Dani Berkowitz

Pinterest is key and I love the saved boards on Instagram, I also take advantage of that. Before you started Hair by Marissa, did you have to get a certification or training outside of your license to open your own business?

Marissa King

So I was fortunate enough that one of the guys that was part of the Sola franchise that I'm in, he was extremely helpful with helping me and a few of the other girls get started. Whether it was like 'Okay, are you going to do a DBA? Are you going to have an LLC?' – those are super important and like knowing about your sales tax and little things like that. I'm like 'Oh, okay, I have to get a business account.' So luckily, for me to go out on my own, I was glad that I had somebody like him – he's also the one that steered me in the direction of GlossGenius.

But then it was getting in here – I kind of based my pricing off of what I was doing at my old salon. But then, two, it's hard because I enjoy – I love – selling retail, because I'm very... if I love something like I want you to love it. So then bringing retail in – that one is one that you really have to make sure you have researched and bring the right product in. I started using certain products in here once I went off on my own, then recently during COVID, I decided like 'I think I'm ready to switch it up a little bit.'

And now that I do that and have brought in new lines, I'm constantly trying to do different ways to help people get into the new products. So I always do a product of the month, I like to feature certain products. I'm just obsessed with products, like I said, if I love something, I want you to love it.

Dani Berkowitz

How much of your hair styling expertise is styling and coloring versus cutting and major changes like that?

Marissa King

I do your color, I do your cut, I do your finish. I'm super into doing bridal hair. So my day is spent juggling but I would say I'm much more geared towards the color, finishing, and then bridal styling.

Dani Berkowitz

At what point did you figure out what your specialty was going to be?

Marissa King

I knew I could never be a stylist that only did men's haircuts all day long. I could not do that. Props to the people who do that, I cannot do that. So I just think I always knew and I told myself like 'Well, you're gonna have to be good at doing color.' And the person who I assisted with in the beginning, he was very good with color. But then he would be set in his ways about a lot of stuff. So then I would catch myself like 'Okay, well why is he doing that?' Like 'This is the way you should do it...' – he wasn't ready to adventure into certain looks to go with the times. And so then I knew like 'Okay, well, this is what you would do' or this is what I wanted to do, so then I knew like 'Okay, this is the area that I want to be in.' And like I said, I told myself like 'You have no choice – you're going to be able to do this and you're going to be good at color...' because I'm not doing only haircuts, whether it be for men or women or kids only – I would not do that.

Dani Berkowitz

I want to talk about community and how that plays into not only your experience at GlossGenius but how you have built your network as a hair stylist in a small city in Metro Detroit. What would you suggest to someone who was trying to build out their community and figure out where they belong?

Marissa King

Social media is key. Like I said, when I started out, this was not really like promoting on Facebook, and there was no TikTok, and Instagram was still kind of new. But now, I see people post all the time like 'I just don't know how to build my clientele.' Well, there's the old school way and you go to every place that's by you, any place that is around you.

This is what I used to do, too – go to every tanning salon, every place that was somewhat in a decent range around your salon and say 'Hi!' You make little goodie bags – I have a rep that is always willing to give me samples and things like that. So you staple your card to a sample, put it in a little baggie, you stop at every place and just leave it. Or for instance, yesterday I went out to dinner, and I mean I've been doing this forever – and I have a full book – but I still left my card with my tip in my bill.

When in doubt, if social media is a struggle for you, when in doubt, like the old school, just put your feet to the ground and make it happen. When it comes to also trying to get your name out there, I always encourage clients who are on social media and on Facebook, and when they see people post like 'Oh, I'm looking for a stylist' and this and that – there's always going to be different Facebook groups online that people are looking for somebody.

Encourage your existing clients or yourself to go in there, tag yourself, talk to the person that's looking. I'm in a million different hairdressing groups, too, just for advice and to see not necessarily other struggles of stylists but like things that are going on in other places. Because I mean, like you said, I'm in Metro Detroit. Like, if you have questions, that's the best way, too, for a hair stylist starting off.

Sometimes girls feel intimidated to talk to people that they work with just because they don't want to sound stupid, or they're like just whatever. And that's an easy outlet to go into these Facebook groups and get advice from people, other hair stylists. If you need formula help you can go on there. Most of the time, people are just so wanting to help on there, but it's a good avenue, especially for a new stylist.

Dani Berkowitz

Boundaries – you said that this is something that you're working on for yourself and a goal that you have for 2022. Are there any other goals that you have around this or other goals you're setting yourself up for?

Marissa King

Every year, my main goal is one of the same ones – that I'm forever trying to push myself harder than I did the year before. Whether it be what it shows on paper that I did, I'm very goal-oriented and I'm very driven by my income. I like to succeed, I'm very competitive. So whether it be myself with somebody else, or myself against myself, that is my goal. But then also going off of that, I need to learn how to set some boundaries, because I struggle very hard – and you can ask my husband – I struggle very hard.

Dani Berkowitz

As far as how much hairdressers and hair stylists make or how long it takes to make that, what would you suggest to someone who is just starting out?

Marissa King

In the beginning, I definitely felt like 'How am I ever gonna move out of my mom's house?' You do the whole living paycheck-to-paycheck. When you're a hairdresser, I feel like you definitely live a different type of life in the beginning, and I think all of us go through that. And it's like 'Oh, we got off 20 minutes early, let's go to the bar, let's do this, let's spend money, let's go here.' You just have to be driven and just remember that eventually you're going to get past this stage, and then you'll start to make money, you just have to be focused on that.

And you just have to keep telling yourself like 'Just because I have it doesn't mean I need to spend it.' Because it's definitely a career where it can be very up and down, and you have your days where you want to cry in the backroom because 'I have no money, I'm not making anything' and then the next day you're like 'Wow, today was a great day!' But I definitely think that it's a very overworked field – we work extremely hard for what we make. My biggest thing though, which will sound crazy is, I worked at my last salon for 12 years and I would say by my year eight I really realized like 'Wow, I'm doing really good.' But then, for me at least, I realized 'Yeah, I do really good but then I'm sharing so much of it with somebody who's not doing anything.' So then it really took, after 12 years, leaving that situation and going off on my own.

And I'm not saying that that is for everyone because it is a lot of work being your own boss, but it's so much more rewarding seeing all of the work you put in and seeing what you're getting out of it and what you can have at the end of the day. It's just a different feeling – some days I'm like 'Wow, I'm the one in charge. I can do this!' You know, it's a really, really good feeling.

Dani Berkowitz

If you could give a TED talk on any subject, what would it be?

Marissa King

Ah, well, it would honestly be becoming your own boss and like a situation like this as a hair stylist, or it would be about GlossGenius!