“I’m 50. I’m here to support the AIDS Walk, and I do hair.
My friend wanted me to do it with her dad. And I need to get Bruno [my dog] out for exercise.
[I’ve been doing hair] For 25 years. I have a very artistic/creative side that I need to get out. Just like this exercise. It’s a new, creative thing. I get to do something different every day, so it’s a lot of fun. I get to play with people’s hair. Change their look, change their lives. Some people never even got compliments before. That’s crazy to me! So it makes me excited to bring happiness to somebody. You know, have them get compliments, ’cause that’s the best compliment for me.
Anything that I can do to create, whether it’s decorating hair, flawless styling, it’s just in me. I cannot not do it. Oh my God, every day just inspires me by looking around. Today’s going to be interesting because there’s going to be a mass quantity of people, so I get to look at a lot of hair.
There’s too many [favorite moments]. Wow. I think [one of them] was the highest I’ve ever gotten paid to style someone. That was kind of a big deal. It was just a very expensive bill, and you know, I wasn’t sure if I had the confidence to say, ‘This is how much I want.’ And I did it, and I got it. I had to style this singer for her jazz concert. And then I ended up doing her girlfriends, so that’s how it turns out to be. Never turns out to be just one person.
[Favorite hair now] On men, super short tight fade at the bottom, really super long up top. And with girls, lots of layers and waves and movement.
I went to art school. I did art before. I thought that since I was already doing hair that I should get paid for it. I did pen and ink. In pen and ink, I did a lot of geisha girls.
[The tattoos are] honestly the journey of me starting hair and coming out. This arm is all me, and my friends, and my personality. So everything on here represents me. It’s just been kind of a journey for 25 years, I guess. Yeah, everything’s thought out and placed exactly where I want to put it. I’m almost done though. 25 years, and I’m pretty covered.
[My favorite]’s on my back. It’s a heart, and it has four wings on it with a dagger. Because it was so representative of love. I have a couple of hearts on me actually. I’m a Pisces – I’m a total romantic. I love love. I’m always about a fairy tale ending and all that goofy, chick-flick kind of stuff. I mean, I don’t look it. I don’t know if I’m looking – no. I do like the idea. I think it’s very romantic, and I’m hopeful.”
Excerpt may be edited for clarity.