Rose, like the flower.

The first salon I worked in back in 1986 produced probably my one of my first clients that I still do today. I was very new and somewhat inexperienced. This is definitely a business that as much as I thought I knew, I’ve learn a huge amount since. There’s no way around that. Experience builds skill, training, and knowledge. Mistakes makes you want to improve and do better, etc. That being said, I’ve always and still do to this day only offer my best work. Rose started coming for haircuts only but as she got grayer and grayer, color was introduced into the spectrum. She would almost always be happy and satisfied but at times was critical and had some negative things to say. It became more and more difficult to please her, and I would find myself dreading her appointments and my ability to not be able to please her. Truth is a lot of times it has nothing to do with the stylist or the actual product I am producing but more to do with the person themselves. Finally one day after Rose called me “a one hit wonder” and how sometimes I did great work and other times I didn’t, I told her that I would appreciate it if she stopped coming to me. I couldn’t believe my ears as I told her that obviously I can’t make her happy and I recommended her to go somewhere else. I didn’t even want her in the same salon and go to someone else. I wanted her out. She tried to apologize and say it’s fine, and we’ll work it out. I said no. It wasn’t fair to her for my inability to satisfy her, and unfair for me to keep trying to, but always be put down. I didn’t see Rose for a few years, then at some point she came back into my salon, and my life, and asked if I would do her hair again. I of course put all that behind me and took the challenge on. Truth is I’ve always liked her, knew her family, and loved seeing her again. She now always compliments my work, and I always get compliments on her color from various people that I do that know her. She taught me a valuable lesson that I’ve told many clients over the years that may hint that they love their hair but that it might be a little different from the last time I did it, and that’s because I am an artist. I can’t duplicate something exactly. A machine can. I look at every head like a blank canvas and every finished product like a sculpture. A work of art. Thanks Rose!