Episode #15
Christopher Aaron- Building your Brand as a Hairstylist
Your chair is your business. Start acting like it. After three or four years of trying to make it happen, Christopher Aaron finally sat down with Corey on Your Day Off, and the conversation went straight past the highlight reel into the stuff that actually builds a career. Christopher knew at five years old. Watching his mom and aunts get their hair done, mesmerized by stove curlers and the click of the iron, he decided right there he would stand behind the chair. That kid never left him. Today he is a L’Oreal artist, a LASIO ambassador, and one of the most in-demand educators in the room. From Redken exchange to a L’Oreal partnership Christopher does not wait for doors to open. He opens them. He drove hours for classes, took Center Stage five times, kept every card from every rep, and put his face in the room until people knew who he was. When he weighed brands, he turned down more money elsewhere because he refused to be hired as a token. He wanted a partnership where he felt at home and could grow, and where diversity meant more than a checkbox. Networking happens after the show floor clears Corey and Christopher agree on this one. You will not meet the big names on stage. You meet them at the after party, a day early, in the quiet moments when the pressure is off. And here is the move most people miss: do not chase the big fish. Get to know the people building the company alongside them, because those are the ones actually making decisions about your career. Be kind. Everyone is watching. How you treat a bartender or wait staff says everything. Both hosts named it plainly. Nobody advocates for the person who is rude to the room. Kindness is not soft. It is strategy. Gray blending that keeps clients in the chair For the stylists, Christopher broke down his approach to gray blending and baby lights: softening lines with a demi or semi, choosing Diacolor or Dia Light depending on level, and his signature move of adding a touch of one N to every blonde formula and root shadow so the pigment actually holds. Just a boop. Nothing you could measure on a scale. Write your own story The line that anchors the whole episode: no one else can write your story better than you. Christopher is spending this year building his empire and, just as importantly, falling back in love with himself outside of work. Scare yourself. Question whether the story you are living is even yours. Ask if it still serves you. Chair to Boss is September 28th in Chicago. If you are anywhere near the Chicagoland area, go see what Maria has built.
