Hair By Annie

Before the title “educator,”

I was a baby stylist that was hired right out of hair school at a busy salon. Take as old as time.
I worked my butt off in that salon. Building my clientele, learning as much as I could. But I was terrified. Going from hair school prices to real salon prices was the scariest thing I had ever done.
Looking back now, there is so much I would have changed. But one thing I will never regret doing was taking “the trip”.

Cue Hairlove 2019.
My boss was talking about an education trip she was taking. And I guess she didn’t know my affinity for travel or learning yet bc I bought a ticket later that day to attend with her.

That trip changed everything for me. I saw what it was like when stylists collaborated and what we could build. Since then, my mindset has been community over competition.
I truly felt like I didn’t deserve to be there. That’s because I didn’t grow up wanting to be a stylist my whole life that I wasn’t worth investing in. Boy was I wrong. She watched me sob my eyes out about it too. Thanks, Hannah 😂
This was the trip I learned my first extension method. Cue obsession.

I became obsessed with extensions, and I could see how it could set me apart from stylists in my area. At the time, we hadn’t figured out how to make it grow to what it is now.
Then came 2020.

I left that salon to pursue my career as an independent stylist so I could grow how I wanted to in extensions.
I flew to Utah and learned another method. Yes, with Jessi and Stew.
Great class, great company, and I still use the foil placements I learned in Jessi’s YouTube videos I watched in hair school to this day.

I worked as a booth renter for 4 years in a salon before I opened my suite during maternity leave (Definitely did not plan on doing that, but a traumatic birth will make you rethink everything in your life).

Being obsessed with learning has never changed. 2023, got pregnant, then went to Wisconsin and attended Six Figure Stylist, and that’s where I met Tabitha. 2024 learned another new method while on maternity leave and building out my suite.
Then 2025, Strands Pro came along.

I looked into it and thought, man, there’s gotta be a catch. Then the next thing I see is that Tabitha is an educator for them. And when I tell you I will do anything this woman tells me to, I do.
So I asked her, what’s the catch with ? Is it really that simple? WHAT’S THE CATCH? Not me always being a skeptic. 🙄

Sure enough, I committed and obviously became obsessed, yet again. Noticing a pattern?

Fast forward through 2025, the longest (and most worthwhile) education I have ever received. I am now an educator for them. It’s surreal to say the least. But I hope that if you’ve made it this far, you can tell that I am passionate about what I do and I don’t half-ass anything when it comes to my career.

has helped me grow my clientele and cut back my time behind the chair. Throughout every course I have taken, I have never wanted to find the easy way out. It has always been about figuring out solutions. Maybe I drank the Kool-Aid, but maybe it’s because I decided to take a chance on myself as a baby stylist back in 2019.

So if you’ve stuck around until the end of my whole career story, thank you. And thank you to each and every one of you that has helped me get to where I am now.
Becoming an educator is the highest honor in our industry. It’s how we give back to people and help them grow.
Because, when we all rise, we all rise together.