A Paradigm Shift from Beauty Industry Norms

This paradigm shift happened after I graduated from the University of Houston Clear Lake (UHCL) with honors. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Science with a minor in Psychology. According to the website www.Investopidia.com the term paradigm shift refers to a major change in the worldview, concepts, and practices of how something works or is accomplished. In addition, they explain how a paradigm shift can happen in a wide variety of contexts from scientific research to industry. I am hoping you will have a paradigm shift relative to you as a hairstylist or a client participating in the beauty industry.

From Humble Beginnings to a Hair Stylist

To begin with, after high school, the plan was to go to college-right? Wrong! I did not come from an economically privileged background growing up. I had to do it differently from my friends because of my financial situation. I was raised in a blue collar family, so I had to work for a living while going to school. However, I was able to attend college with the help of a Pell grant from the government. “So what? I wouldn’t go to the fancy school like most of my friends! I am proud to go to a community college!”

But, after a year of community college an opportunity came along for me to become a hair stylist-in a very affluent area of Houston-changed the course of my life. And becoming a hairstylist made sense to me because I grew up with my mom being a hair stylist and owning her own hair salon. I would spend many years going to her hair salon after school to help out. Yes, that unconscious processing of being around the hair salon environment made being a hairstylist an easy choice! And with this opportunity to become a hairstylist, I would work in a fancy hair salon. This was mind blowing compared to the kind of hair salon my mom had: Her salon was full of blue haired old ladies under the rows of hair dryers reading magazines about soap operas. I would not let this opportunity pass me up! I went ahead and dropped out of community college and enrolled in a vocational school for cosmetology. But, after spending many years working in various hair salons and experiencing their cultures, what once made sense to me no longer made sense after returning to college to get the people watching degree at UHCL! So began the paradigm shift!

A Growing Discontent with Industry Norms

With this in mind, my blog will provide a multifaceted perspective on what I have experienced or observed over the past 30 years since becoming a hairstylist while working in various hair salons and their cultures. I will simply state that it was the battle of the divas and egos! Thinking back about when I began working in hair salons, there were many things I did not like about what I had seen! So, with my expanded lens on life, the saying holds true: “You lose it (knowledge) if you don’t use it!” So, after college I had to be a very different kind of hair stylist from what I was brainwashed into by the beauty industry! Clearly, I dared to be different in this profession and make it a more personalized experience for the client. It should be noted that for the past 7 years I have developed an education I deemed “Scandal Randall™️” to describe my brand of cosmetology. This is to provide an education of the method to the madness in how the hairstylist and the client truly collaborates to achieve the best look and style for their right now!

I “Dared to be Different”

First, let me explain how and why I “dared to be different” as a hair stylist. I felt uninspired and limited by the routinization of haircutting the latest hair trend or doing some quick gimmicky hair service. These ideals was to increase profits for the hair salon owners more concerned about the bottom line! And, here I was feeling like I was being conditioned for the assembly line mentality you would find in a McDonald’s burger line. This same set up is replicated in most hair salons today i.e., Supercuts (Supermistakes), Visible Changes (Visible Damages), or Sports Clips (Sports Hiccups). Without a doubt, I am borrowing a term from sociologist George Ritzer who coined the term The McDonaldization of Society that describes a social process that produces “mind-numbing sameness” (Gilbert, Ellen D, 2002).

Today, it is the McDonaldization of the Hair Salon Bizz!

Whenever I was in a hair salon with rows of hairstylists, I frequently observed how most hairstylists conform to the “stress booking” tactics common in hair salons today. I have seen how hairstylist work suffers due to stress booking tactics from hair-salon owners who are more concerned about the bottom line! Or even by the stylists themselves! The more clients they get in their chair the more money they make, which goes hand-in-hand with gimmicky haircut and hair color services. In my opinion, one of the things that was eye-opening is how the hair stylist does not tell a client when he or she makes an “Oops! Cut” or begins panic cutting because they did not pay enough attention to the diva hairstylist teaching the one size fits all haircut or failed to watch the “how to haircut” videos salon owner would force feed hairstylist on the latest haircut trend. This was a reality check for me when I watched how hairstylist covers their mistakes with all their hair styling antics to never be repeated again by the client! Finally, I had enough! I decided to escape from these hair salon environments controlled by diva salon owners and ego-driven hairstylists. Oh! And don’t forget about the hair salons with the “mind-numbing sameness”. It was time to take my career to the next level with a college degree from UHCL.

Redefining Beauty: From Trends to True Connection

I truly wanted to help people see the beauty within themselves and not just be another copy-cut of the latest hair trend: For example, like “The Rachel” haircut that became a social phenomenon due to the Jennifer Aniston haircut on the TV show Friends. Also, I decided to pursue a four-year university degree in behavioral science and psychology because I often would hear how clients refer to their hairstylists as de facto therapists. And to better serve my clients I had to educate myself to better understand a client’s needs so I would become their de facto hairapist (hairstylist) during a hairapy session (aka hair appointment). As you have read many times in my blog I will use the familiar to describe the unfamiliar.

The Value of Higher Education in Transforming Industry Perspectives

In addition, even though there are advantages and disadvantages to both trade schools and colleges, there is a stark contrast to a trade school that is cheaper and offers only specialized training in one skill versus a four-year college degree that offers a more comprehensive education, a broader range of job opportunities, and a better likelihood of long-term employment. Keeping this in mind, it was important for me to graduate from the Human Sciences and Humanities department at UHCL because of the social sciences, specifically behavioral science and psychology which honed me in on my understanding of these fields of studies in a wide range of topics, such as social science research techniques, women in society, cognitive psychology, social-psychology, psychobiology and so on. Most importantly, I took advanced writing courses to communicate the study of human behavior, emotions, cognition, and interpersonal relationships. So, after attaining this knowledge, this is how I changed my paradigm about the beauty industry!

Merging Behavioral Science and Cosmetology

Whereas psychology examines individuals, the behavioral sciences study the psychology behind behavior and the interactions between people. For example, I have researched the client/stylist relationship and then examined the client and how their hair service and hairstyle affect their social environments. Inherently, researching a client’s lifeworld can be a messy process! Because the lived realities of those being studied can be convoluted. So, with that in mind, I targeted the haircut and/or color style to become a social phenomenon in the clients’ lives-one to be researched.

My degree has expanded my mind beyond a vocational trade. Luckily, there are many interdisciplinary disciplines, such as sociology, anthropology, and neuroscience, which enable me to gain a deeper insight into human behavior and promote well-being. And by combining my expertise as a licensed cosmetologist for over 30 years along with a behavioral science and psychology degree, I can provide a more holistic approach to my clients’ beauty needs. To emphasize the point, I can gain a better understanding of a client’s individual preferences, personalities, and emotions that ultimately helps me create a look and style that transcends beyond vocational school technical skills.

So, this is what sets me apart from other cosmetologists. Please look at my Google reviews (https://maps.app.goo.gl/dQ5mP7thy1ALe73g6) to see what clients are saying about The Method to the Madness when experiencing the BHCS.

In Summary

My hopes for my blog is to help others with a paradigm shift in how they participate in the beauty industry. Because change is the only constant in life and the next hair service may be about changing up everything. This is why I have created a concept of Behavioral Hair Cut and Color Science (BHCS) to educate hairstylist and clients on the method of madness in helping them to collaborate while creating the best look for their right now. I have trademarked this education as Scandal Randall™️ (SR). SR is a fun way to explain the fundamentals of creating your look and to simplify the method to the madness. This is after years of qualitative research since graduating from UHCL in 2013. And since 2017, I have been the sole owner of the hair salon: R Valentino Salon Suite 119 (https://maps.app.goo.gl/dQ5mP7thy1ALe73g6) located in the River Oaks Shopping Center. My hair salon is above The Barnes and Nobles hosted by the Phenix Salon Suites. And while in my hair salon, color psychology rules the experience with blue and white fluffy clouds. It is here that I will utilize the familiar to explain the unfamiliar by drawing from my education and experience with metaphors, analogies, play-on words and associations without distortions to the knowledge. It’s not necessary for me to be all gobbledygook with the knowledge (which means overusing abstruse technical terms in different ways).

In sum, after a very detailed consultation and behavioral styling analysis, let the hair scandal begin to “look good, feel good and live in style!” After all, who doesn’t want to feel a little scandalous after getting a haircut!