Beauty From The Beginning

There are a few things I have always know; my eyes have always searched for beauty, I was not meant to follow the path that most follow and I have always been different. But I'm ok with that. My mom always told me that I was the little girl who would play in the mud while wearing a pretty dress. It took me a while to realize its ok to be both; pretty and rough around the edges. I am thankful for the confidence that has been instilled in me and the worth that I find in my Savior. These things have kept me grounded in who I am (who I was made to be) and have given me the strength to pursue my passions. From the beginning my version of play was business and beauty. I would paint your nails, do your hair and run a hotel all at the same time. These passions never left but as I got older they slowly faded into the background. As if the world was trying to silence me, telling me what I could or couldn't do; what I should or shouldn't do. Maybe the world wasn't ready for me yet.

Junior year of high school is when most start looking at and talking about going to college. I never; not once have ever thought about going to college. It was simple in my mind. I had no reason to; nothing to accomplish by going to college. But I also knew I needed a way to provide for myself. I enjoyed working but never wanted to settle by doing something I wasn't passionate about. The county I lived in had a tech school where high school students could learn trades and skills. I had been interested in the cosmetology course but thought it would be a waste of my time if I wasn't going to make a career out of it. For some reason I had it in my head that you couldn't make money and enjoy what you do. No one really told me that. It was just there. There was a bigger part of me though that would never settle for anything less than what I wanted or worked hard for. My mom encouraged me to check out some colleges; she lives her life by more "what if's" than I do. It couldn't hurt so I agreed to check out one. She was right...in a way. Going there confirmed for me that it was not what God had for me nor what I was meant to do. Sometime you find yourself when you are going down the wrong path. After that, I signed up to take the 2 year cosmetology course. My parents were supportive. After all, they were there from the beginning and knew beauty was something I was always passionate about. I took my first year as a senior in high school and my second year as a post grad. I got hired as an apprentice for a local high end salon in 2012, the same year I graduated high school. By 19 I was a hairstylist and grew a clientele quickly. I LOVED it. My goal was to have at least one person feel beautiful, seen, loved, heard or special. I love meeting new people and making connections with them. It reminds me of the intent God had when he created everyone so uniquely. Over the years my passions have modified but my heart never has. My heart has always been on others. A gift I am thankful as I have been so blessed with the interactions and friendships I have made. You need to give yourself permission to change (and grow) and recognize that, in doing so, it doesn't mean that you have failed or given up. They only thing I fail at is perfection; which I never try to be so I am very content with my efforts and actions. After 3 years of working as a full time hairstylist I was looking for a change. I was newly married and felt like I was missing out on time with my husband and family. I got an opportunity to teach at the same tech center that I attended as a student; I even got to teach side by side with the teachers who taught me. I taught part time and worked at the salon part time. Doing so allowed me to have every other Saturday off. Before that I worked almost every single Saturday from 2012-2017, missing out on so much family time. Teaching allowed my heart and my passion to go hand in hand, pouring love into young girls while teaching them about what I love. Unfortunately after 2 years of teaching I lost my job due to job cuts (getting rid of part time employees). I dreaded telling my students, knowing they would be devastated. When I finally did, we all cried. I was lost, my heart had been broken so I had no driving force for my passion any more. Sometimes when you are broken you just need a fresh start, you can't always explain it. After I completed my last school year I quite my salon job and went and worked in a local spa as a nail tech (someone who does manicures and pedicures). This is a service I had always offered but thought focusing on just that couldn't hurt. It was something I was good at and familiar with that allowed me to bu

y time while trying to figure out what it was I really wanted to do. I only worked part time as I had some things I had on the back burner that I was hoping to bring to light, when the time was right. Since I was new to the spa and still building my clientele I wasn't bringing in the money that I needed to. I was on the job hunt again. I found a job that was still part time but a more consistent pay. I left the spa and started working at an independent living community doing hair. I never had to work weekends, which is unheard of for the beauty industry. Behind the scenes my sister and I had been refinishing and selling furniture at local stores. We were growing fast and decided to open up our own store (taking over a store we were already selling in). Then right as we opened....in fact he very same week, the pandemic hit. We kept our doors open, we had nothing else to do and nowhere else to go so we went to the store. I was still employed at the independent living community but couldn't work because all of my clients were at a high risk of getting sick. I was able to go back to work around June of 2020 as I was considered essential. This was because a lot of my clients relied on me to wash their hair and trim their nails. I worked there for pretty much the rest of the year. My husband got to a place in his career where I had the flexibility to work the store without having to stress over how much money I made. Long story short; our store was open until June of 2022 and I was at peace when we closed it. You can't really out do a pandemic. From the time I left the salon to the end of 2021 I was offering bridal hairstyling here and there. My demand was quickly growing and knowing that we were headed towards closing the store; I decided to embrace what seemed to be; meant to be. K & K Bridal Collective was officially established in 2022, offering onsite and in studio hair and makeup. There are so many details that led up until then (and now) but beauty has always been a part of my journey....from the begining.