AFH SALON, Annie Fisher Hair

Tooting my own horn is always going to feel a little awkward, but here it goes…my book has received nothing but 5 star reviews. Every. Single. One. It was a bestseller on its opening weekend, and the response it’s received has been one of the proudest parts of my life.

And yet…I want to keep this crazy train rolling…

So I’m just going to straight up ask you to please, please rate and review the book if you haven’t already. You have no idea how much it helps get my book into the hands of even more people who need to read it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

One thing about me is that I will not ever take for granted the absolute gift it is to be trusted with the stories my clients share.

Hair school never could have prepared me for the euphoric highs and devastating lows I’ve heard and held space for during my 30+ years in the beauty industry. And now that I’ve learned how to process these experiences properly, I wouldn’t change them for the world.

If these kinds of conversations are something you love, too, you can read more about them in my book, Love Is In The Hair. Grab your copy on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, or request it at your independent bookstore.

These are just a few of the MANY books and resources that I read that helped me to write “Love Is In The Hair”. There are several more listed in the back of my book.

“Doing the work”, the deep, yucky, personal inner work, was essential for me to be able to get my story down on paper.

Have you read any of these?

I am no longer willing to accept the “smile and change the subject” approach when somebody, even a client, says something hateful or offensive. Whether they state a prejudice or bias against me, my family, or my beliefs, or just say something downright unkind and harmful…I am at the point in my life where I am officially willing to speak up and then sit in the discomfort that may follow.

Yes, even as a hairstylist, esthetician, or other service provider.

I go into this topic in a big way in my book, Love Is In The Hair, because it’s a conversation that needs to happen, and it’s been danced around in the beauty and service industry for far too long.

The thing about motivation is that it can be fleeting. It feels so, so good when you’ve got it…but when you don’t, you have to have other methods for sticking to your goals.

For me, it looked like discipline with my schedule, external accountability (you know who you are - THANK YOU), and staying connected to my deeper “why”.

If you’ve done a big, scary thing before (and I KNOW you have) what helped you stick with it? Tell me all about it in the comments.

I’ve been sharing a ton on social media over the last few months in the lead-up to my book release, Love Is In The Hair. If you’ve had any burning questions, now’s your chance!

Ask me anything in the comments below, (or in the DMs if you’d prefer to remain anonymous) and I’ll respond in a post in the coming weeks.

You can ask me about business, being an author, life as a hairstylist, my writing process, my favorite football team (hint hint 💙💚), being a mom, or anything else you can think of.

Not everyone is going to agree with me on this, but I don’t believe that you need to pretend to be “okay” when you’re not. Not as a hairstylist, a mom, or a human.

This industry trains us to wear a mask of false happiness all the time, and it’s not only disingenuous… it can be downright harmful and absolutely exhausting. I wrote about this in depth in my new book, Love Is In The Hair, and it’s definitely relatable for all service providers.

Obviously, I don’t think we need to be trauma dumping on our clients or airing out our dirty laundry behind the chair, but we also don’t need to be putting on a show or “faking a smile” on the hard days, either.

You’re allowed to show your human side as a hairstylist. Follow along if this is something you’re trying to navigate, too… we’re figuring it out together.