“Why Your Parents Want You to Become a Hairstylist”

Hairstylists Report High Income, Job Satisfaction

My parents were set on me going to College. Never mind that I had no idea what I wanted to do. No one in my family had gone to College and it was important to them that I graduate and make something of myself. By “make something of myself” they meant become a lawyer or maybe a financial planner.  

It used to be, in this country, that to be thought of as successful you had to have a white collar job. A “thinking job” - certainly not a trade where you work with your hands. But that’s not the case anymore. 

One of today’s most promising careers isn’t one that requires years of post-graduate education or working in an office at all – it’s Barbering/Hairstyling. 

Being a highly-paid professional isn’t just for executive jobs anymore. The average wage for Professional Barbers, Hair Stylists, Estheticians and Nail Technicians ranges between $25 and $100 dollars an hour.  

Also, tips and gratuities are common in this industry. So a skilled stylist who builds a good relationship with his or her client base can make a significant amount in tips alone. 

Wages in the beauty and personal service industry, much like fashion, are really only restricted by what people are willing to pay. If you create value for your customer, i.e. no one else cuts their hair the way you do, or no one is able to make them feel better about their appearance than you, you will find yourself doing quite well. 

A recent article by USA TODAY profiled, Staci Linklater, a Hair Designer in Las Vegas, who makes an annual income of $160,000 working just 3 ½ days a week! 

And talk about job security – there is virtually zero unemployment in the Beauty Industry right now. At a time when jobs are constantly being shipped overseas, Beauty Professionals can rest easy. It’s one thing to have customer support or web design contracted out of India or China, but a haircut is not something you can outsource.  

Though Barbers and Hairstylists are sometimes in the position to set their own hours/appointments, professionals in this field often work evenings and weekends because those are the most popular times to get one’s hair cut. Also, when starting out in this business aspiring Barbers and Hairstylists need to be good self-promoters. Success is often determined by how well one manages to build up his or her client base. Word-of-mouth is a popular and effective promotion method in this field though. All of your clients are literally walking advertisements of your work.  

Despite working weekends and the need to self-promote, the majority of professionals in the beauty business express high job satisfaction. In fact, in a job satisfaction survey conducted by University Professional Michael Rose, Barbering and Hairstyling topped the list with professionals in this field reporting the highest job satisfaction. 

This study finds that “Job Satisfaction is influenced by psychological rewards such as being able to express creativity, and social rewards such as having a supportive colleague network.”