Consultation, Consultation, Consultation!

In hair school, I learned how important a consultation was before I started a hair service. I didn’t take it seriously. Maybe it was because I was a 26 year old, who already knew what the client wanted before they even told me. Ha!!!! I crack up just thinking about that naive girl. Thank God for growth. Since becoming a curly hair stylist, I’ve come to realize that the consultation isn’t just really important, it’s like THE THING!

Early in my curly hair career, I definitely cut many curly girls’ hair too short, because I didn’t pay attention during the consultation. Now that I am wiser, I’ve learned that I have to not only ask a bunch of questions; I also have to listen to the things clients don’t explicitly say.

I’ve got to ask questions about their lifestyle, their feelings concerning hair in general, and pay attention to the way they feel about themselves. I usually get a good sense of someone’s energy, and overall well-being after a short time. I can then make a pretty good decision about how to proceed.

The biggest concern with about 99.9% of curly girls is length. I will usually ask them length questions in about 3 different ways:

• How do you feel about your length?

• Is length important to you?

• Is this about where you would want your length to be?

That’s just the beginning.

Next is the “layer” talk; dispelling all the myths and rumors about layers, because I think layers are the bomb, and everyone should have them. But hey, what do I know?

Well, after 12 years of cutting curly hair, I know that consultation is everything, and when not done thoroughly, their experience might not be as great as it could have been. Learn from my mistakes. Win from my losses.