How a Honduran Immigrant Hairdresser Built a 47-Year Career, Wealth, and a Lasting Legacy
Most people underestimate hairdressing.
They see it as a “side job,” a creative outlet, or something you do until you figure out what’s next. But for Elizabeth Townsend—a Honduran immigrant who spent 47 years behind the chair—hairdressing wasn’t just a job. It was a vehicle for financial independence, long-term wealth, and generational opportunity.
This is the real story of what building a career in the beauty industry actually looks like when it’s done with discipline, grit, and consistency.
From Honduras to California: Starting With Nothing
Elizabeth immigrated from Honduras to California as a teenager. Like many immigrants, she didn’t arrive with money, connections, or a safety net—just a willingness to work.
She entered beauty school in her early twenties and earned her cosmetology license in the late 1960s. This was long before social media, branding, or online booking systems. If you wanted clients, you earned them one haircut at a time.
There were no shortcuts—only showing up every day and doing the work.
Her First Salon Job—and the Day Everything Changed
On Elizabeth’s first day out of beauty school, the salon owner left for what was supposed to be a quick errand—and never returned. A serious car accident left the owner hospitalized for months, leaving Elizabeth alone in a salon she barely knew how to run.
Instead of panicking, she did what many successful hairdressers do best: she adapted.
She shampooed clients, set hair, guessed color formulas, prayed she remembered her training—and kept every client happy enough to come back. By the end of that first day, she had unknowingly inherited a full clientele.
That moment defined her entire career: confidence under pressure.
Building a Loyal Clientele Without Social Media
Elizabeth built and kept clients for 25 to 37 years at a time—something that’s increasingly rare today.
How?
Consistency over hype
Speed and efficiency
Genuine relationships
Treating clients like family
Clients invited her to weddings, funerals, baby showers, and major life events. She wasn’t just their hairdresser—she was their therapist, confidant, and constant.
This level of trust can’t be bought with ads or followers. It’s earned over decades.
The Financial Reality of Old-School Hairdressing
Elizabeth charged:
$2.50 haircuts early in her career
$20 haircuts by the time she retired
By today’s standards, those numbers seem impossible. But what separated her from others wasn’t pricing—it was saving and reinvesting.
She:
Lived below her means
Saved consistently
Bought property early
Reinvested salon income into real estate
Over time, those decisions compounded. By retirement, she owned 10+ properties—built entirely from hairdressing income.
Hairdressing didn’t limit her wealth. Poor money habits would have.
Salon Culture: Then vs. Now
Old-school salons were chaotic, loud, and often unfiltered:
Smoking under dryers
Drinking during work hours
Drama, addiction, and dysfunction
This wasn’t unique to one salon—it was industry-wide.
What’s different today is visibility. The problems existed long before TikTok. They just weren’t broadcast.
Elizabeth survived that environment by staying focused on her work, avoiding distractions, and minding her business. That discipline paid off.
The Hidden Health Risks of Hairdressing
One of the most important—and least discussed—parts of this story is health.
Elizabeth battled cancer three separate times. After extensive medical testing, doctors traced the likely cause to long-term exposure to hair color chemicals, especially darker pigments and reds.
For decades, hairdressers were exposed to:
Carcinogenic ingredients
Poor ventilation
Minimal protective equipment
Many stylists today are still unaware of these risks.
This is why conversations around chemical safety, proper ventilation, and ingredient transparency matter—especially for stylists planning long careers.
Why This Story Still Matters Today
Elizabeth’s journey challenges several modern myths:
Hairdressing can’t lead to wealth
Immigrants start behind and stay behind
You need social media to succeed
The beauty industry isn’t “serious work”
Her life proves the opposite.
With discipline, consistency, and smart decisions, hairdressing can provide:
Financial stability
Career longevity
Generational wealth
A meaningful, people-centered life
Lessons for Modern Stylists
If you’re in the beauty industry today, here’s what her story teaches:
Clients matter more than clout
Saving beats spending—every time
Health is non-negotiable
Longevity is built daily, not overnight
Hairdressing is a real career if you treat it like one
Listen to the Full Conversation
This blog only scratches the surface.
In the full podcast episode, Elizabeth shares:
Unbelievable salon stories
How she handled toxic staff and chaos
Why she never stopped working
What she’d do differently today
🎧 Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts: “Shit I Told My Hairdresser”
Jason, why is your mom here? We're in trouble, aren't we?
Oh, fuck yeah, dude. She's mad that we're saying fuck all the time on the show.
Fuck, really?
Oh yeah. We're fucking in for it.
Welcome back to another episode of Shit I Told my hairdresser, Jack. How are you man?
Jason. I am. All right.
Good.
Um, hi mom.
Hello? Yeah, we have a very, very special guest with [00:01:00] us today. We have my mom. Uh, we're so we're gonna get a little personal with me, so, um, hopefully you know weird stories about me, that's for sure. But. We'll kind of go on from there. But anyhow, uh, my mom has been, I, my mom's a hairdresser. She did hair for 47 years.
She's retired now. And we thought what a better way to start the new year with, uh, with bringing in some family on who was also a hairdresser and, uh, has been this industry. So when do you start? I was 22. 22 years old. So that was, well, we started in school at 22, so I graduated at 23. Yeah. So what year was that?
It was in 67. 67. Oh, 68. I got my license. So before like all
uh, where was it though? In,
in San Diego
or
on Oh, San Diego, California.
San Diego. Okay.
Yeah. So she moved here when she was 17 [00:02:00] from Honduras. And then Mary met my father. He tricked her, married her,
Russell.
Oh yeah. Yeah. I guess he was like way older than she was like 15, 20 years older. 16. 16 years older. Yeah, probably 20. He lied about his age.
said that he was 21 or something.
No, no. Yeah, he totally did. You know he did.
Yeah,
No, no.
colored
I, I met his parents the day after I moved here from Honduras, so I knew his parents four years before I ever met him.
Oh, okay.
I loved, I loved his family.
were older.
Yes. Uhhuh?
parents,
No, not, no. 'cause my husband was already in this thirties when we got married. He was 37. I was 20 before we got married, so you tricked her? No, no.
Oh yeah.
Great. Robert Al Pacino. Yeah. Not that bad.
Not quite, not [00:03:00] quite Al Pacino level, but,
Not that bad. Yeah. Al.
ping is, there was a lot of that happening anyway, you know, Elvis
Yeah.
it and they all did it.
Yeah,
Lee Lewis.
Roman Polanski. Oh yeah.
Yeah.
was a trend back then, so it was like, well, why not?
though,
Yeah. She was over 18 though, so at least it was that. Yeah. Thank God, you know. Well, we got married, but then she started doing hair at 23. Yeah. And tell us about your first job. How'd you get your first job? My first job was amazing, so we had a PO box.
So my husband says, I'll go get the mail. So he goes get, he gets the mail and he sees that my license. 'cause you didn't know if you passed or not. So got my license. There was a little beauty shop, a one man shop about two doors down from the post office. He goes in there and convinces the girl that I'm the greatest hairdresser that ever lived.
She needed to hire me. [00:04:00] And she kept saying no. He convinced her. He said, okay, tell her to start tomorrow at nine. So he comes up with a license. He says, Hey, you gotta go get a uniform because you got a job. You start tomorrow, right outta school. So I go in, you know, I'm all nervous and I go in and, then she tells me about 11.
She says, my mom is, today is my mom's birthday. I'm going to go drop her a cake and a gift that I got her and I'll be back. She says, 30 minutes, I'll be back. 'cause my customers will start coming in. So she goes. At this time, I don't even know who the owner of the salon is. All I know that this girl name is Rachel, don't have her phone number, don't even know the phone number of the salon.
But you know, I just sat there and so 12 o'clock comes, she doesn't show up 1230, nothing. One o'clock the first customer comes in and I give her the story that she is gonna be right back. So one 30 and she's still not back. I said, if you don't mind, I [00:05:00] can shampoo and set you back. Then there were no blow, dry or curing iron, and so I said, I'll go ahead and, and I was the queen of hair, you know, setting hair.
So I said shampoo, the set her and she was smoking a cigar and everything. So
Cigars
she's under the dryer and then the next customer comes in. I give her the same story and I said, if you don't mind, I can go ahead and say your hair, when she's here, she can comb your hair out. So by then the third one comes in and so then I do the same thing.
So by then, by the time I'm through the first one, it's already dry. So I said, well, if you don't mind, I can comb your hair. And uh, and next time she can do, she said, okay, that's fine. So I did that by five o'clock. A girl comes in, she needs hair color, so you know, I'm fresh at a beauty school. And so I go in the back and I start looking and trying to find the formula.
Can't find the formula. So I get on my knees and I pray, God, please help me remember what I learned in [00:06:00] school and lemme guess. So I did it, I mixed it, and I, I, she, she came out okay. So I was so happy. So then the next one comes, I did the same time, and then by six, five thirty, six o'clock the phone rings.
And so. They said, uh, are you Elizabeth? I said, yes. He said, this is Dr. So-and-so from Scripps Hospital. And I said, what is it? They said, well, I have Rachel here, she needs to speak with you. And then she got into a car accident and she was in the hospital. They were getting ready to operate 'cause they broke her leg.
And so I asked the doctor, how long will it be? Oh, she'll be back in. I was so naive. Two or three days she'll be back to work. He said six months. And I thought, oh my goodness. I said, Rachel, what do I do? She says, call the owner. Her phone number is in the door. And then tell her what happened. At least she can come in and answer the phone for you when you do the customers.
And that's how I started. You know, she wasn't back for months. Yeah. She and Ashley where [00:07:00] did a clientele? Yes, I did. So
Yeah.
this is something that we talked about last week about trying to inherit a clientele. She actually did it. I did her very first day.
Right. Yeah. and not even knowing either. It, it
Three months later, this doctor asked me, so how long have you had your license? And I said, remember the day that I did your hair the first time? I said, I just gotten out of beauty school. I just got my license.
Oh
they go, but you acted so like you really knew what you were doing. I said, I had to, or you would not let me do your hair.
You see where I get this shit from? Yeah. You see where I get it from? Yeah. You know, some of the customers I kept for over 25 years. The same customer.
and meanwhile, a woman who, had an accident, where was Russell? I think that he might've, um, hit the car to get her out of the picture.
I know, and let me tell you, this gets better. So the owner comes in to help me answer the phone and she said, you know, I don't know [00:08:00] anything about this business. I don't know why I bought this salon. I would sell it to you for $2,000. And I was so scared I wouldn't buy it. She said, you can pay me $50 a month.
And I was so scared and my husband tried to talk me into it. No, I'll just work. Back then I was so naive. So, you know, young and nervous and. I said, I just work for you. Two
Did
grand.
it?
Two grand. No. Well that was back, way back in 67, 68 and I was, you know, just scared to death that $2,000 was so much money, you know?
But she said, you can pay me.
else
So, yeah, so she put it on for sale and this really cute lady, blonde, really bubbly, decided to buy it. So she come in and she says, you know what? Forget the salon. We need to brighten this up. She says, and now back then, men did not get their haircut in a salon. You know, it was always the barber. And so she says.
I'm going to divide this. [00:09:00] This half is gonna be for men. This half is gonna be for ladies 'cause they're gonna feel uncomfortable. So she renamed it Adam and Eve.
Oh wow.
So Adam would go, the men would go into the,
Good
half of the, was called Adam.
they didn't have a lot of that.
No. And about three months later she says, this is a bunch of bologna.
She says, you don't belong here. She says, you belong. She says, you are going to go places you don't belong. Here. I'm gonna take you. They're opening a brand new salon called a Pam lady and they're, interviewing, you know, hairdresser. She says, I'm gonna take you. She was so nice. She took me, spoke for me, told 'em what a great person I was to be so happy, you know, so lucky to have me and they hire me.
So I work in the pink, bright pink and gold salon. Fancy. Oh. 'cause I was right across the street from the hospital, university hospital, and all the doctor's offices were around there. So our clientele were nurses and doctors and
you
office people.
[00:10:00] pink also?
Oh, we had to, it was bright pink. Yeah. Oh man. Jack lives were bright pink.
Uh, yeah.
Sometimes
But we thought we were in heaven. You know, we're doing professionals, and the haircuts were $3 and 50 cents. Whoa,
$3.
whoa. And then it was $3 and 50 cents to do their hair. But on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we had a special, they could get their haircut in down for $5. So you know people, that's a deal.
Oh yeah. That was a deal. And so we had the high fashion side and we had the regular side. So when the owner saw that I was a go-getter, and you know, I was pushing products and I was fast and happy, you know, making everybody loves it. Oh no, this girl belongs in the high fashion because haircuts were five and the set was five.
So then that was $10. So they said, no, we need that girl there. 'cause she's a go-getter.
Yeah, [00:11:00] selling a lot of
So when did you make your first a hundred thousand 10 bucks a haircut? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, I was so lucky. I, I think I made, and back then it was a time of the big updos, you know, and
Yeah.
$10 for an up to $10. Now you can't get an updo for under like 300 bucks. I know. And so my check was $50. I mean, those people were weasels, you know, they would say if you make so much, you get 50%, but if you go over, you do this.
They always made it what they made the most. And then of course, imagine that. So my check was $50 a week and I would, I told, I told my husband, I said, we are not gonna spend a penny of that. We're gonna put it in the bank 'cause we're gonna buy a house. We're gonna have a down payment for a house. Back then it was 1500 for down Now we didn't touch it. No, but here's So go ahead. Go ahead. I, this about to say, sushi has said that I needed to say [00:12:00] something. Is that
Go ahead.
she save, save your money up. She bought her house, like I bought my house at like 24. That was kind of, that was kind of instilled in me as well too. Now she's actually retired just from hairdressing.
And how many houses you own now? Uh, how many properties? Let's see, 10. 10.
10
properties now. All right. She's like a little real estate mogul outta San Diego from hairdressing. Oh yeah. And when people go through and they make fun of our industry or like, Hey, talk about our little job, uh. She could probably buy and sell you now.
'cause some of her properties that she bought for like, what, 600,000? Yeah. Are worth like 4 million now. So, uh, yeah. Hairdressing did that.
go.
And I'm 81 and I'm building another house in San Diego. Yeah. I forgot about that. So it makes 11. Yeah. Yeah. So then, uh, we, some of the workers last week, but we were remodeling a house.
So they [00:13:00] said, you know, you are 80 years old. Why are you here working? Don't you think you should be sitting having coffee and watching tv? I said, that's for old people. That's not for me.
You already had your coffee.
Well, I was born caffeinated.
Get back to work. Yeah,
I don't need coffee. But that's the thing is like, you know, starting off charging like what, two bucks?
2, 2 50. Two 50. A haircut. Yeah. And putting the work and working hard and loving what you do. And I mean, yeah, I did get picked up from school on time, half the time, you know, did I grow up getting babysitted inside that salon? Absolutely. You know what I mean? But then look at everything that she's done. You know?
I mean, I wouldn't know, you know, Lionel Richie or a lot of these bands, if it wasn't for her shop House of Giovanni that I grew up in. Yeah. You know?
right.
Little River Band. It's like one of my favorite bands now because like I grew up
hear music, you
and that and that salon. So when they were teenagers, when they were in high [00:14:00] school, the high school was two blocks away from my salon.
By then I was on my second salon. And um, so then they would come and I'd be just finishing. And so they would have to, I did a lot of firms. They would have to take the, it was the, of the, it was the eighties. Eighties,
Yeah.
you know, help me sweep and map the floors.
Hmm.
I think that's where they decided, Hey, we wanna do this.
Yeah. Yeah.
No, that is definitely not what I decided wanna do here, because I would get, so they were still going through and doing roller sets on people? Yeah. And so they'd have all these brushes and I would've to clean the brushes out and I would get a dime per bucket. And then I would go through and also take all the perm papers off of the rods, then wash all the rods.
I would get a dime per bowl. Yeah. So I would get like, I could make a little bit of money off of that, you know what I mean? But it sucked. And you go home selling like perms. But it was the eighties. That was the eighties. Yeah. Everyone was getting, getting their hair permed. [00:15:00] Yeah. You know everything, you know.
But I think what it was is that she would drag me to the hair shows. Yeah. To get all the deals on the product. Then she would, so I would watch the guys doing hair and I was like, you wanna what? That actually looks like a cool job. And that's when I started doing hair.
Being up on stage and everything
And then I would go and watch him. Yeah. Years later on stage. And I was so proud of that.
um, who did you like at the hair shows
Oh God. Back then it was like, oh, the guy that started, um, osh. Yeah. We'd watch Yosh, we'd watch, uh, and, uh, Paul Mitchell. Robert Chromium's. Yeah, Robert Chromium started selling me products. Little short guy with a little bag and, and they would be there and they talk to him and,
short. Huh?
yeah. Yeah.
Uhhuh? Yeah.
I
at him
remember, yeah, he was, he was actually dropping off prod at my mom's salon. Yeah. And I thought he was really cool because he had the best shoes. He always loved his [00:16:00] shoes,
Yeah.
you know, because he's all this kind of gothic Scottish guy. And I was like, this guy's kind of cool, you know? And he was like, you should be doing hair.
And I was like, okay then. And so working for Paul Mitchell, I ended up working for Tony and Stead. Yeah. You know, but, um. That was kinda like my introduction. I kind of grew up in the industry. It's kind of in my blood and, uh, I don't know. So one of the things that I really, really love, but, uh, if it if, but it was also for this lady too.
' cause of her.
still own the, uh, the
Oh, no, no. I sold, I had, I ended up having three salons and I sold the last one the year after. I had my second cancer, and uh, my husband says, you know what s time, give it Give it up. And so,
um.
yeah,
Took a toll, so
you know, no, I never got tired. I would work 14 hours on my feet and then after I get off the salon, if we had an empty apartment, I'd go over there clean and [00:17:00] paint and sand and whatever, so I could get a rent. I didn't wanna be paying all these people, so I did all the work myself. Yeah, that's Elizabeth Townsend, so called me the Mexican Jew.
Oh my. Okay. And she's racist, by the way, so, and my wife wonders where I kind of get some of the terms.
So I, how many times have I told you not to say things like that? Oh.
Oh,
Oh, so that's what they told me. That's a lie. Yeah, because they said I was so cheap. I did. I swept the floors, I mopped, I did all the towels. You wanna it? Seriously? She would've made me go through and rinse off the perm papers and then hang out and dry them out so she could reuse 'em.
I only did that once. Yeah, the perm papers. So she, I only did it once. She did more than once. 'cause she knew it worked. So that way she could save on the paper. And the papers were cheap. They were so [00:18:00] cheap.
yeah.
that's what she made me do.
He just wanted to keep you busy and,
Exactly. Yeah,
of trouble.
yeah,
He
yeah.
throw them away after you did it and get new
Oh yeah, I totally did. But no, I mean, it was just like, well, I mean hair salons. There's no way. I mean, half her salon, half her staff were like, you know, they were trouble. Yes. You know that everyone thinks that this is a new thing. Yeah.
Listen, hairdressers have been, uh, trouble all along. So
Yeah. Since the beginning.
that's how you learned it?
I know
Yeah.
exactly, so
From her shop.
I know. I know there was definitely people there drinking the middle of the day. This is back when you could smoke. Yeah. Inside the salons,
that's how.
the dryers had
cool
where they could put the cigarettes out, get ashtrays in the dryers arms. Yeah, the RAs in the dryer.
Yeah.
Yeah.
the doors closed and all of us are breathing. No. Can you [00:19:00] imagine all that smoke? So wonder I didn't have lung cancer.
that's how my, uh, cool was. they would let you smoke anywhere I was doing, Roller sets and everything and they would be smoking and sitting under the dryer. Smoking
Yep.
the dryer.
then came the law that we have to have a section for non-smoking and smoking. Well, it's still the smoke all. How did you do that? Uh, we have to put dryers on the one side for the people that smoke and right
it,
were the ones were non-smoking. They did that on the planes too when you were little.
I remember that. Yeah. For flying Honduras, his dad have to fit one in the back. He smoke. Well, the smoke went all over the plane.
Sure.
Yeah.
I uh, 12 years old I was on the plane. By myself and they had me in the last row because year olds are not allowed to s in the except the guy who was right [00:20:00] behind me, he would just blow his smoke to rate ahead and it's all over me
Wow.
the whole time.
Yep.
So.
Yeah, because Why not?
section,
Well, let, let me tell you a good story. When I had my own salon, I had 10 hairdressers, four manicures, and I had a, uh, person that did massages and fess. So I had a manicure as Leslie. And I just, she went to school with them and she was really sweet, but she was always, you know, I was so naive, you know, her nose was always dripping and all.
She's sick in her stomach. And so, you know what? I said, oh my little sweetheart, I'm gonna make you some tea. I said, are you catching a cold? She says, yes, but I'm sick of my stomach. I didn't know she was going in the bathroom shooting. And then she come back and she was okay. And I said, you know what? I said, you need, you need to have a better diet.
You need to take care of it. Says, yeah, I will. And then one of my customers came by, he goes, oh, you got a [00:21:00] tweaker, huh? I didn't know what that was. I said, what are you talking about? You're manicures. Oh yeah. And then I said, oh, I was mad. And I said, no. I said, no, she's not like that. I said, she suffer from sinus problems.
She said, oh my goodness, Elizabeth,
He sure does.
naive. I was defending her.
Uh.
Yeah, I have, I have sinus problems too. Yeah. Yeah. But I, I had no idea what was going on. Oh.
addict had narcolepsy, right? It's
Exactly,
like.
but the best one, the best, one of the best stories. I had a, the salon, you know, right there by the high school. Mm-hmm. So at night, you know, so I would go home early and she only wanted to work at night. and I said, you know, I hate for you being by yourself. So this older man would come into the salon, salon, said, Ms.
Townson, don't worry, I'll take good care of her. And so I remember Robert telling me one [00:22:00] night, she said, mom, she's a hooker. And I, I sat him down and gave him a letter. You never judge people. You know, we are Christians. We're not to judge that girl's. No, that girl's not a hooker. So, and Robert told me, he said, you are like a little girl.
You're so naive. Well, one night we're watching the news. Guess what? They were raiding a street called El Cajon Boulevard. She was one of 'em that was picked up
Oh,
and So this guy,
making extra
yeah. Yeah. So they were using my salon to, um, you know, to make, you know,
yeah.
you what? The guys were coming in and the older guy was her pimp. Oh
Yeah.
yeah. And I had no idea. Then my neighbor said, you didn't know your salon. She says, at night. It was lightly. You know, the guys were coming in picking up girls.
I, my salon Salon
you
had no idea and I had no idea. And she wasn't getting any money from it either. No,
a madam of [00:23:00] San Diego.
exactly. Oh man. So I did tell you, but one of the things though that I want to mention is when you did get cancer mm-hmm.
Hmm.
And one of the things that we did find out is that it came from the color that you were using. Mm-hmm. And especially black and red. Red, yes. Red was huge. And this is what a lot of people don't know.
And, and there's a lot of lawyers that are fighting this right now. Some of the big, big color companies is when you go through and you actually mix the color with the peroxide. And this was explained to us by one of the attorneys. Mm-hmm. Um. When the carcinogens, if you're breathing that in, it's a cancer-causing agent and what they then that's, well, a lot of color companies don't want you to know.
And I was there watching my mom for the first round of her cancer treatments and [00:24:00] I don't know it, it seemed like you may have blocked this. You know what I mean? But I remember it. And you were tired. Hmm. You know, and I remember like watching you come back from your cancer treatments and back then we didn't know where this was coming from.
You know? And I think that's one of the biggest things that you and I have talked about, especially when it comes to like smoothing treatments, Brazilian blowouts and things like that, that, have these cancer causing agents. Some people are still using 'em. They're thinking like, well, I'm making money off of it.
Yeah, but at what cost? And that's why we did an episode about that, because it was like. Yeah. Over money. Yeah, but over your,
with all that money you just saved,
know, I asked the doctor if my, if my first cancer was caused by that. Oh no. She said you would've had lung cancer if that was it. Not breast cancer. But then I get it the second time and then I get it the third time.
Three times. Yes. So by the third time I'm already in Seattle. And they wanted to know, the doctor said, what is it? Why are you having so many? We need to find out. So [00:25:00] we need to do a DNA testing that hospitals do it and, uh, it's, it's very expensive said, but we're gonna ask the insurance to pay for it because we wanna know if you have some type that is mutating and why are you getting it over and over.
And so we need to know, your, your background and come to find out. It was the color
Yeah.
that's exactly what happened. So I think when I'm a bit passionate about some of the chemical treatments that are out there and you know, the color and things like that, I back away from it because I saw what my mother went through and not just once, three times.
Yeah, three times.
She is not the only one. and
they just happened to figure out it's, uh, the color. And I, know that, when is diagnosed with cancer, it's just a mystery of, how it happened. Well,
Yes.
Genes or your mom had it or something
Yeah. Right.
and, I never look into it.
Yeah.[00:26:00]
and reasons are they're right.
There
Yes.
happening every day. and you may have warnings and people just ignore them
Yeah.
because they're making money off of it.
Yeah. these companies have been allowed to get away with it for so long because these lawyers will go in, they'll sue them, they'll get a huge chunk of change. And then they won't have to change anything at all because they pay the lawyers off. And that's what the lawyers are suing for.
They're suing for money. They're not suing for your health. They'll tell you that. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. But they're trying to find the people who they made the most money off of. And so my mom was actually part of a lawsuit for nearly a year where they were suing these large companies and since she didn't fit the mold, they dropped her.
Yep.
Oh,
And guess what I found out? That the worst, you know, cancers happen to black hairdressers, black women hairdressers. So that that's what they, they wanted to focus more on the black and I, that's why they dropped [00:27:00] me. Yeah.
okay. Okay.
Well, yeah, more money. Yeah. They saw a bigger payday, so they dropped my mom outta the lawsuit and decided to go with other people.
Who would they get profit off the most? And I was like, wow. Yeah, you're doing the exact same thing.
Yeah.
Exact same thing. Mm-hmm.
Lawyers,
But I just got off the phone with someone yesterday and they were talking about another lawsuit that's gonna happen pretty soon with Bedhead had a dry shampoo and their hair spray that caused, that causes cancer.
Um, I've heard this from other people that used to work for the company as well, that there was a few employees that actually were diagnosed with cancer. Gabriel, Gabriel from the salon in Texas that we had on the show last year,
Him.
his business partner, she had breast cancer. so it's, that's the thing.
It's like they're finding so many people out there that are getting this, but there's no one to really help you because as soon as a lawyer says they're gonna help you, and they realize that you're in the wrong [00:28:00] demographic, they just drop you. Yeah. And they told me, oh, we'll keep your name and number just in case there is another lawsuit, and we can include you in it.
Isn't that nice? Yeah. Oh good. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
a lot.
yeah. I know,
For
I know, that's so I think that's why I'm a bit passionate about that kind of stuff, you know what I mean? I was actually gonna go through and bring on one of the lawyers onto the show to talk about it, but after they dropped her, I was like, absolutely not.
'cause all I would be doing is enriching them. And that's the only, and I'm not,
I,
I don't, I didn't wanna go down that road.
side at all,
Yeah. We spent plenty of hours, plenty of time talking to them and kind of seeing what we could do. And at the end of the day, they were like, you, you know what? We're not making enough money off of you, so bye.
And that was it.
So it's not just our industry. That, you know, dumps on you. It's also the attorneys. Yeah. I mean the legal industry, everything, so,
Sure.
and you know, way back 30 years ago, California unload you know, the color red, the, [00:29:00] and the black, because they knew way back then that it was, have carcinogens.
And so the reds weren't as nice. They weren't as lasting, you know, but they prohibited. Yeah, in California and some of the hairsprays too. Yeah. Well, not now.
it.
They're back. They're back at it again. So, and it seems like they don't, they switch formulations. Yeah, that's all that it is. As soon as the loss lawsuit hits, they switch formulations and then they say, oh, it's a different type of, like
name.
everything is different names
different
back to normal again.
It's fine. You'd be totally fine and boom, it happens all over again. So, you know, like with the foods, you know, it's amazing how the government allows. What goes on in our foods, but it's all because
I'm,
all,
if you look at. Europe. I mean there's a lot of American products are banned over
yeah, they are.
and
Yeah. You
Right. Yeah. it's
corn bi.
and it's not ' cause they don't like 'em, it's just like one ingredient that
Yeah, it's toxic.
is gone and they're not allowed [00:30:00] anymore.
Exactly. So, yeah. But I think this career has given us a lot. Yeah. Don't you think? Yes. Yes. I enjoyed the whole time, think how many years? 47 years. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. I always felt everybody hated to work on Monday. And I love that. I always look forward to, 'cause I always thought here they come with their messy hair.
They need color. They come out not looking so good, and they go out looking beautiful. And so I, that always made me feel really good. at the end of the day I was happy going home. So what do you, what do you feel about all the, the trauma dumping that people would come in and give you all their bad news?
Oh, let me tell you. Yeah. That, you know, sometimes you take that too hard. But then I learn like the doctors do, you know, learn to take it in stride and just let it rub off. See, that's the thing is like with like the old school hairdressers, that's what they did. Yeah. You know, they just kind of heard what clients had to say.
Mm-hmm. And they didn't like take it to heart like you were saying. No. You know, it's like nowadays it's [00:31:00] like, you know, a lot of people do take it to heart. I mean, and rightfully so. Some people it could be a lot. Yeah. Because we, we just covered this topic about trauma dumping, with, uh, Tom, the therapist, Uhhuh, I mean, I think therapy's important if you can't handle stuff like that.
I think it is, but I think, I think the old school hairdressers were cut from a different cloth. Yeah. I remember. I think I've only been in the business like three years and I had a great customer and she wanted me to, she was getting married to, you know, in uh, north Island. Mm-hmm. In a yacht and whatever.
So it's gonna be really fancy. And I said, she says, I want you to be there. You're one of my great friends. I said, I don't have the money to buy a fancy dress, please. And she begged me and begged me. Finally that day, she says, you know, I'm gonna go back. Then we didn't have malls. He said, I'm gonna go to the boutique down the street, and I'm just gonna pick some dresses for you and just go try 'em on, And I said, but I don't have the money. You know, I, I don't think we even had a credit card. And [00:32:00] so I went in there and I tried this dress and I thought, well, you know, she begged me. I guess I'm gonna have to, I think I was like 35 or $40 and that was a lot of money.
Yeah.
And um, and so when I went to pay for it back then you wrote a check for everything.
Uh, no, there's a car here with a note. And so she had a note and she says, thank you for being my friend, my hairdresser, my therapist, my attorney. She says, I love you. This is from me to you. And that's why I went to the wedding. I still have the dress. Really? I still, I still, oh wow. It was so special. Yeah.
And this is what the type of customers she had back then, you know. Uh, you went to their weddings, you went to their funerals and the baby showers and you know, they were your family and you were theirs. And I still have a couple of customers. I still, but she didn't tell you why she got invited to the funeral.
Tell 'em why. Why? Oh yeah. 'cause I to go to, if I, if I did their mother's [00:33:00] hair, I had to go to the funeral home and, and do their hair.
Oh,
Yeah. If their mother died. Quirky over here. Yeah.
Yeah, I know um, I don't know if I could do that
Right. Yeah. Well, I took two of the hairdressers with me the first time
Yeah.
then I thought, oh, this is not bad. 'cause they had 'em in the, uh, open space and I thought, oh, this is not bad. And we were laughing and talking and I was doing her hair. But the third time nobody went with me. And I went to this old, funeral home where your grandparents are buried.
Oh good. You know, there by, and so I thought, oh, no big deal. 'cause I already gone twice before, you know, to other places. Well, this was really old and they had my client, she was the very last at the end and they had this flickering legs walking by and they leave me there and I'm doing her hair and I needed Bobby pants and I run out and so I, I thought I have to go back to the office and get more.
Well, I got lost and I would open this door and there'd be a dead person [00:34:00] on the coff. And I open the other door, people crying, love you. And the loved one said, I was so scared. And by the time I got to the office, I guess I was bewildered. 'cause I said, you scared? And she said, yes. I'm, I said, I thought I was lost and I would never get out here.
So they said, that's okay. We're gonna get the embalmment, come and get you and take you back. So here he comes all dressed in a suit with a tie, white shirt, but gloves and boots up here. And he takes me back. Well, the room where my client was, was right next to her to do the embalming. he says, well, so you won't get scared.
He says, I have an elevator here. I be getting all kinds of bodies. And, uh, she said, leave the door open. I said, no, don't leave the door open.
Oh
says, I'll turn the radio on then so you won't feel scared. Oh, that was the only time I was scared.
when you have, uh, clients, how long you have, that's just something you ought to get used doing is,
Yeah. [00:35:00] Would you do it though?
I don't know. Uh
Yeah, it was only that one time that I was scared. I was just scared doing the person. It was scared. I was scared of the place, you know? 'cause it was dark and the music and the flickering lights reminded me of a scary movie.
there's music in there.
Oh yeah. You know, soft. You know that kind.
Oh,
Yeah. Right. Yes it is.
they had to do like haunted house music
Oh,
I,
would, that would be even worse.
that would be great. I would
I know,
then I would go,
yeah. But that, that was an experience.
yeah.
come on. You're sitting there, you're doing these kids and you're doing dead bodies. You know what I mean? So it's like every walk of life. I know.
It's like walking through your door, you know. So I did one of my customers, um, little girl here when she was five till she was in her thirties. Yeah. Yeah. I got customers for 37 years. They were so faithful. And one of the things that I liked about my job, I didn't [00:36:00] know very well how to do blow dry and I could use the curly ion, but especially if it was long hair, I had a hard time.
And um, and so I did mostly sets, you know, roller sets and all that, but I made more money than the people that did the other. Because I would do they do one and I'd be doing five
because no one knows how to do roller
No.
and I'm glad that I know how to do it.
Yeah,
now I haven't
yeah,
in. Quite a while.
yeah.
I do have 'em here at home
I was so good.
use them.
That the customer would come in and in 15 minutes as shampoo and sit under the dryer.
Yeah. Yeah,
Yeah, it was quick. So I could do quite five, one right up. I would, I wouldn't know what to do. And then when the first one was, when the last one was done under the dryer, the first one was already dry, so would be boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
And I had such a deal, like this girl taught me how to, you know, we used to do a lot of backing.
Yep.
I had this pick and I would, [00:37:00] and then I started doing what they, we call pedals, you know, here and here, and then I sprayed them. You know, it was how the spray was really harsh, you know, like lacquer. And then I put 'em on a very cool dryer for a couple of seconds, and then it was like a helmet.
I mean, they would come back and that was the helmet head The next week. It didn't move.
Yeah, hard as a rock.
Yeah.
my, my grandmother's hair was.
Yeah.
she
Yeah,
once a week have her hair done, and it was, she would pick it out every
yeah,
just lift it up.
yeah.
At night, would wrap her, the side of her head in the back of the head with toilet paper and pin it.
Yes.
so her hair would just slide on the pillow, uh, the satin or the silk pillowcase
But I have a better one. I have a customer, so she would mess up her hair. When her husband made love to her, she, her head would hang off the bed. So
That's [00:38:00] amazing.
she says, I'm not, was standing up, I guess how 10 a hair. I'm not about,
Oh my God.
I tell you, I had some stories. So what do you, what do you feel about people charging like. $4,000 to get like their extensions done, their color done. Oh, good for them. I wish it was me. See, there you go. Woo. The most I ever charged for a haircut was 20 by the time I retired. $20.
$20. Okay.
$20. It was 20 for the set and 20 for the, the haircut.
That was the most I ever charged.
Someone having it all done all at once, like haircut, the roots maybe high.
Oh, so we used to charge 40. Oh yeah. Highlights. I would start at 75,
Did you do the cap?
Yeah. Huh. No, I quit doing that because you know, some, some of 'em would bleed and it was so hard [00:39:00] and you couldn't really.
I.
Control. So when I used to take him to the shelves, I learned how to do highlights. 'cause I, back then when I went to school, it was only the cap.
There was no such thing as doing the foils.
Me too. Yeah.
Oh yeah? I had my hair pulled through a cap back in the eighties. Yeah. She pulled my hair through a cap.
How did I, I, they actually said that
to me once, and I had a perm.
Two. Yeah,
Yeah, yeah,
so, so a highlight. How much was 75? 75 Then A haircut was 90, so that'd be what, or 20, so that'd be 95. 90? Mm-hmm. 95. All right. Yeah. And then what else would you do to 'em? Well, if I did the set then it would be $20. $20 more? Yeah. So one 10.
So the, yeah.
at at least over a hundred dollars, you know, for something that's easy
tell you the highest I ever earned in one day and I was over the moon. I did, I don't know if I did a couple of, uh, perms and two highlights, $700 and I thought I died [00:40:00] and went to heaven 701 day, but that was only one.
bad. That's like a whole day, like morning and then you
Yeah. Yeah. 700 was the most I ever made. No. So we, we thought when we made a hundred,
It's
we would come and we say, okay, I have this and that. Right. If we make a hundred today, oh, we're gonna be great. So we were, we were always shooting for a hundred dollars for the day.
Huh?
I think some, I think some places are still, they'd be happy with a hundred bucks a day.
You know what I mean? In certain places, so, yeah.
Yeah. Well like way out,
Yeah.
middle of nowhere, you know? Um.
You know, when, um, they started opening this, and I'm not being prejudiced, but, um, oh, no, no.
here we go.
When they start, no, when they brought the, when they brought the, uh, Vietnamese, you know, in the seventies and they had, we had all the refugees. They were really hardworking people, very smart.
Yeah.
they started opening, uh, nail salons and so my nail business went down. Because [00:41:00] they started doing that. We charged 25, 35. They were charging 10. That's why they had to become prostitutes. Yeah. That's the way she had hookers. 10. That's why they were paying them in the back. So the, the nail, her nail tax had to be, had to make money somehow, so,
geez. Because
you know.
Yeah. And so, and they, how much, guess how much they charge for haircuts? $6 with a blow dry. $6. The Vietnamese students were charging, huh? With a blow dry.
All because of the war. War is hell.
And of course they were happy. To them, that was a lot of money.
Yeah.
And you know, all of 'em live with their families, their grandparents, their uncles, their cousins in one house and everybody was out working and the elderly were staying home, taking care of the young ones and cooking. So everybody was bringing in.
So if they brought in $30 a day, $40 a, you know, that was a lot. For them. Yeah. But they were smart people. Let me tell you. Those people started opening restaurants, all kinds of nail salons, buying houses. Smart [00:42:00] people. I have to say that. They were smart, but they,
you did, sort of
well,
you did too.
Yeah, Ashley, that's like what she did.
You know what I mean? I'm immigrant ura. Yeah. Still like, you know. Yeah, yeah. Exactly. So. never gave her a thought. You know, we just came, worked and we didn't care what kind of, you know, work as long as it was decent and honest. But we just came, we didn't come to cry. We came to work
See you
better ourselves.
Yep.
Yeah. Uhhuh.
And honest.
Yeah. There you go. So it's been a good 47 years, been a really good life. Yeah. I mean, she me a career off her hairdressing. I Megan career off her hairdressing and. I don't know. It is been something that I have a passion for and I love and do anything else what really? Yes, just having that passion for doing hair and making people happy.
Exactly. That's what really made me happy. There you go. Yeah. It's been a good life, you know, and, and sometimes I have to, I wake up and I have to pinch myself. Is this really me? You know, [00:43:00] in your big old house, I know my grass. Well, look at you. You don't have work anymore. He told me the other day. Yeah, because he has this massive house now you get lost soon.
So,
in your own home. Yeah, I
yeah. So, yeah, so this was a little glimpse into my life and where I kind of get, so if you wonder where I get it from and where I don't, I just keep talking. This is where I get it from is from my mom, so
I've known this for years. Yeah.
that's why I always talk.
we've known each other now, you know?
Yeah. Yeah. So many years.
Yep.
Many years. Oh, mom. Yeah. Mm.
Thank you.
Thanks for having me on the show. Oh, I love you and thanks for, proud of you. Thanks for not hitting me. Well, you, I didn't drop any F-bombs. You have did? No. You said you've been dropping the F-bombs. I haven't, so she hasn't hit me yet, so it's [00:44:00] good.
That's why
you're, you're.
the cleanest we've had Great.
You really reeled it in. Yeah,
we may
know what I told one of my customers, because she couldn't speak three words without dropping the F and I said, you know that your, the English language is so extensive and so beautiful that I could, I could talk 365 days out of the year and never use the f,
Yep.
use an f. I said never.
her
And so I said, you know what?
You don't need to either. Oh, you're such a P. She goes,
She's like F that
yeah, oh yeah, but you know what? The next time she came, never again. I said, thank you. I'm proud of you. She never said another fucking word that in front of your mother,
she shamed her
you know, to me, and lemme tell you it, it's so, that word is so offensive. Extremely offensive to me. I know that people here use it like eating [00:45:00] candy, but to me it's so offensive because I, I don't think there's any need for that.
no, you're
that's,
There's not
there's not, your English language is so beautiful that there's no need for that.
Well, that's what they were doing in the back of your shop though. Well, they might have.
Toyota, England and
Of it.
using it all the time, all day.
Well, thanks for the wisdom, mom. I appreciate it.
Thank you.
Been fun. Thank you for having me.
And now it's time for shit Ology, Honduran style. When you notice your clients for 40 years started dropping like flies, it's time to change up your business cashing on their death. This is the grand opening of the parlor. It's a parlor of all parlors. It's a hair parlor, a funeral parlor, and a pizza parlor.
Pizza. Yeah, we'll get to that. Your color dispensary is now a [00:46:00] morgue. Embalming the bodies with all that unused Brazilian blowout formula, shit's gonna kill you anyhow. And for those who prefer cremation, well that's where the pizza oven comes in. And who doesn't love a good pizza while working on all those bodies?
Now that's what I call a full service salon. And with that, stay shitty and see you next time.
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