We had the good fortune of connecting with Kara Souza and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kara, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Ultimately for the last few years my work life balance has definitely been more work than life. Would I change that? No, because that’s opened the door for me to now sit back and say, you know what, you’ve worked this hard to stay consistently busy, now is the time to really zero in on what makes me happy and reprioritize my time where I find it matters. I’ve pushed myself to make financially driven decisions based on my experience, the service I offer, and my years in the business. If it weren’t for that, I definitely wouldn’t be able to take that step back now to make the life part of my balance a lot richer.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Being in such a creative field really opens a lot of doors for work. I mean, session/editorial, working in a salon, owning a salon suite, starting a hair care brand. There are endless opportunities in the hairdressing community to take advantage of. A few of the biggest challenges for me were actually finding where I fit in this community. I’ve really done a lot of growth over the last three years in the sense of me figuring out what matters to me in my workplace and how I work best. I think my biggest challenge was honestly myself. I’ve had to kind of come out of this comfort zone, make the necessary changes to my business while sacrificing a lot in the mean time. By no means is any of it easy but it’s necessary to create a life I love for myself and my family.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oh goodness Atlanta has so many wonderful spots. I’ll keep it easy! Personally I’m that traveler that likes to explore, so I’d do the same with one of my guests coming in town. Downtown here we come on Monday, Midtown Tuesday (South City Kitchen, yum) , Buckhead Wednesday (dinner at Pricci) , a little trip to my hometown would be fun on Thursday (hello, Fayetteville has Gremlin Growlers & amazing places for lunch). And probably pregame at the hotel bar on Friday before hitting a club. I’m a go with the flow person when I travel so usually a quick Google search and I’m settled on what to do. An itinerary has never been my thing, I hope my guests could understand that too
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Of course my mom. She is one strong, woman for sure. She always gets the number one spot. My work ethic really comes from her. I’d also like to give my husband Alan the credit he deserves for being so unconditionally supportive of every move I make. His intelligence alone has changed the way I look at business and he always has a solution to any problem. He keeps me on my toes that’s for sure! Finally I’d say the support and love of my clients, colleagues and close friends. They’re all my cheerleaders and quite honestly, they deserve so much credit for being amazing, understanding and for being so loyal to myself and my brand.

Instagram: @karadaniellex

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