Meet shannon smith: Hairdresser

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

Hi shannon, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
Great question! My life used to be all about work, furthering education, working any day and any amount of hours. Then I got married and had a beautiful baby boy! After he was born I ended up having to stay home longer then expected, I also knew I was going to love him, but never knew that kind of love before. The biggest challenge came when I was ok by the dr to go back to work. Finding that balance of being a mom and having a career. I love what I do for a living, I get to go to work and make transformations, people feel good about them self, help people, be creative, and every day is different. I also loveee being a mom. It was probably one of the hardest obstacles to over come. So I started back part time, and then I eased back into full time! Now I have found that great balance between my career and family!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have always prided myself on trying to do better and never knowing too much. I try to offer my clientele the newest trends in color and cuts. With that involves furthering my education, using the best products for their hair as well as health. Besides keeping my clients up to date with the newest trends, my main goal is keeping the integrity of their hair, It definitely was not easy getting to where I am at today. I was very lucky to have grown up in a hair salon. On teacher work days or when school was out, I had to go to work with my mother every day. It was probably when I was 5 I became fascinated! By the time I was 14 I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Few years later I started to build my clientele. Doing that was not easy, their were days with no clients, weeks with no paycheck, but I was always told you have to prove yourself first. Sometimes it took seeing a client two times before they were like ok she knows what shes doing! Never give up on your dreams and passion, no matter how hard it is sometimes to see the light at the end of the tunnel one day it will be so worth it!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Wow, this one is a hard one. I would take them to all of our favorite old spots. Five points pizza, vortex, star bar, corner tavern, Manuels tavern, taqueria del sol, Highland Inn, The Plaza, get tattooed at Only You Tattoo, Park Tavern were we got married, Tabernacle for a show, the Local, LaFonda, King Plow, Terminal West, hope it was on a weekend Caffeine and Octane were having their car show and maybe filming, give them a tour of my husbands shop (always cool cars ) Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband Brandon Smith. He has been my rock! I could not of gotten to were I am today with out him. He has stood by me during the hardest times with no questions. Always their to pick me right up. During the biggest decision of opening my own Salon and building it, I was also dealing with a lot with Family. Three weekends out of the month, for 6 months, my mother and I drove to South Carolina after work on Saturdays and then would come home on Mondays after taking my grandmother to her chemo. Less then a year later, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. During that time I was unable to stop slow down, relax, take a break, or even accept what was happening. Without Brandon, I would not of been able to be their and help my mom with all of her surgeries and her healing process. He over saw the build when I couldn’t, he cooked dinner when I worked 12 hour day, he chose the lighting when I couldn’t make the meeting. At the end of the day, Brandon made our dream come true. We always had a vision, what if we could combine both of our passions and make it one. Almost 3 years ago today, that came true!!!!! Classic AutoSmith

Website: www.salonclassicautosmith.com

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