Today we’d like to introduce you to Ethan Shaw.
Hi Ethan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
When I went to Berklee College of Music in Boston, I was a poor college kid and couldn’t afford a decent haircut, so I started cutting my own hair. When I moved to Austin and was playing music for a living, all my musician friends started asking me to cut their hair, which I would do in their living rooms. One of them was married to the top colorist in Austin at the time, and she’s the one that told me I had a natural aptitude for hairdressing and encouraged me to get into it.
I worked my way up in the first salon I worked at and became a haircutting instructor, spending a lot of time in New York for training. This was the height of the “flat iron era”, soon after ceramic flat irons were all the rage. We were told by some of the greatest hairdressers in the world that the current state of hairdressing was a disaster, with everyone trying to pretend that every woman had silk-straight hair and terribly damaging it in the process. “The art of hairdressing–working with one’s natural hair textures–had been lost,” they said.
I took that to heart and set out to master the art of working with the natural beauty inherent in every woman’s hair.
After years of experience, education with some of the top names in hairdressing, and lots of trial and error, I developed my own unique system of approaching hairdressing. I felt that the keys to beautiful hair are the health of the hair and working with its natural tendencies. Many women over-complicate their daily hair routine when they could spend a minimal amount of time on their hair and have it come out better!
Over the years, I’ve grown my business into one of the top curl salons in Austin. The stylists at Curly Hair Austin teach every new client how to approach her hair in a simple, effective way, achieving beautiful results easily.
And, yes, I still play music-the steel guitar is my other passion!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Most of my career has evolved pretty naturally, but it’s had some challenges. In striving to always find the “perfect” way to do things, you have to be willing to take risks that don’t always work out exactly how you were hoping.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I owe a huge amount of debt to the stylists I apprenticed with, the salon owners I started out with, and my staff at my salon. Charley and Sherry, our current stylists, are great to work with and be inspired by!
Contact Info:
- Email: curlyhairaustin@gmail.com
- Website: curlyhairaustin.com
Image Credits
Julie Shaw
