Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalia Gonzalez Cruz.
Hi Natalia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started doing hair at a really young age, but my journey into becoming a salon owner and educator was anything but a straight line. Like many new stylists, I entered the industry excited and passionate, but I also quickly experienced some of the harder sides of the beauty industry. I worked in environments where I learned a lot, but also experienced firsthand what it feels like to be a young stylist trying to find your place, build confidence, grow a clientele, and figure out the business side of an industry that beauty school does not always fully prepare you for.
Over time, I realized that I wanted more than just to do hair. I wanted to create the kind of environment I wish I had when I was newer to the industry.
Eventually, I took the leap into working independently, built my clientele, continued investing in my education, and eventually opened The Wild Thorn Collective in Killeen, Texas in 2025. What started as a place for me to work grew into something much bigger in such a short time. Today, it is a salon and creative space built around collaboration, individuality, education, and giving independent stylists a place to grow their businesses without feeling like they have to do everything alone.
One of the biggest things I have learned is that you do not have to be in the industry for 20 or 30 years before you are allowed to make an impact. I may still be growing and learning myself, but I can use the experiences I have already had, both the good and the difficult ones, to make the path a little better for the stylists coming after me.
Today, I am still a working hairstylist behind the chair, specializing in dimensional, lived-in color and cutting, while also running The Wild Thorn Collective, mentoring other stylists, creating educational opportunities, and working toward expanding my role as an educator. My goal has never been to create a salon where everyone has to fit into the same mold. I want to build the kind of space where stylists can be independent, keep more of what they earn, develop their own identities and businesses, and still have community, support, and opportunities around them.
I am still very much in the middle of my story, which I think is one of the most exciting parts. I am proud of what I have built so far, but I also know that The Wild Thorn Collective and my own career are still evolving.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. Some of my biggest challenges came early in my career, when I was still trying to understand where I fit in the beauty industry. I experienced environments that made me question myself, my talent, and whether there was a place for me in this industry at all. I learned firsthand how difficult it can be to be a young stylist trying to build confidence and a clientele while also navigating “competition”, comparison, financial pressure, and the business side of an industry you are often not fully prepared for in school.
Becoming independent came with its own challenges. There is a lot of freedom in working for yourself, but there is also a lot of responsibility. I had to learn through experience how to price my services, manage expenses, market myself, set boundaries, build a clientele, and create stability. There was no perfect roadmap, and I made plenty of mistakes along the way.
Opening The Wild Thorn Collective brought an entirely new set of challenges. I was no longer only responsible for myself. I was creating a space that other people were trusting as a home for their businesses. I have had to learn how to lead while still learning myself, make difficult decisions, manage the financial realities of owning a salon, and accept that not every idea will work exactly the way I imagined it would.
One of the hardest lessons has been realizing that growth can be uncomfortable and sometimes lonely. Not everyone will understand your vision, and you cannot make every decision based on whether everyone else approves of it. I have had to become more confident in trusting myself while also remaining open to learning and changing.
At the same time, those challenges are a huge part of why I care so deeply about what I am building now. I know what it feels like to be the stylist who is trying to figure everything out, because in many ways, I still am. I do not want to pretend that I have all the answers. I want to take what I have learned, including the mistakes and difficult experiences, and use it to create more support, education, community, and opportunities for the stylists around me.
The road has not been smooth, but every difficult part of it has helped shape the kind of stylist, business owner, and leader I want to become.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a hairstylist, salon owner, and emerging educator based in Killeen, Texas. Behind the chair, I specialize in dimensional, lived-in color and precision haircutting. I love creating hair that feels intentional and elevated but still works in a client’s real life. A lot of my work is centered around creating dimension, movement, and longevity rather than chasing a one-size-fits-all result.
Haircutting is a particularly important part of my work. I love understanding how shape, movement, texture, and disconnection can completely transform the way hair looks and feels. I am also very passionate about the finishing process. To me, a great haircut or color is not complete without understanding how to style it and helping the client understand how to recreate that feeling at home.
What I am most proud of, though, is that my career has grown beyond the work I create behind the chair. I have been able to turn my love for this industry into The Wild Thorn Collective, a salon and creative space where other independent beauty professionals can build businesses of their own. I am also beginning to step further into education, sharing what I have learned through hands-on classes and creating more opportunities for newer stylists to continue learning beyond beauty school.
I think what sets me apart is that I am deeply curious. I never want to stop being a student of my craft. I experiment, ask questions, invest in education, and genuinely enjoy understanding the “why” behind what I am doing instead of simply following a formula or trend. That curiosity influences the way I approach hair, business, leadership, and education.
I also do not believe there is only one definition of success in this industry. Some stylists want to build a large clientele, some want to specialize, some want to educate, and some simply want a creative career that gives them freedom and a life they enjoy. I am most proud that the work I am doing today allows me to express my own creativity while also helping create space for other people to discover what success looks like for them.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I am not sure I believe in luck in the traditional sense. I believe more in alignment, timing, intuition, and the idea that some things find you when you are ready for them, even if you do not understand why at the time.
Some of the things I once considered “bad luck” ended up redirecting me toward something better. Opportunities that did not work out, environments I outgrew, closed doors, difficult relationships, and plans that completely fell apart have all played a role in where I am today. Looking back, I can see how many of those moments were not necessarily setbacks. They were redirections.
I am a very intuitive person, and I have learned to pay attention to the things that keep pulling at me. Sometimes it is an idea I cannot stop thinking about, a person I happen to meet at exactly the right time, or an opportunity that feels almost too perfectly timed to be random. I think there is a little bit of magic in that. Whether someone calls it luck, intuition, manifestation, divine timing, or the universe doing its thing, I believe there are moments when life gives you a nudge.
At the same time, I do not think alignment replaces action. You can be given the right opportunity at the right time and still have to be brave enough to say yes to it. A lot of what looks like luck from the outside is also years of work, risk, mistakes, showing up, and continuing to create even when you do not know exactly where it is leading.
So I would say luck has played a role in my life, but maybe not in the way people traditionally think of it. I believe I have been fortunate, but I also believe I have learned how to recognize the little signs, trust my intuition, and follow the things that feel like they are calling me toward something bigger. Some of the best things in my life began with a feeling I could not fully explain yet.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/thewildthorncollective
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hairxnataliag?igsh=MWZ1a3N6NWw0cG40OQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/14m5JmCLY7v/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@hairxnataliag?_r=1&_t=ZP-982VTouUqTv
