Today we’d like to introduce you to Ricky Hodge.
Hi Ricky, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m a hairstylist in Austin, Texas. At the age of 35, after selling a motel that my grandparents left me, I decided to go to a trade school. This was the time that chefs were becoming a huge deal. I thought I would go to culinary school since I had worked for acclaimed chef Roy Yamaguchi in Oahu, Maui and Austin. I worked in front of the house and not in the kitchen. I looked into CIA in Hyde Park, New York but decided that I would just get a career that I could afford and then just be able to eat at those fancy chef places. I then decided cosmetology school was an option. I visited and had services done to my own hair at all the schools in Austin. One of the reasons was to see what the schools actually did. How many actual clients were getting services vs. working on mannequins? What were the instructors actually doing? Were the students actually working and engaged with clients vs. students? Basically, I wanted to see how the operation of the school was running and then make my decision. I had my final two choices and decided to get another service done just to make sure before I inquired about attending classes. It came down to Baldwin Beauty School. A total old school, mom and pop school with history and decades of education and talent placed around Austin. I met with Randy Baldwin and he thought I was already a stylist looking for an assistant. I guess you could say I looked the part. On my first day of cosmetology school, I walked in and thought “what is the fastest way to get done?”. I enjoyed my time in high school but that was more than 15 years ago. To be in school again was terrifying, to say the least. I mean it was like a scene from a movie. You’re the new kid. Totally being judged because of our age.
As I look back, I absolutely laugh. Up to then, I had what most haven’t. I had life experiences. I had my own business. I lived in Hawaii for all of my 20’s. I owned a couple of houses. Life was looking pretty good you know? But the reality was that I was not working, I was living in Lampasas and commuting daily, and after graduation chances are that a new stylist would have to be an assistant at a salon. So, this was going to be my life for the next two-plus years. Ack! After graduation, I had already been an assistant at a salon in Austin. So I was offered a position as a stylist immediately after I received my license. I was super excited and very nervous. In school, I was “the guy” to go to. Fellow students were sending their parents to me. The teachers were sending me their “VIPS” I mean I had business cards made that were plain black and had the word “hair” printed in the middle with my name and number while in cosmetology school. I would pass them out as if I was already a stylist because in my head I was. One client came into the school and said, “I thought you were a stylist” He’s still a client. He doesn’t pay the $10 he did in school, but he doesn’t pay the $70 for a men’s cut either. At the salon, it was tough. Not everyone was helpful. I was on my own in a space that rented chairs to stylists. I had no foundation. I didn’t have anyone to ask. So, I looked for a big salon and applied and go the job. This salon had 20+ stylists. It was commission-based so everyone was making a percentage of money. Maybe half of what they were bringing in. There are a lot of perks with a high-caliber salon but there is a lot of “primadonnas” – not really my speed. Nonetheless, I was there to make money, build a foundation and establish a client base. During this venture of a high-end salon and building a foundation I was told by the owner of the salon that I would have to assist. Assistants made less than 1k a month (plus tips) I had eventually moved from Lampasas to Austin and purchased a condo. So I started doing hair out of my house after work from postings I made on Craigslist. Believe it or not, I was busy. Doing highlights and haircuts. I would have a cheeseboard and wine for my Craigslist clients. It was ridiculous. But I needed to make my mortgage and car payments. When I wasn’t assisting at the salon or doing hair out of my house, I was at an event. I’m one of those people that need to be out and about. I made friends with all the photographers shooting the events. In my head, I thought if the people looking through the pictures enough and they saw my look and style then they would put me in their “out and about” or “be scene” section and that was a way to become relevant and noticed. It worked. My up-and-coming days were so fun. This one guy at the salon always wore a tie and vest or something. So, during the holidays, I wore a bow tie. Not a clip-on tie. And I thought, “this is a look.” So, I started wearing bow ties daily.
One day, Marques Harper of the Austin American-Statesmen contacted me about fashion. Not about hair but about my style. I’ve always had style or I guess you could say a cool vibe, but they always ran together. So, we met up and talked about my style and bow ties. I spoke of the juxtaposition of my style and how it worked for me. My style didn’t make me better than anyone in my profession but what it did was throw me in front of a lot of people with the attention I received. But I also had talent. When you threw the short or rolled up sleeved, a bow tie fully tied by myself that was a little wonky – on purpose, a fully tatted one arm, rolled up jeans with worn-in wingtips, no socks and a high and tight pompadour with a guy who does a men’s cut with no clippers and can do a good high and tight and turn around and make a pretty blonde, even more beautiful, then you have me, Ricky Hodge. I had a juxtaposed look that was attractive to the eye. At this time, I figured out that I was branding myself. I became that guy with the bow tie. This is why it’s so key to have a brand, no matter what you do. I was asked to be on the cover of a magazine. I had been getting a lot of attention from magazines, newspapers, bloggers and television. I knew that I needed to capitalize on the fruits of my labor. So, I started my exit plan. I needed my foundation clients. I needed space to work. And, I had three to four months to do it. The salon I found was on east 6th and I moved there in October 2010 and took it over in May 2011. It was a great space. I learned a lot in this space. I taught a lot in this space. I contacted my foundation clients and told them of my endeavor – they were excited. It was all happening so fast. I hired stylists. Eventually a salon manager and a couple of assistants. I would have photoshoots, models, any reason to have people in the salon. It was an open salon with a lot of windows and a lot of drive-by traffic. My thought process was to always look busy. What I would call organized chaos. People driving by would look so I wanted them to look at whatever was going on. We did so much hair in that place.
Of course, drama but not a lot. I got rid of that vibe. I helped stylists out financially, mentally and tried to be a mentor to them. They did the same for me. I had rules sometimes they liked sometimes they didn’t. I would play jazz music and sometimes they hated the same kind of music playing all the time. And, I would say, “this really isn’t about you. This is about what the client hears.” To me, when you want to play some random music that has a loud guitar sound and your client just drove from across town through all this traffic and are 10 minutes late and all rushed, trust me, the last thing they want to hear is Jon Bon Jovi playing in the background. To me, it was always about the clients. I would and still do walk my clients to their car and open and close the door. I had fresh flowers every week. I had a specific scent burning so they would recognize and have a memory of the salon. I wanted a small boutique salon with three-four stylists and a front desk person. But the reality is that rent goes up. And everything thing I had, including money, went into the salon. As much as I loved it, I moved on at the end of 2017.
From cosmetology school to the end of Ricky Hodge salon I did photoshoots with Oribe. Just me, Oribe, the model and a photographer. I also worked in New York Fashion Week with Caesar Galindo and Veronica Beard with Original Minerals. I worked on national campaigns with Kendra Scott and VERB products. I’ve done hair for actors. I’ve traveled to clients around the United States. I did all of this for my clients. These are bragging right for them. Listen, my moneymaker is my clients. The ones that come back every 6-8 weeks. Not the ones in NYFW where I have to get up at 5 a.m. to catch a subway, get off at the wrong stop, walk through the snow with my leather bottom shoes, mess with a model’s hair that they make me brush literally and count 50 times just to put it in a low tight ponytail in a room smaller than my bathroom with 20 other models and makeup artist and stylist. Basically, for free. But, to my client that can be a HUGE deal. It’s all fun and games for sure but I did a fashion show here in Austin with the knowledge from NYFW and it was an epic event. So TOTALLY worth it.
Now, here we are. I rent a chair in Clarksville. It’s a great place for sure. After owning a salon then going into chair rent, a person must let go of things. Like what other stylists talk about. I talk about football because I go to my nephew’s high school football games. I talk spin classes because I teach spin classes. I talk about travel because I travel. I talk about my standard poodle because it’s the standard. I can’t control when the stylist in the next chair over talks about getting drunk or about a restaurant they love that I think is horrible. I also can’t control the music they like vs. what I think the clients, in general, would like. It’s a salon that has ten plus stylists. We all make our own schedule. I have always had a work vs. stylist vs. client relationship. I don’t really hang out with other stylists. Dinner here and there, sure. But, that is rare. When invited by a client, they are exactly that. They are a client. Sure friendships can flourish and I hope they do, but I prefer not to mix all of that together. Here and there I am totally down with. I mean, of course, you build a relationship. This is an intimate relationship. I’ve been the first to know of pregnancies, divorces, adoptions and rumors. I’ve been to their weddings. I’ve seen their boob jobs, facelifts and microbladding. I know about their in-laws. I know a lot. I’ve been fired by clients. Yes, it happens, I’m human. I’ve also literally fired clients… “here’s your color formula. It’s been great knowing you.” This is life and things change. My career as a hairstylist has been a very rewarding one. On a financial stance it’s been very good. I always get so confused when people think of a hairstylist as Dolly Parton in Steel Magnolias. I mean it’s a definite skill and talent. And, as much as I love Dolly, it’s 2020 and you can color and perm all in the same day. And btw I do only one perm on a person. Funny story.
In 2008, this person came in and asked for a perm and color. I was in the back with the other stylist and was asked if anyone wanted to do a perm. I hated perms but, hey, I like money, so I did. I walked out and there was this big, broad shoulder, 6’2 guy. I said, “so you want a perm?”. He said yes, with the pink and white rods. So I rolled it for 45 minutes. I asked the owner what solution to use and he said that if I permed it since he colored it, his hair may melt (because BOX dye everyone, don’t do it). So, I asked the client if we could do a test. We and it worked, so we permed, colored and cut. A week later his wife comes in. I ask her what she wanted, and she said she wanted a perm because she like what I did with her husband’s hair. I said to her “can I be honest with you?” She responded with “absolutely” and I said, “now I just think that there should be one perm per household.” She laughed and she asked what we should do…she is now what I call a Ricky Hodge blonde. I like to think that appointments should be like doctor appointments. You try not to miss them. I also like to think of myself as a chemist. For instance. You wanna go from blonde to brunette. Well, some people just throw color over it. It’s just not that easy. You must fill the hair. Most times twice. Then color over it. And sometimes we can be therapist. I mean if you tell me your story about how your mother-in-law is a piece of work maybe I’ll tell you what I would do. We are all in the customer service business. How you look at your business and how to make that perfect will separate you from the next. How you dress. How you speak. Chivalry. How you prep your day. These types of things stand out. In closing I have one thing to say. “Always remember, that your hair is the crown you never take off”.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No road is smooth. Of course, there are bumps in the road. The pivots on the roads are what make you stronger. There will be people who don’t like you as a person, and that is okay. There are people wondering what makes you different, and they are way more talented. And, that is okay too. I always go back to my foundation. If you are confident in what you have learned and keep improving your knowledge and take chances here and there, you will be golden. Like Oprah always said: “trust your gut.”
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I do hair. A lot of hair. I have been known to make a pretty blonde. I don’t mind saying that my blondes are high maintenance. If you want that bright blonde, then I’m your guy. I don’t use lighter, but the colors I do use still keep that brightness. I also do a lot of men’s haircuts. I don’t use clippers for many reasons. As much as that clipper cut looks good, you’ll need a cut in a few weeks. I cut a tight cut with a scissor and a comb. I use the mirror a lot to make sure that my cuts are smooth. I feel that is someone is pulling out a clipper. The haircut should be no more than 40 bucks (tip included).
I am most proud of my work. I am most proud of what I have accomplished. I am most proud of what I have taught people I have worked alongside with. I love that I’ve had the opportunity to receive the accolades I have. I love that I have learned to pick up myself when I have fallen. I am most proud of the people I have chosen to surround myself with because I am no one without them. I am just like everyone else. I wake up. I put on my pants the same way. But, I try to get to work an hour early. I set up my day for success. There is nothing worse than that showing up and your client is waiting. At that point, I am behind. Even if they are 15 min early. Chivalry is important. The topic of conversations is important how your work is important. You are on stage, and your client is your audience.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Risk is part of joy and defeat. We celebrate and we pick up and go. One big risk was to leave the commission-based salon and venture on my own. Absolutely terrifying. But, that risk has put me where I needed to be to shine. At that time, I was able to make my own decisions, work later or earlier as I wanted. The risk of going out on my own was the biggest blessing. I could capitalize and set my intentions of where I wanted to go and how I got there. I will always try to surround myself with people with an equivalent or superior talent than myself. I will always watch and learn. This keeps me humble.
Pricing:
- Men’s cuts $70
- Women’s cuts $90
Contact Info:
- Email: ricky@rickyhodge.com
- Website: www.RICKYHODGE.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/rickyhodgehairstories
