Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristina Salazar.
Hi Kristina, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I became a mom at 17 during my senior year of high school. I graduated early, I wasn’t completely sure what I wanted to do next. I originally thought about becoming a therapist, but my mom encouraged me to look into beauty school because I had always enjoyed doing hair and makeup. When my son was about 8 months old, I enrolled at Regency Beauty School in South Austin and earned my cosmetology license in 2012. I originally planned on doing hair, but an opportunity with Benefit Cosmetics at Ulta completely changed my direction. That’s where I started doing brows in 2013 and met a co worker, another brow artist who trained me. I was intimidated at first because she was already so talented and well-loved by her clients, but she believed in me, encouraged me, and gave me such a strong foundation. I truly believe a lot of the brow artist I am today started with what she taught me. My career definitely wasn’t a straight path. I worked at a couple salons, returned to Ulta, learned new skills, experienced difficult work environments, and went through some very challenging seasons in my personal life. I lost my mom shortly after beginning my career, spent an eventful period of my life essentially raising four children (my son and 3 step kids) and later went through a major breakup during the pandemic. Through all of it, work became one of the constants in my life. During the pandemic, I became busier than ever. I was the only person working at the brow bar, and with everyone wearing masks, brows suddenly became a huge focus. My clientele grew even more, but so did my confidence in myself and my work. In 2022, a old client who had once told me she would bring me into her salon if she ever opened one kept that promise. I started there part-time, eventually went full-time, and took the leap into working for myself. ATXBROWS had already been my Instagram name for years, so it only felt right to make it official. I’ve been working for myself since 2022 and made Atxbrows LLC officially shortly after and been hustling since!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. I’ve experienced a lot of personal loss and major life changes while trying to build my career, and there were times when what I was going through personally affected me professionally. I was young, and I definitely didn’t always handle everything perfectly, but I learned from those moments and grew from them.
Professionally, working in different salon environments also taught me some hard lessons about management, trust, boundaries, and knowing my worth. Those experiences played a big part in eventually pushing me to work for myself.
Now, one of my biggest challenges is actually the business side of things. Doing brows is the part I love and comes naturally to me, but being a business owner means constantly learning, adapting, and sometimes figuring things out as I go. I still struggle with self-doubt and tend to downplay how far I’ve come, but I’ve learned that even when things get hard, I’m pretty good at finding a way to keep going.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in brows and natural lashes, including brow shaping, tweezing, threading tinting, laminations, lash lifts, and more. I think what sets me apart is that I don’t believe in a “one brow fits all” approach. I like enhancing what someone naturally has and creating something that fits their face, style, and comfort level.
What I’m most proud of is the trust and loyalty I’ve built with my clients. Some have been with me for almost 13 years and have followed me throughout different stages of my career. To me, that says more about my work than anything else. I want every client to feel comfortable, heard, and leave feeling like an enhanced version of themselves, not like a completely different person.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
The biggest advice I would give someone starting out is to have confidence in yourself and your work. If people are choosing you, coming back, and referring others to you, there’s a reason…you’re doing something right. I wish I had recognized that in myself sooner instead of questioning whether I was good enough.
I’d also say go after the things you want, even if they seem too big or unrealistic at first. Don’t talk yourself out of an opportunity before you even try. Some of the best things in my career happened because I took a chance and figured it out along the way.
Pricing:
- BROW SHAPING $30
- BROW TINT $28
- BROW STAIN $35
- LASH LIFT $90
- BROW LAMINATION $90
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vagaro.com/atxbrows
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atxbrows?stkn=emNvYzUwc3RzYTc2
