Life & Podcast Update: CPA School, Family Business, and Beauty Bound Season 8

What happens when two hairstylists who haven’t spoken in five years end up sitting across from each other on a podcast?In this episode of Beauty Bound, Cristal Rubio brings together hairstylists and beauty entrepreneurs Ashley Woods of Bitter Endz Hair Artistry and Andres of Upon Request Hair for a conversation that starts with an unexpected reunion and quickly turns into a very real look at friendship, business, money, and life inside the beauty industry.Ashley and Andres first met while building their businesses in salon suites. Years later, they reconnect and talk about what happened, why sometimes relationships in the beauty industry simply fall apart, and what it takes to move forward without carrying old drama into the next chapter of your career.But this conversation goes way beyond salon drama.We talk about starting at the bottom, working in chain salons like Great Clips and Supercuts, building confidence as a new hairstylist, learning from other beauty professionals, and figuring out where you actually belong in an industry where comparison can get loud.We also get into the client experience, including why some clients want to talk for three hours while others would happily sit through their entire appointment without saying a word.And because this is Beauty Bound, eventually we get into the money.What is the point of building a successful beauty business if you never give yourself permission to enjoy the life you created?Ashley shares how her own life experiences have changed the way she views money, travel, purchases, and the future. Cristal and Andres join the conversation about financial responsibility versus actually living, and why working for yourself can give beauty professionals something incredibly valuable: the ability to create a career around their life instead of creating their entire life around work.In this episode:• Rebuilding friendships after years apart• Competition, insecurity, and relationships between hairstylists• Starting your cosmetology career in a chain salon• Salon suites and becoming an independent hairstylist• Why beauty professionals never really stop learning• Managing different personalities behind the chair• Money, spending, saving, and knowing when to enjoy it• Creating a beauty business that gives you freedom• Why experiences can sometimes matter more than the things we’re told we’re supposed to buyYou can build the clientele. You can grow the business. You can make the money.Just don’t get so busy building a life that you forget to actually live it.