Cameron Moore is a five year industry veteran.

She's an independent, versatile hairstylist, was a marketing major and works full time as a communications coordinator while also doing hair and taking independent clients for marketing.

And not to mention, she's also running a braiding summer camp in the DMV area.

Today we're going to hear her story.

What is, what are all these things that she's doing and where is she going?

Welcome back to the Hairdresser Strong show.

My name is Robert Hughes and I am your host and today I'm with Cameron Moore.

How are you doing today, Cameron?

Hi.

I'm doing good today.

How are you?

I'm so good.

Thank you so much for coming.

Yeah, thank you for having me.

Absolutely.

So I met, I met Cameron Moore at, at D.C.

fashion Week and we did, I was doing man on the street interviews and asking people about, you know, what's going on, what's the inspiration.

And we kept in touch and, you know, just all these different things you do and your, your content you create is so, is pretty good and like, and you're definitely someone on our radar.

So I'm happy to like, get you and your local, which everyone knows that we love local over here at Hairdresser Strong.

So it's a pleasure to have you on the show.

So let's jump right in.

This is going to be a, a quick one today and I know the audience loves, loves that.

So let's jump right in.

Let's say, how did you start doing hair?

Like, what were your steps, steps of getting into hair kind of leading up to where you are now?

Yeah, so I started hair and got into hair in 2019 around Covid time.

And I basically have always loved doing hair and I always loved hair, but I've never done it on myself in terms of braids.

And I know during COVID time, you know, things were shut down and locked down, so you kind of had to get crafty.

So I taught myself how to do hair.

And so during that time I really just spent time looking at visuals.

I'm a visual learner, so looking at videos, tutorials, and then also hands on, practicing on myself and trying to get it right.

And so I definitely feel like with practice over the time that we had Covid and lockdown and also practicing on family and friends that were interested, it definitely had built up a skill and a confidence in me to kind of turn this into more of a business.

And so during the time I was in school and so come back to school, I was like, let me turn this into more of something that I can make money off of.

And so before I went to school, I built up my Instagram page, built up my brand.

I'm sorry, one second.

So when you say school, do you mean university or do you mean hair school?

Oh, university.

Just to clarify that, I actually before COVID I was a student doing marketing.

So Covid kind of was that pause when I was where I can kind of lean into the things that I really love to do.

My crafts, things like that.

And so that's where it kind of I did lean into hair skills a lot more and built that skill up.

So with that still going back to university, I was like, let me use this superpower that I built up over Covid to kind of take hair clients.

And so with the page that I had built and then also just posting, getting content out there, creating content, and just kind of showing people that I can do here on myself, hair on other people, it kind of was able to attract clients back in the college area.

And, you know, college is that perfect area where you have so many people looking for service providers.

And it's also really amazing to get the word out because you have so many people in such a tight community.

And so it was really a great way for me to be able to start growing from there.

So I started to grow my clientele and stuff out at university.

So I was still doing student college work, but also still doing this hair business.

And I just kept going and I kept going.

So even when I graduated, I still kept, kept the business like I wanted to keep it growing.

Like, I definitely found this being a passion, not just more so, like, oh, yeah, cool little sideways.

I really am passionate about hair and the different ways to do hair and connecting with people.

So when I did end up graduating, I kept it part time, but, you know, sometimes things happen and the job ended up letting me go, but I found that as like a secret blessing for me to kind of ramp up with my business.

So.

So wait, I think I must miss this.

So did you.

Who let you go like you were working, doing.

I was working full time doing marketing.

Okay.

That was my first full time job out of college.

You know, when you graduate, it's just in your head, you kind of want to use the degree, or at least that was in my head.

I was like, let me use my degree, but I still wanted to hold on my business.

And you know, after some time that didn't work out, they let me go.

And I was just like, you know what, let me just take this as a Sign to elevate, level up and focus on what I have.

And at the time like that, I just.

It was just perfect timing.

I had all the time in the world to focus on it, so opened up my availability more, started to focus more on the marketing, the branding started to network.

That was super important.

And I also started to build my portfolio, which is where I met you at Fashion Week.

So, yeah, I was just looking for opportunities to really just like, build on the skill that I've already knew I had and just get myself out there, meet new people, figure out how they do their businesses.

All the different types of people there are that, you know, run their businesses differently and you kind of hear their stories, and they also give you advice and kind of you can lean on each other in that community to help each other grow.

So that was definitely really key for me to grow my business.

And I also kind of continue to put myself in more of that beauty community by working part time as a receptionist at a salon suite.

So I was able to connect with a lot of stylists there.

And that was amazing because they.

They were able to kind of teach me the ins and outs of how they were running their business, how they got their clientele, just bounce some ideas off of them.

So it was just great to kind of be put in that environment.

So I was doing that for basically a year until I was able to get another marketing opportunity to kind of help build on that skill and kind of build that portfolio as well.

I'm definitely someone who likes to build on every skill that I have.

I don't believe in just going down one avenue.

So I definitely am still keeping hair under my belt right now, still focusing on that and different ways to create streams of revenue, but also different ways to kind of teach other people how to be in my position.

So I've been doing workshops at middle schools to teach kids how to braid.

Like you said, I'm having a braid camp this summer to be able to create an opportunity for people to learn to braid.

And I've also been kind of helping other people to help with their marketing strategies and help them build their businesses, give them ideas as well.

So definitely marketing and hair have kind of been a superpower together for me.

But yeah, it's led me to where I am today.

And now I have two spaces where I'm doing hair at, and I'm still doing full time in marketing.

It's a lot, but, yeah, that's kind of pretty much where I'm at today.

So this is great.

So I Question.

When you were started first doing hair while you were at university, did you.

Where were you doing hair?

Were you.

Did you have a suite?

Were you just going to people's houses?

Did you have a dorm?

Like, what was the.

I was, I was a college student, so I was doing it out of my, my apartment.

My.

I had a town home that I shared with some roommates and I basically would either do it out in the open living room or in my room.

And it just had to work at the time.

I wish I would be able to afford a suite at that time, but I was a broke college kid, so it was just, you know, we were doing it out of my apartment.

And so now you said you have two spaces you do hair out of.

So tell us, what does that mean?

Yes, I have two spaces.

So I basically that I do full time marketing and I also do hair on the side.

I have grown my business mainly out in somewhat the Gaithersburg area.

After graduating the most when I went kind of full time for that period of time.

But now that I'm doing full time marketing too, I actually moved out to Baltimore and I use that as kind of an opportunity to be in two locations.

Still have a lot of clientele growing and coming to the Gaithersburg location.

I get people from Virginia and all those places still booking me at Gaithersburg.

But I also use this as an opportunity to expand my clientele out in the Baltimore area and still be able to do hair out here.

So yeah, I have two locations.

I have a salon suite in Gaithersburg with another stylist.

And then I kind of have like an at home setup here.

It's a whole studio that I kind of converted my room or like a separate room into.

So it's a whole.

Are you in Baltimore now?

Yeah, I currently am in the studio now.

So you got, you know, see a little bit of a blur.

But yeah, I'm in kind of the studio setup.

It's a whole room.

Nice.

Okay, cool.

So you have an at home studio, Is that what you said?

An at home studio.

And then you have a suite and you're two.

Okay, cool.

Awesome.

And tell us, I'm curious real quick.

We don't have a lot of time, so this is one of these side conversations that can turn into a rabbit hole.

But like, can you tell us like your experience?

Because I, I know there's like plenty of people out there do hair at home.

Your experience doing hair at home when you were in, in college and you didn't have like a designated space and it was kind of like whatever you could do.

Kind of scrappy vibes.

What, what, like, can you tell us, like, what is the difference?

Like the difference in chart your ability to charge, if any, what is the difference in the experience?

I mean, I know there's gotta be a different experience also.

Like, can you talk on like something that's come up is like the entrance, like people walking through the house versus having a separate entra.

Like can you just kind of touch.

Spend a couple minutes kind of touching on that?

For anybody that's thinking about doing a home studio or maybe has one, but maybe is having some of these thoughts, like, I don't know if I want to keep doing this or, or whatever.

Or maybe has a studio and want to want.

Maybe he's like, why don't I just do this at my house?

You know?

Can you just kind of give us a little insight in your experience?

Yes, I will.

So there's two different at home experiences.

The one here is completely, completely better.

I will say the one I had with roommates was completely different.

So at home it definitely is not as private, especially with the roommates that I had.

You know, it was really just an open space, they were walking by.

Conversations aren't able to be as private with you and your style or you and your client.

And I just felt like sometimes, yeah, I wasn't able to control my environment and therefore create that full experience in the way I would have wanted to.

But it was something that, you know, worked at the time.

Being clients were able to park perfectly fine, so they didn't have any parking issues.

You know, the security was fine.

I know we had like a ring camera, so.

And we didn't have any issues with like, you know, safety and clients anyways.

But definitely now that I'm in a better at home situation, I definitely would say it's way better because I get to control the environment.

I definitely transformed it.

I have the sign here so I can create, create the content.

It definitely gives a more private, comfortable and calmer vibe for clients to feel kind of, you know, settled and relaxed.

Like they can be comfortable here.

I have snacks here so they can be chill and have TV here, so they watch TV and put on whatever they want.

So definitely this at home experience is completely fine.

I feel safe, especially like I said, I have a ring and I have my own measures of safety and security.

Definitely.

On the other hand, with having a salon suite and studio, it definitely puts you in an environment with other stylists, entrepreneurs.

So I will say, like, that is pretty handy just to kind of have that system around you to lean on, ask questions about anything like that.

Also, because you are in a salon suite, you do have a lot of people like foot traffic and it's just random foot traffic.

So you can get a lot of, I guess, eyes on your brand and your business just by people walking by your door, which is pretty nice.

It's also a little bit more of an environment where I would say, yeah, I'm able to have like a washbowl there.

So I would say at my at home studio, I kind of started off with people coming washed and blow dried, especially like for braids and stuff like that.

So some of my clients have no problem doing that with my at home studio.

But I do know clients prefer that washbowl and so, and to have that full experience.

So I'm able to provide that.

My Gaithersburg location provide them that wash and blow dry treatment if they need that.

Um, but yeah, it's just a great way to kind of have different environments depending on, you know, people's preferences.

I will say salon suites are pretty costly.

They're not really the cheapest, but I will say it provides you more of that high quality experience for you and your client because you get more things coming with that.

And also I'm not too sure how apartments are with, you know, electricity and gas, but if you have to wash your own towels, you have to have your own blow dryer going and stuff like that.

It could add up.

My, my BGE bill has been fine since being here, but I know when you are salon suite, you don't really have to worry about, you know, all those little details.

You just got to pay your suite rent.

So I would say those are the big differences that I can definitely take note of.

Definitely.

If you are at an at home studio, just make sure that it is a separate room, a separate private space instead of like a living room.

That definitely makes it a better experience where clients are fine with it.

I haven't really had anybody have any issue with it.

What about like, what about people?

Like, do people have to have.

Do you have a separate entrance into the your space or do they have to come through the front door?

So they have to come through the front door.

My apartment doesn't have two entries, but they just come on in.

They go straight to the, the side room where I have my.

So your house has to be clean all the time.

I'm clean all the time.

Even if I make a mess, I clean up like usually by the end of the day, but also when clients are here, like, I already don't really make too much of a mess.

Maybe the only thing is like dishes and that's it.

But for the most part, I pretty much keep my space clean.

That's the only function, you know.

Yeah.

But like, imagine if you, I mean, I mean, I feel like that's a thing.

Like you gotta like, would you agree?

Like you don't want someone walking in and being like, oh, oh, just ignore that.

Like, no, I try to stay mindful of that.

Of more so the perspective of, okay, I am a at home space, so how would people feel like coming into my space?

And I definitely try to keep that in mind so that people are like, you know, they have a great experience.

And yeah.

And usually people, when they walk in my place, they're like, oh my gosh, I love space.

Like, it's so nice.

And I, I get compliments all the.

Time and that's all part of the experience.

Yeah.

Because I mean, I wouldn't want to go to someone's at home studio and it'd be like dingy, dark, it stinks, it looks.

Yes, totally.

You know, their, their sibling or some, their roommate's just sitting there looking at you like, no, I do not have that environment.

I really am someone who's like, I know that when you do have something at home, you really do have to make sure that you are ensuring that environment is good for your client.

Yeah.

You know, you can't just be like, okay, well I do good at hair.

Like, you have to also consider their environment, the space that makes them feel comfortable sitting there for hours.

So I definitely make sure I do that.

So would you, would it be safe to say that if you, if you, by going from, you didn't have control of your environment primarily because other people were there and it sounds like you might not have had an empty room to use anyway.

So you went going from that environment to where you do you have roommates are there?

Okay.

So, so that's another control of your space.

So by not having any roommates, knowing exactly who's going to be home.

And like when you walked out the door, it was clean.

So you know, when you walk back in the door, it's going to be clean and like making sure your place is nicely decked out because that all is going to kind of like raise.

Is it safe to say it raises the, the perceived value perception of that experience?

Yeah.

So you can charge more money.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Especially if they're new Clients too.

Like, you know, that first impression matters.

So I definitely know that, like, I'm not going to have them coming.

Like, and that's also another factor of when I was thinking of looking at like, you know, apartments and stuff.

I was keeping in mind, okay, could I see this being a place that I could bring people here and also transform this room into an at home studio?

I was thinking of all those things and just being mindful of it because I don't want someone pulling up to the hood, but the apartment's nice.

Or, you know, I wanted everybody to have a good experience for the beginning from like, you know, them arriving and seeing the outside to the inside.

So I really try to keep that in mind.

Nice.

Yeah.

All right, well, so we're coming up on our time and I feel like there's so much more to talk about.

Like, I would, I want to talk about like marketing as a hairdresser.

Like, I feel like we should just maybe plan on having a separate conversation about that.

I also, but like, I think to wrap it up, I'd like you to tell us a little bit about like the, the bullet points on like the, the summer.

The braiding boot camp or braiding summer camp.

I mean, and how you did that and how.

Yeah, how.

Just whatever you can, you want to tell about that and like the high level.

And then any pieces of advice for anybody who is maybe like getting started or wants to break out on their own.

Maybe they work somewhere for somebody else and they like this like independent life.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

So brave boot camp.

I'm hosting a two day boot camp where you can learn knotless braids one day and stitch braids second day.

So it is going to be a six hour day each day where you're practicing over and over again and learning how to do these skills and these styles.

You're learning the foundation so the parting the products.

And then you're also going to be provided with a beginner braiding kit so that you are able to have materials to do hair at the cam, but also take that home with you and be able to practice it and continue to sharpen your skills, because practice makes perfect.

So basically the camp is July 12th and 13th.

It will be in Gaithersburg.

So definitely mark your calendars if you are available.

Definitely sign up.

Don't miss out on the opportunity to learn a valuable skill, something that can help you learn how to do your own hair or do other people's hair.

And yeah, so I would say if someone wants to be in this position and wants to, you know, start a hair business.

Definitely practice is one, be patient with yourself because it's not going to be perfect, it's not going to be pretty, it's not going to be a fast process and be consistent.

So just show up for yourself every day and keep showing up for yourself every day and people will notice that and people will honestly be motivated by that.

And it will also be something that you end up motivating yourself and wanting to keep going because you're noticing you're showing up for yourself every day.

So keep on going, be resourceful, network and do your research.

And then can you actually, I feel like I gotta do this.

Can you give us two tips that are for marketing?

For anybody listening that's a stylist that.

What are two tips that are very useful right now?

Not two general tips like maybe something that might be trending or a new, a new trend and marketing or I don't know, some.

Yes, I would definitely say if we're talking about social media marketing, start using video content, start pushing out more video content that is definitely getting hot and you know, definitely photos are completely fine but definitely start to incorporate that more as these platforms are starting to make algorithms similar or mimic TikTok.

So, so you know, TikTok is a video mostly platform.

So definitely just be aware of that.

And I would definitely say be consistent with your marketing.

So that will definitely help.

Especially if you are marketing on social media.

Consistency will help with your growth but also be intentional with your marketing.

So definitely kind of envision the way you see your brand being represented or where you want to go and be intentional by your hooks, be intentional by your captions, be intentional by the way that you are having your messaging in your branding and future content.

Okay, awesome.

Nice.

Thank you.

Okay, okay, I'm sorry, one more thing, one more thing.

What about a marketing tip that is not social media?

Definitely utilize email marketing.

If you have not like, if you're just on like, you know those.

I know there's like book, not booksy but I know there's style seat and things like that where you know, stylists will put their business and you know, they might use limited platforms but start using email marketing.

I'm telling you, email marketing will definitely help with your growth.

I know it might be like, oh well, why I delete, you know, any advertising or campaigns and stuff like that that I get.

But you never know.

People check their emails.

Don't abandon that platform.

That's definitely something that I've started to utilize and I'VE still, I've seen people notice.

So incorporate that if you haven't already.

And yeah.

So, you know, that's, I'm glad, I'm glad you brought up email marketing, because that is the, from what I understand, unless it's changed, that's the most effective marketing in terms of like, conversion.

And I don't know, like the, that was the case like a couple years ago.

I don't know if that's still the case.

But from the last thing I read was like, as a matter of fact, if you have a strong email marketing campaign that's kind of running people, people don't need to open your email.

They just need to see you in their inbox.

So they're inundated with your brand name and they're, they're seeing you.

So you're, you're like programming their brain to remember you.

And then one day when they do open it, that content should like, be appealing to that person so that they then maybe take another action.

Or even if they never open it, when they think hair, they're remembering all those emails they deleted from you.

Yeah, it's all about what you're doing to continuously, like, and that's why consistency is key and repetition because, like, once you do that and you're doing it enough, people are expecting or thinking about your brand and thinking like, you know, about, about you.

So definitely email marketing is a hidden gem, something that you should definitely utilize for your business if you haven't started to utilize it.

Absolutely.

Awesome.

Well, thank you so much.

I, I definitely want to have a conversation.

I think it'd be cool to have like a marketing conversation, maybe go live or something on Instagram maybe, if that sounds like something to be interested in.

But until next time, thank you so much for coming on, sharing your story and giving us a few pieces of advice for the student in school, for the person who wants to be independent and for the person who is currently independent as well as for all hair stylists out there, you got a little couple nuggets on marketing as well.

So thank you so much.

Yes, thank you so much.

I appreciate it.

Absolutely.

All right, until next time.

Take care.

Yeah, bye.