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The Colchester Sun | Thursday, March 27, 2014
Q&A
with
Katrina Fitzgerald
of Urban Salon Team
Katrina
Fitzgerald,
Colchester native and stylist
at the Urban Salon Team
in Burlington, is a new
recipient of the master colorist
certification. Though styling
hair was not her original
career plan, Fitzgerald has
been working at the salon for
the past four and a half years
after graduating from Blaine
Beauty School (now Empire
Beauty School) in Boston.
She recently discussed her
experiences with the trade and
the certification process.
Q: When did you
decide you wanted to be a
hairstylist?
A: I went to Curry
College right after high
school [in 2006] to study
child psychology. I eventually
wanted to be a child therapist,
but I realized I would often
take [the emotions of] my
work home with me. I was
completely
invested
in
changing lives that would
often be out of my control.
Growing up, I was always
into art, and one day I had
an epiphany: I wanted to do
hair. It covers helping people
and being creative in the same
field. So I stopped college
after two years and enrolled in
cosmetology school.
Q: How long have you
been cutting hair with
Urban Salon Team?
A: My mom owns the
salon that I work at now. I had
never thought I would come
back to Vermont and never
in 100 years thought I would
work with her, but it happened
that I came home for a visit
just as an employee left. I
decided that I’d work with her
part time as a stepping stone,
to catch my bearings before
moving to Miami or Los
Angeles with a friend. Now,
four years later, I’ve become
the operations manager and
a master colorist; and we’ve
started talking about me
taking over the business some
day.
Q: How is it working
with your mom?
A: We realized it was
risky, and we always knew
if it wasn’t the right fit there
was no pressure for me to
stay. We didn’t know how
great it would work out.
As the master colorist and
manager, I’ve taken a lot off
of her shoulders. We have a
great working relationship
and leave family stuff out of
the salon. I’m the creative
free spirit, and my mom is
business-minded. We really
balance each other out in that
sense.
Q: What goes into
completing
the
master
colorist certification?
A: Each salon is different.
In order to become a master
colorist at Urban Salon
Team, I completed every
Goldwell class (that’s the
color company that we use)
and training program that they
offer. I was also the salon
ambassador for Goldwell.
That’s a program where
one head stylist from every
ambassador salon (which
means they exclusively use
Goldwell) goes periodically
to
Massachusetts
where
new products would be
released, and where we’d
receive training and insider
information on their color
lines. I went once a quarter for
two years. Also, 50 percent of
my clientele had to be color
or creative color clients, and I
had performance reviews.
Q: What
color?
is
creative
A:Creativecolor technique
means that in addition to
new color formulations, I
approach clients with more
than just a standard highlight
or standard all-over dye. I
use more in-depth techniques
to create more of a seamless
head of hair. The goal of the
certification is being able
to create something while
keeping the integrity of the
hair. For example, if someone
has jet-black hair and they
want to be blonde, it’s my job
to say that we aren’t going
to bleach it out to give them
immediate results, but rather
use multiple sessions to help
keep their hair healthy.
Q: What is most
important to you as a stylist,
colorist and cutter?
A: To always be evolving,
learning new and fun ways of
doing things both for me and
my clients. I don’t think I’ll
ever have enough knowledge
about doing hair because it’s
always changing.
Q: What is your favorite
part of being a stylist?
A: I’ve always loved
working with people and
making them feel better
about themselves. Doing hair
gives a confidence boost and
makes people feel good about
themselves in the moment.
My favorite part is making
people fall back in love with
their hair and with themselves.
Q: How do you see
yourself growing in the
salon?
A: As a master colorist,
I have been putting together
a portfolio to become
a national educator for
Goldwell. My longer term
goals are running the salon
and traveling to become an
educator. The shorter term
goals are doing some more
color training as well as
becoming a master cutter.
That certification entails more
technique training, and having
50 percent or more of my
clientele coming in for cuts.
— Alanna Gilbert
Katrina Fitzgerald