At Gordon Salons, a “Master Stylist” is someone who exemplifies what it truly takes to be a great hairdresser. Many things are taken into consideration before promoting someone to this level of prestige, such as years of experience, productiveness on the floor, client retention and more. This past summer, Molly from Wilmette earned her title as Master Stylist after 5 years of being with Gordon Salon. Molly is an extremely talented stylists with natural talent and passion for her work. Her “Master” title has been well earned throughout the years. Molly loves her job because she continues to learn new techniques, while making clients feel good about themselves and to connect with them on a personal level.
Molly knew that she wanted to have a career in the beauty industry ever since middle school. She recalls getting a manicure for Christmas in the eighth grade and being amazed by the tiny flower that the nail tech had drawn on her thumb. As a creative person, she was intrigued by all parts of the cosmetology world, but was especially interested in the world of hair. She loved having her sister, Linzy, cut and style her hair as a kid and as she got older, she began to cut and color her friend’s hair in high school. Despite not having been to beauty school yet, she says that doing hair “was always fun and just came naturally” to her. After high school, Molly enrolled herself in a cosmetology program through The Salon Professional Academy in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She graduated with her beauty license in 2012.
One of the reasons that drew Molly into the industry, in addition to being skilled at it, was that doing hair is a universal skill. No matter where you live, hairdressers are going to be needed and there will always a ton of opportunities within the industry. In fact, Molly plans to take a trip to Thailand in March of next year in order to educate people in impoverished communities how to cut hair so that they can learn a trade and make money for themselves.
Her first job out of beauty school actually brought her to Hawaii for more than a year. Because she did not go away to college, she took an opportunity to work in a salon on the Big Island as a chance to live out of state and try something new. Her first salon job taught her a lot about doing hair, because the job is much more than cut and color. Once she was behind the chair in a real salon she realized just how much she loves being able to talk to different kinds of people on a regular basis. Building a trusting relationship with your client is now one of Molly’s favorite parts about being a hairdresser.
After about a year and half, Molly decided to return home to Chicago to be close to her family again. She began working at Gordon Salon in 2014 as an assistant/desk coordinator leading into an Emerging Artist. She took several additional classes in cutting, coloring and more before going on the floor. Eventually Molly was promoted to a full time Professional Stylist, taking clients 5 days a week at our Wilmette location. Only a few years later, Molly moved up to a Master Stylist in the summer of 2019.
As far as services go, Molly loves them all. She loves that Gordon Salon is not a departmentalized salon because it gives her the opportunity to do a lot of different things on a daily basis. A perfect day in the salon for Molly would be a book with an even mix of color and cut appointments. Currently, Molly sees a lot of Men’s Haircut clients and does a lot of dimensional colors. If she had to pick, she says that these would be her favorite services because “Men’s cuts keep me on my toes with the more technical side of this job which I think is a good thing, but color is always great because it’s creative and can be such a dramatic change at times.” Overall, she just loves being able to be trusted with someone’s overall look in general.
From all of us at Gordon Salon, we are so proud of Molly and the amount of success she has achieved throughout her career as a stylist. She is a great player in our team-based environment, and a fabulous mentor for our up and coming emerging artists. Her future goals include continuing to meet and talk with people in her chair and learning new techniques as the hair industry continues to grow.
If you are looking to book with Molly in Wilmette, you can click here or call 847.266.7777. Molly is available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Be sure to book quickly because this Master stylist’s books are filling up FAST for the holidays!