Meet Elisa Ramirez | Hair stylist & business owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elisa Ramirez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elisa, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
Finding balance between work life and personal life is definitely a never ending struggle if for me. As a new stylist, when you’re trying to build your clientele you find yourself working so many hours a day trying to squeeze in as much you can because you have this fear of potentially being slow because a slow day means less income. I’ve been doing hair for about 6 years now and decided to venture off and open my own studio almost a year ago and that same same fear followed me the first few months I opened my business, even though I had solid clientele. When you have your own business you are responsible for paying your business and personal rent/bills even if you have slow weeks and it can be scary to think about! I stacked my books and worked about 50-60 hours a week the first 3-4 months my business was open and still did work outside of the studio on my computer such as creating content for IG, answering work related messages and booking clients. I was so burnt out, working in this way is not sustainable and my personal life and mental health took a toll. It’s so easy to become a workaholic when you own a business because there is always something that needs to be done and shutting your brain off and disconnecting can be very difficult. Eventually I just got to the point where a didn’t enjoy my job as much and that was when I made a serious conscious effort to create a better balance for myself. What I’ve learned is, once you’ve created a good reputation for yourself in your career If someone wants to be your client they will wait for availability in your schedule. I don’t put as much pressure on myself to message back clients immediately like I had in the past when I receive texts or DMS about appointment inquiries, I give myself a 2-3 day window to respond because other wise I would be on my phone constantly outside of work. A typical work week for me is 40-50 hours since full bleach service appointments can take anywhere from 4-5 hours depending on the client so I usually don’t allow myself to work anything over that anymore to ensure I don’t let my personal life or mental health suffer. That being said I think balance for me is still a struggle at times, like I said lol any ambitious person will have to remind themselves that there is more to life than work and we must not forget to live!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
One of the things I feel sets me apart from other is the diversity In my work with color. I’m very comfortable with doing just about anything with color, from subtle changes to drastic make overs. You’ll see brunettes, red heads, blondes, and vivids leaving my studio. I LOVE diversity when it come to color and im also very comfortable dealing with all hair types and textures. Whether my client has naturally light hair or ethnic dark hair I’m confident in my ability to get the job done. I’m proud of the reputation I’ve created and I’m also proud of the relationships I’ve built with my clients. I’ve made awesome friendships and have had the privilege of encountering some incredible women, it’s a honor to help them feel confident! No road to success is never easy lol if it was everyone would be successful. Growing pains become very real when you’re on that road and you have to hold yourself accountable, show up and show out. I’ve learned to always set goals for myself for the year and never stop learning. The industry is always evolving and we must evolve with it or get left behind. What I want the world to know about me and my story is I had plenty of failed moments before I got to where I am now. Failure is inevitable and it’s a part of the process, if you aren’t failing you aren’t growing and that is something I will always remind myself of because it is scary to know you will fail but eventually success comes!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I this is hard to narrow down haha! Lets start with brunch. I highly recommend bosscat, piggy’s, and B&B butcher. If you’re a fan of sushi my absolute favorite spot is Top Sushi, they have the best happier and the even have reverse happy hour which is great for people who eat dinner late! One of my fav local restaurants is also empire cafe in Montrose. They have fresh/healthy food, excellent coffee and the most bomb massive pieces of cake you’ll ever see/eat. As far as night life goes I love hitting up 9pm music venue for edm dj performances, numbers night club is one of Houston’s oldest spots and continues to be one of my favorite places for alternative music, love me some barbarella too they have themed nights but my favorite is 90/00s night.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’ve worked at 2 salons prior to venturing off on my own and I 100% give credit to the amazing stylists I’ve worked alongside with and under for always answering my questions, teaching me, being my work family, and continuously inspiring me. One particular stylist comes to mind and her name is phuong. She is co-owner at shampu salon but before that she was my coworker at both my first and second salon. I assisted phuong at my first salon and learned soooo much from her. I felt lucky to be able to work alongside her at my second salon, The Upper Hand. phuongs work ethic is next level, she is kind, patient, an excellent teacher, a phenomenal hair stylist, and boss babe!

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