Meet Skye Miranda | Salon Owner & Stylist

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

Hi Skye, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I feel like the word “impulsive” has a negative connotation. Growing up , my mom would say I was impulsive & I thought it was a bad quality to have but with time I’ve learned that being impulsive is my greatest asset. It’s what has led me to where I am today. When I opened my salon 2 years ago, it was simply an opportunity that was presented to me to take over a lease & go out on my own. I had no plan in place or time to prepare, I just decided to go for it.. Instead of thinking so much about every possible future outcome of what could go wrong , I thought “What could go right?”
Recently life has presented me with one of the greatest challenges of my career, I suffered a traumatic back injury and discovered new limitations that would impact my career behind the chair for a while. After some time laying around, experiencing the frustrations of my current state & much soul searching I came to the realization:
When facing challenges , you are presented with two options ; give up or adapt.
As the saying goes “the comeback is always greater than the setback” and I kept thinking about how I would come out of this situation better than before, how I would adapt. I kept the same mindset; “what could go right?”
Not even one week after my accident I was holding interviews via FaceTime to hire a costylist that would work alongside me and allow me to return to work with my given limitations, expand my team & step into a new position of a being someone’s mentor.
Taking leaps of faith out of comfort zones is what’s caused my growth to soar. For any taste of success I believe you have no choice but to get uncomfortable because success doesn’t live in comfort. Many people choose not to grow because it’s unfamiliar & the unfamiliar is uncomfortable so they revert back to same the comfortable experience they were living in before; but embracing the unfamiliar & the unknown can lead to so many new experiences you never thought would exist.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
To get to where I am today has definitely not been an easy path but in life you choose your hard. No matter if you’re a commission stylist , booth renter or suite owner in the beauty industry it’s hard , you have to be an entrepreneur. No matter where you work you will always have to build your brand even if you’re under someone else’s brand; you will always have your business. Clients come to you because of you and I know it’s not something that’s cut out for everyone. It’s not something you’re guaranteed the same income in every week , the unreliable income can definitely steer many away from this line of work. I believe so many people look at my industry and think it’s just this easy and fun thing but don’t understand the behind the scenes of doing hair or the amount of physical efforts it requires. Since my back injury I had someone say to me “well at least you just do hair” . I think many people look at hairstylist this way. Yes I do hair; I also stand for 10+ hours a day , I contort my body to color and cut hair , sometimes I’m even on my knees on the ground working on someone’s hair. There’s so much beyond the technical skills that we apply daily to our work , we create art , we build relationships with people , we are all “business owners” to some degree . We’re in charge of prioritizing our health to continue to do this type of work , we’re in charge of improving our skills , making clients feel happy and confident in themselves , we’re in charge of our own marketing and now we not only be great at what we do but great at capturing that to show the world as well.
This industry is often looked down upon , there’s still a stigma that it’s some kind of backup plan and not a lifelong career . There’s still a stigma that we as hairstylists owe clients affordability. But the type of hair that I do with coloring and extensions , it’s not a necessity , it’s a luxury service. It’s 2023 and this industry is so custom now. No one is using the same formula , technique or placement of color from one head to the next. Pinterest & photoshop have created so many unrealistic expectations for our guests and people are changing their hair color more than ever. The level of skill set this industry requires is changing faster than many of us can keep up with, we have to stay on top of our game constantly and stay consistent.
I’d like to speak for all hairstylists when I say we are uniquely an incredible industry , we are our very own form of art and every head of hair is canvas awaiting its artist.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There are so many places I love in the Phoenix valley but growing up in the west valley I definitely choose to stay more on this side of town. I love to get outdoors in the beautiful desert and the white tanks are my home for hiking so I would definitely take my visitor to the waterfall trail, turnbuckle loop or javelina summit. I would follow that up with some pizza from my favorite pizza spot Dons NY Pizza, or brunch at Cafe 25:35. I do love an after hike mimosa!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I am blessed to have 4 incredible people in my life who have been extremely impactful on me & my decisions as a business owner.

I owe a huge portion of my success to my friends Shelby Davis, owner of Cultivate Salon & Ivy League Stylists ; Sarah Corbin, owner of Studio 45; Carlos Vazquez owner of Ink House Tattoo & Dr. Natali Edmonds, owner of Dementia Careblazers.

All of these local , amazing and successful individuals are people who inspire me, the ones who I can lean on when I need help navigating my way through unfamiliar waters.

Website: https://linktr.ee/skyesthelimithair

Instagram: @_skyesthelimithair

Image Credits
I own the rights to all photos