Meet Tabatha Lester-Jones | Master Stylist and Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tabatha Lester-Jones and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tabatha, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
If I had to attribute one factor to the success of my brand, I would have to be consistency. Regardless of the industry or the service that you provide, consumers are looking for consistency, they want to know that they’re going to receive the same quality of service every time they walk thru your doors. I’m very big on customer service and that starts well before a client even sits in my chair. People like to feel special and so that’s my goal with every client. I greet them at the door of the salon and try to make their time with me enjoyable in addition to ensuring that I provide the best possible service. I’m also very big on education. Some states don’t require continuing education for hairstylist but I believe that you have to stay current on technical skills and the trending styles so I attend classes whether it be in person or zoom just make sure that I stay aligned with what’s currently trending. I’ve created a niche for myself in the industry and so I’m continuously striving for perfection and so I will forever be a student.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What gets me excited about what I do is seeing the client’s face when I turn them around to the mirror. You never know what a person has gone through or what has impacted their lives and for me to make a small difference in the way that they feel about themselves gives me a feeling of satisfaction. Inspite of what challenges that I may have faced during the day or whether there’s something going on in my personal life, to know that I put a smile on someone else’s face makes it all worth it. What I love is the transformation, I specialize in the art of haircutting so seeing the hair take shape from the beginning of the cut until the end and knowing that it’s my hands and shears that’s creating this, well that’s art to me and it’s so satisfying to my soul. Don’t get me wrong it hasn’t always been easy, I’ve had a few challenges along the way. I think that my most challenging time was when I relocated across the country here to Arizona and having to start all over with building my clientele. I had been styling hair for well over 20 years so going from having my schedule totally booked to no clients here was a struggle for me. I actually traveled back east twice a month for the first two years after I relocated in order to maintain some sort of income while building here. It was really hard because it took me away from my children on the weekends but I made sure that I was back in town to get them off to school on Monday. That’s another thing that I’m grateful for, that this industry allows me to create my own schedule so that I can have the freedom to be off when need be. Over the years I’ve been able to make it to my children’s games and school activities and that’s something that I didn’t have as a child because my parents worked and didn’t have the luxury of taking off. That’s something that I knew that I wanted to give my children that I didn’t have and I owe that to being self employed.

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.
One of my absolute favorite places to dine here in Arizona is Ocean 44, I’m a seafood lover and they have a Halibut dish to die for!! They also have a corn cream brûlée side dish that’s out of this world! And the customer service is impeccable!! I’m naturally a homebody but if you catch me out, it’s either at a restaurant, catching a concert or a comedy show at Stand Up Live .

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I began my career as an assistant at one of the most successful black owned salons back in my home town of Richmond, VA called The Professionals. I assisted two great stylists there Lashan Oliver and Dana Carpenter who groomed me and taught me everything that they knew about cutting and styling short hair. I was surrounded by so much talent at The Professionals that it would’ve been hard to come from that environment and not be successful. The Owner Glennis Crosby was actually the person who pushed me to take the exam in order to become a licensed hairstylist and that’s where I first began to style hair. I will forever be grateful for that experience.

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Image Credits
Virgil Odell