From Hairstylist to Inventor:Turning Experience into Innovation

Six years ago, while on lockdown during Covid, I had the luxury of something I rarely had, downtime to sit, think and brainstorm. My creative juices were really flowing, and I began to see an opportunity in the hair tool market that, at the time, wasn't a category yet.

As a hairstylist, I had been blow drying and setting hair for clients for years. I saw a need for a better, more efficient way, a professional hair tool that could combine those two steps into one system. I developed my concept around that vision.

Then life happened and personal circumstances and challenges forced me to put my idea on hold for several years. And while I wish the timing had been different, I also learned something important: being early and being wrong are two very different things.

Today, I'm watching the very category I envisioned begin to emerge. More brands and products are entering the space, and inevitably there will be products that look similar or build upon the same broader trend. But I don't believe that means there is room for only one.

Look at almost any successful beauty category. There are countless hair dryers, flat irons, curling irons and styling brushes on the market. Each finds its own lane through price point, quality, technology, performance, design and the consumer it serves.

Innovation isn't always about being the only product in a category. Sometimes it's about recognizing where a market is headed before the market gets there and then creating a product with a point of difference strong enough to earn its place. I saw this category coming six years ago. I may have been delayed, but I never stopped believing in my vision or in what I could accomplish.

Now I'm more determined than ever to see where that vision can go.