Dee Dee (Deidra) Hinton

I attribute my success to my mom and dad. They raised me to be thankful for what I have, and not for what I don't have. They taught me to respect others and to have good faith. They brought me up in a good Christian home, and I feel very thankful for that. I mean, if it wasn't for my parents raising me right, I don't think that I would be where I am today.

The best career advice I received was to work hard, provide good customer service, and be there for your clients. When I started doing hair and cosmetology, I had to be there and answer the phone, be there when somebody walked in the door, because if you're not, you're gonna be left out on the street. There are hair salons on every corner, so I didn't go just to go to school and just come out and do hair. I had to pay extra for my education - I went to New York, I went to California several different times to get better education. You have to learn different techniques of cutting hair, the shapes of the head, the texture of the hair, and so much more. You have to know the lifestyle of your client and their personality, because you can't just put any kind of hairstyle on someone. You also have to listen to your client - you can't just stand there and yap and not listen to what they're saying, because then you miss an important part of the conversation of what they're wanting in their hair.

Make sure that this is what you are wanting to do. Be passionate about it, because this is the type of job that you need to be passionate about and to love it as much as I do. If you don't, and you're just in it for the money, you'll never make it. You have to have your heart into it - you have to know that this is something that you're going to want to do, because if you're just in it for the money and your heart is not in it, it is not the job for you. I do not feel like this is a job because I do love it, I have a passion for it, where a lot of people do not have a passion for it - they're just in it because they know it's a job and they have to make money. I can truly say that I love my job, I love doing hair. I've been doing it for 46 years, I'm 68 years old, and I'm not ready to retire.

The biggest challenge right now is that times are changing so much and the economy right now is a big challenge. The economy everywhere is a big problem, and I see that people are struggling right now with the economy. I think that is a big issue with people that are just starting out in the business. Services like nails, pedicures, and massage are more of a choice - people will cut those out first. Everybody usually has to get their hair done because your hair grows, and if you are not manicured with your hair, then people will see it. But people are also cutting back on hair services too - they make it longer in between appointments. So people that are getting started out in this business, I think they are hurting some. My business is slowing down some too because of that. In our boutique area, it has slowed down a lot because of that issue. I do the business end of the business also, so I see on the books that that is slowing down some. I would think it would be more of a challenge right now than an opportunity.

My values are being a good person and showing my faith. My faith is important to me, because if I don't have faith in God, that I am trying to live a good life, that's important to me. If it wasn't for my God and Savior that I'm doing a good job, and that I'm trying to live a good life, and thanking Him for everything I have, that's important to me. Plus, making other people happy in my job is important, and knowing that if they're not happy, that I will do what I have to do to make them happy within reason. Good customer service is a core value for me.