Rebecca Ellison

I attribute my success to longevity and the fact that I've hung in there through good times and bad. What drives me is making people feel good about themselves - that's all I care about. I truly enjoy what I do, and many times I've had people say 'this is the best haircut I've ever had in my life,' and that makes me so happy. I've been a neighborhood favorite for years, and Google has even called me one of the top 3 salons in Portland, which seems weird for my little tiny salon. But beyond the recognition, my most meaningful achievement has been my work with Wigs for Kids. During COVID, when I couldn't work for a while, I thought about what I could do to make a positive thing from this negative situation, so I got certified with Wigs for Kids. That has been such a blessing. The kids I work with, some have never ever had a haircut, and when I measure them, fit them, cut their custom hand-tied human hair wig, and teach them how to care for it, there are happy tears - from them, their parents, and from me too. These wigs are worth about $2,000 and allow these children to live life like it's their own hair - they can do gymnastics, swim, and just be kids. Knowing that I can contribute to that kind of impact is something I carry with me every day. My success also comes from my commitment to customization - I don't believe in one-size-fits-all haircuts. Everyone is different, with different face shapes, hair types, growth patterns, and lifestyles, and I can make them all look their very best. I also continue to keep myself up to date with online classes because I have clients of all ages, and this industry is always evolving.

The best career advice came from my apprenticeship experience under Ted Isaacs at Great Haircuts. When I finished beauty school, I was kind of a big deal - I'd done really well comparatively speaking, and I thought I really had it all together and knew what I was doing. But when I was chosen to apprentice at Great Haircuts, I quickly realized how little I really knew. We swept floors, answered phones, held hair - we were the grunt workers - but every week we received amazing education. That's when I learned there's so much more that they can't teach you in beauty school. I learned the real specifics of how to really cut hair well, understanding that each and every person's hair type, growth patterns, and facial features all matter when you're trying to serve a client. That experience taught me you're never too good for any job, and there's always more to learn. That's why now, whenever I hear someone is going to beauty school, I always tell them to make sure they apprentice, because you will learn way more than you can even imagine. And even after 51 years, I still believe you're never too old or too experienced to learn - that's why I continue taking online classes. I could probably teach most of those classes, but I often learn some little tidbit, something they're doing differently, and that keeps me growing.

My strongest advice is to make sure you apprentice after beauty school, because you will learn way more than you can even imagine. When I got my license, I was chosen to apprentice at Great Haircuts under Ted Isaacs, a master hair cutter, and even though I thought I was kind of a big deal in beauty school, I quickly realized how little I really knew. We did the grunt work - swept floors, answered phones, held hair - but we received amazing weekly education that taught us the real specifics of cutting hair well. Beauty school can't teach you everything about how each person's hair type, growth patterns, and facial features all matter when you're serving a client. Apprenticeship isn't mandatory, sadly, and a lot of people get out of beauty school thinking they have it all together because they did well comparatively speaking, but there's just so much more to learn through real hands-on experience. Even now, after 51 years in this industry, I continue taking online classes because I believe you're never too old or too experienced to learn. I could probably teach most of those classes, but I often pick up some little tidbit or learn something they're doing differently. This industry is always evolving, and staying current is essential. Also, don't limit yourself to just one specialty - I've never understood people who do it that way because to me, that would be boring. I enjoy all of it, and being versatile has kept my work both challenging and rewarding throughout my entire career.

The most important value to me is making people feel good about themselves - that's all I care about. I truly enjoy what I do, and when clients tell me 'this is the best haircut I've ever had in my life,' that makes me so happy. I believe in giving each person my very best through totally customized service - everyone is different, with different face shapes, hair types, and lifestyles, and I can make them all look their very best. One of the most meaningful parts of my journey has been my work with Wigs for Kids. During COVID, when I couldn't work for a while, I thought about what I could do to make a positive thing from this negative situation, so I got certified to create custom wigs for children who have lost their hair. That has been such a blessing. Some of these kids have never ever had a haircut before, and when I measure them, fit their custom hand-tied human hair wig (worth about $2,000), cut it, and teach them how to care for it so they can swim, do gymnastics, and just live their lives like kids should, there are happy tears - from them, their parents, and from me too. Knowing that I can contribute to that kind of impact is something I carry with me every day. I also value continuous learning - even after 51 years, I continue taking online classes because I believe you're never too old or too experienced to learn. And I value versatility and not limiting myself, because doing all aspects of my work - cutting, color, perms - keeps it challenging and rewarding rather than boring.