Meet Amanda Stein | Hair Stylist/Colorist

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

Hi Amanda, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Every decision you make has some type of risk factor. Depending where you are in life and your situation is how you determine how much risk you are willing to take on. One thing I have found to be true, even if it is cliche, is that with great risk comes great rewards. If you are looking for a bigger payoff there is often more risk involved.

I am a new businesses owner. I calculate every decision I make for risk. Interestingly enough, I have always been fearful of the unknown, I don’t like gambling or taking risks unless I am sure of the outcome. I think about so many missed opportunities in my past because I was too scared of the risk involved. I’ve had opportunities before to have my own business and have passed up on what could have been an amazing opportunity.

Then Covid happened. In January 2020 I had decided to venture out on my own and rent a small studio to work out of. Got everything finalized and my LLC up and running. I was still terrified and second guessing myself. Wondering if it was worth the risk.
My first day was supposed be March 24th, which is the day everything shut down. Two months went by in quarantine with all of my money tied up in my business that I wasn’t even sure I would get off the ground.

Having those two months took the fear away. I was so desperate to get out the house I would have done people’s hair for free! It’s much easier to risk it all when you have not much else to lose.

I’m happy to say that the risk has paid off. I have never been more happy in my career than I am now.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My medium is hair. Even before I decided this was my career path, I was always playing and experimenting with hair.

As with any hobby or art, making money off of it is hard. It sometimes feels like it stifles your creativity when you are making art for others. And making my art bespoke and tailored specifically.to each individual is where my strength lie. Educating myself to make sure all of my “tools” in my tool box are current and up to date is so so important.

The reality I’ve learned over the years is that my only real job as a hairstylist is to make people look and feel good. That’s it.

I’ve fallen in and out of love with my career so many times throughout the years. One thing I’ve figured out is that when your craft is your career, you need to find other creative outlets for your art. Mine just happens to be Origami and paper art. It’s so soothing, and it’s just for me, and just for fun! This has helped me be a better hair stylist and not feel like my art has boundaries.

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.
We would have to go the beach. The Pompano pier. There are some awesome restaurants in that area and the vibe is more laid back I feel. I would definitely take them to Glitch. Inak a gamer and this place is awesome.
We would probably go to Stache, get dressed up in our Fetish gear and venture out.as creatures of the night.
For daytime adventures we would go to Morikami, I have an annual membership and it’s one of my favorite places.
Kaluz I’m Fort Lauderdale is a great restaurant.
Gabose Pocha is a hidden gem in Sunrise. It’s a bar withStreet fusion korean food, as well as Karaoke, the owner even sells korean beauty products there!
Brunch at Foxy Browns or any of the first watch locations.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give a shoutout to my friend Dana, we both started our businesses around the same time so it was nice to not feel so alone.

My boyfriend Jay has always been encouraging me and reminding me of how capable I can be.

I want to thank my parents for all of the loving free child care. No one loves my daughter like they do.

I also want to thank all of the great hairstylists I got to learn from. These are all that I considered mentors and whose skills helped shape and define me. I’ll just use their first names, but they know who they are!

Jimmy, Juan, Maria, Zahir, Tim, Ben, Amy, Woody, Bob, Brandon, Mallory, Sally, and Terri.

Website: www.luminescenthair.com

Instagram: @fromhair.tothere

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