"You'll never know who you are unless you shed who you pretend to be" - Vironika Tugaleva

Lately, lots of things have been on my mind. I am going through, yet another, transitional phase of my life. So many things are coming together around me. I am seeing life so much more clearly as of late. I came to the recent realization that up until recently, I was hiding who I truly was in a lot of ways to please people around me. In doing that, I lost a huge part of my inspiration. My core sense of self.

I've always had to be careful, in that I am an empath - a total Pisces for my Astrology pals out there ;). Being an empath has served me incredibly well over the years. It's allowed me to understand people on a very deep level, and intensify the way I am able to connect with complete strangers. However, it's also driven me far inside of my shell at times. There have been many moments in the past where I have lost myself taking on other people's energy. Being an empath will cause you to take on energies from people around you and can completely shift who you are as a person if the influence is strong enough.

I've learned that one way to overcome this is just to spend time with yourself. I am an incredibly co-dependant person so this was hard for me. But, when I spent some time getting to know myself, I realized that I love to reinvent who I am - to have fun with my appearance, discover new music, and let new things inspire me. Why the f*ck was I pretending to be like everyone else around me? No wonder I go through phases where we I'm not inspired, I don't want to go to work and create. I can be too damn busy trying to see what everyone else is doing. I lose sight of what I really like. The things that inspire me.

Your Hairstylists friends are expressive beings, but we are really out here scrolling Pinterest trying to decide a "safe" way to market ourselves. Something that we think people will like. We want to appear basic, and apporoachable to fit in a mould that has been carved by influencial platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest etc. We are creatives. Artists. But at the same time we put these unrealistic expectations on ourselves to look professional and approachable. We think we are expected to be a complete contradiction of how we feel. I say F*ck professionalism, first of all. Your clients don't want to speak with a brick wall only hurling scientific hair product recommendations to you. Most people want to develop a real relationship with the person doing their hair. We need to take the time to get to know the incredible people who sit in our chairs and support us. We also owe it to them and, more importantly, ourselves to give them our authenticity. Show the people around you who you are. Let them fall in love with who you are and the things that make you special, and THEN be a professional. Oxford dictionary describes a Professional as: Relating to, or belonging to a profession. All you have to do to be a "professional" is know your shi*t. Lose the robotic, sterile exterior and start embracing your individuality more behind the chair and in life.

Lately, I have been throwing myself into music and art. I've also been trying to spend less time on things like instagram. I find this helps because social media really clouds my views and can truly make me believe I want to be something I'm not. The more time I spend on socials, the more I start to resemble everyone else. Find what you enjoy and completely throw yourself into it. Embrace your true self and watch your creativity and inspiration explode!

This entree turned into more of a rant than anything. But if there is anything I need you to take away from this, it's that people, like me, THIRST to see more people, like you, be exactly who they are - whatever that is. STOP caring about what other people think. STOP trying to fit in and just BE YOURSELF.

Over and out,

Klay for Apollo