Alexis Pritchett

Ms. Hardin
Cosmetology
February 22, 2019
Job Shadow Essay
During my job shadowing experience, I shadowed under a lovely hairstylist. Her name

was misty temples and she has been doing hair for over 20 years. I attended Strands hair salon in

downtown Cartersville on 118 N. Erwin street. My overall experience was fantastic, and I really

got a better understanding of how the real-life salon work behind the scenes. I saw positive

things, negative things, and the general run down of the salon.

The first positive thing I saw was how polite everyone was. All of the hairstylist did a

great job of greeting their clients and made everyone feel welcome. While at the salon I noticed

they had a snack area which the clients really appreciated. I also learned that the hairstylist I was

following started her career right out of high school and has been loving it ever since. She also

mentioned that most of her clients are clients from word of mouth and people seeing her work

and asking who did it. She said that the main thing she liked about her work was making a

connection with her clients.

On the other hand, some negative things I saw was they did not have a receptionist until

about 3:30! This caused some chaos and made the hairstylist get distracted from their client they

were working on. This is because they would have to stop what they were doing to redirect their

other client to the waiting area. Another thing I noticed was the hairstylist did not follow state

board. She didn’t change hairbrushes/combs after each client, but she did clean them out at the

end of the day. I also noticed she didn’t have much time in between clients to clean the color

bowls. So, they just kind of piled up until she got a chance to clean them.
 In addition to the negative things I saw I also learned from misty some negative things.

She stated that everything is not pretty when you first start out. She said that you really have to

put yourself out there and try hard to build up your clientele. Without a clientele, you have

nothing and will make nothing. I have learned from this experience that being a hairstylist is hard

work but can be a great thing all in one. You get to build relationships with your clients and

make them feel amazing about their self! As a client, I would see myself going to strands salon

downtown and having a great experience with Misty!