Check Out Alexis Angsten’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexis Angsten. 

Hi Alexis, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Born and raised in Arizona I grew up with 3 older sisters so being girly just came natural to me. I taught myself how to blow dry hair with a round brush and I was always creating my own new hairstyles. In high school whenever we had prom, parties, graduation, I was the one doing everyone’s hair and makeup for it. At the time I just thought that’s what we do. I always went to the salon to get my hair done but it never crossed my mind that it could be my career. When I graduated high school, I went to ASU as a photography major. I had taken photography all 4 years of high school but at ASU I was told to take classes that had nothing to do with photography. This made no sense to me. Five months later I realized this was not the place for me. I moved home and attended community college while I was trying to decide what to do with my life. I wanted a career, a passion, not a 9-5. A friend of mine said to me one day, “Why don’t you go to beauty school?’ Why had I never thought of that! I toured a few beauty schools with my mom and immediately knew this is where I was supposed to be! I have always been creative and loved art. I started my own Jewelry business when I was 8. I am very outgoing and love talking to people. This checked all my boxes. I can work for myself one day, I get to create beautiful fun hair, I always have the opportunity to grow my business and I get to make people feel good about themselves all day. This was it. So, I enrolled at Earl’s Academy in Phoenix AZ at 19 years old and 15 months later I was a licensed Cosmetologist. 

Now 14 years later I have my own suite at Canyon Falls Spa and Salon in Scottsdale AZ. I have worked there for 11 years, as of March 2022. I have an amazing clientele who keep me very busy. At home, I am the mom to an amazing three-year-old son and wife to my husband, who has been my biggest supporter while building this business. Being my own boss gives me the flexibility to be with my family but also run a successful small business. And I love that! 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Of course, it hasn’t always been a smooth road. I think anyone who has built a business, small or big, would say the same. But it is beyond worth it. While I was in beauty school, I was a waitress to pay my bills. I continued this once working in a salon and building a clientele. For four years I worked four days a week at the salon and six nights a week serving or bartending. It was hard but I was young and I had a lot of fun. When I was 23, I met my now husband at the restaurant I was working at. A couple years into our relationship, me working 7 days a week we talked about me quitting the restaurant and doing hair full time. I knew this is what I wanted but it was terrifying. I had goals and dreams of being a successful hairdresser and we both knew unless I devoted 100 percent of my time to that it was never going to happen. But walking away from my serving job was going to be hard. Serving was my security blanket. But my husband (boyfriend at the time) is my rock and has supported me and cheered me on every step of the way. I knew I could this with him by my side. So, I quit the job at the restaurant and started working full-time as a commission stylist at my current salon. It was exciting and scary. There were days I had no clients in my chair and made zero that day. But there were also days I had three or four clients. Then over time, those clients started rebooking. Because I was able to be at the salon all day, available, I started getting more and more clients. 

Another challenge I faced at the beginning was finding a salon I could call my home. I am at the salon more than I am at my actual home so finding the right one was a challenge, in this industry, it’s not good to bounce from salon to salon because clients won’t continue to follow after so long. They want stability as much as we do. I worked at three salons before finding my current home Canyon Falls. The salon I was at prior sadly went out of business. At the time, I was thankfully still a server, but this was terrifying. After 14 months of starting to build clientele and being, for the most part, happy there, I had to start the search all over. Now I know it was a blessing but then it was frustrating. I found Canyon Falls online, went in for an interview on a Wednesday night. The owner and I hit it off and talked for two straight hours. This salon has everything I was looking for. It felt right the minute I walked in the door. I decided to take the job and started that following Tuesday, March 1st 2011. Canyon Falls and my second family who I work with each day have truly helped me get to where I am today. It has opened the door to the my amazing clientele and opportunities that have come my way. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a Hair Stylist and Hair Extension Specialist. I do everything from haircuts, color, specialty, and corrective. Brazilian Blowouts and Extensions. Color and Cuts are where I started and love every second of. When I started at Canyon Falls, they offer a hair extension certification. I knew extensions were becoming more popular and would only help me grow my business. I took the two-day certification and was hooked! A year later I took the Master certification course in hair extensions to become an educator in Hair Extensions. This is what helped me get to where I am today. I specialize in individual strands using I-tip hair extensions and tape in weft hair extensions. What I love is the instant gratification. So many women can never get the hair they have always wanted. Most of us have thin fine hair. Having children changes our hair, hormones, life, stress, diet are all factors in our hair always changing. Hair extensions immediately give us the hair we always wanted or used to have. That along with color and cutting is why I love what I do. Hair transformations are something I do a lot and seeing the smile on my client’s face when I’m done is the best part. When I took the training, they were a few things I decided to tweak and make my own down the road. I have created my own technique and patterning with how I install the hair. It took a couple years of tweaking and perfecting. This I feel sets me apart from others. Hair Extensions don’t have to be just for length. They are customizable. I do them for length, thickness, color change that isn’t always possible on the natural hair. There are so many options when it comes to them and that’s why I love 

My main goal as a hairstylist is to make everyone’s hair the best and healthiest it can be. I also specialize in what I like to call hair transformation. When a client comes to me with damaged hair, over-processed hair, a color correction I am honest in the fact that this won’t happen overnight. In order to get the hair where we want it to be it will take time but we can get there. 

I am a pretty outgoing person and very much a people person. One of my favorite things about being a hairstylist is the people it has brought into my life. I have had made so many amazing relationships with people who I may have never met otherwise. This has taught so much about myself and people. I incorporate that into my business every day. My clients are not just my clients they are my friends. I look forward to seeing them as much as I do doing their hair. 

Any big plans?
Four years ago I went from working as a commission stylist to a renter. This means I was now an independent contractor and working for myself. This was a scary jump but I knew it was the right jump. This allowed me to reach goals I had for many years. It has allowed me to be able to become a mom and be there for big moments in my son’s life but also run a successful business that provides for my family. I have always thought about owning my own salon. This is something I go back and forth with. There are many different avenues I could take with this. So, it is a possibility. I never want to stop growing and evolving. Life is full of opportunities. I would like to grow my hair extension business eventually having my own brand and educating other hairstylists. I love where I am at and remind myself every day the hard work it has taken and still does. I’m blessed I found a career that I love and enjoy. It has its challenges but the reward outweighs that every time. 

Contact Info:

• Email: lexylouwright@yahoo.com
• Instagram: @alexisangstenhair

Image Credits
Kaitlin Woods