Daily Inspiration: Meet Aviel Erev

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aviel Erev.

Hi Aviel, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
“My life is a movie”, something that I tell myself on a daily basis. I am truly blessed, but I have had to go through many trials and tribulations in life, at the young age that I am, to get where I am today. I wouldn’t have it any other way. My name is Aviel, which means “God is my Father”, in Hebrew. I grew up in a very strict, religious, orthodox (Russian-Christian) home along with my father who was born and raised in Jerusalem, Israel, and my mom, from Moscow, Russia. I am first generation American, and I speak fluent Russian and English. In Russian culture, you are raised to believe that too much beauty or the essence of feeling immense beauty within yourself is equal to vanity and is forbidden. I couldn’t disagree more with that. I also could never fully blossom and be who I truly was as a child and growing into a teenager/young adult, as sexuality and spirituality were things that could never be fully expressed/explored without being looked down upon and told otherwise. Going to school, kids were extremely rough, I got bullied severely for many years, 9 years to be exact, starting from 1st grade. I always felt alone and coming home was tough because my parents got a divorce when I was 9 years old, and my mom was never been the same since then. It was just her and I against the world, all by ourselves, in a new city that definitely did not feel like home. Waterbury, Ct. living there for 5 years, was the worst time of my life. I couldn’t wait to leave and start fresh in a new place. When I was 14 years old, I visited my grandparents in Arizona every summer and grew to love and appreciate the state so much, and all it had to offer at the time, so I convinced my mom to completely change our lives and start in a new home, the new state, new everything.

It was extremely tough especially because it was right in the middle of high school, right before the start of my sophomore year of high school. A few years later, I grew a huge appreciation/curious it’s for the cosmetology industry and finally decided to act upon my dreams of becoming a business owner/entrepreneur and High-fashion international model/actor. I went to EVIT to complete my cosmetology program and received my license at the young age of 17. I started working for Arizona Hair Company, my first job ever, and I began to deeply love what I do for a living. It’s very true when they say that when you love what you do, it barely ever feels like work to you. How crazy that you can find something that is exciting, brings you and others joy, and can truly transform an individual from the inside and out. It’s almost like a whole different person is right in front of you. That holds so much power in today’s works as so many of us struggle with self-image, confidence, and what truly makes us the very best version of ourselves. If we all had the key to that, we would be so much more successful and happier as a whole, almost anything that life would throw at us would not affect us… that’s why I love what I do; I have reached a level where I’m so confident and devoted to what I do, that I know I’ll achieve the very best results every time as long as I use my strong intuition and truly listen to what clients are desiring or might not know that they want, but need… I can truly look at an inspirational photo and be able to “3D Copy” it to your head of hair like you have never seen before, and I take immense pride in that.

Nothing can replace the feeling I get when a client looks in the mirror after a transformation and is truly blown away to the point where they cry tears of joy and walk away starstruck, that’s how I know I’ve struck gold. I’ve always been taught, to do something that truly brings love/inspiration and gives back to the world, and I bring to you, the world, my complex, photographic mind of color/hair knowledge ready to give you the hair of your dreams! I believe confidence, beauty, and bringing out the absolute best version of someone through just as simple as a beautiful hairstyle, can truly transform anyone’s life. Confidence and beauty should be spread everywhere we go so we can help everyone out there also be the best they can be and do the best they can do. When I started doing hair at 17, for Arizona Hair Co., I never knew where life would take me career-wise. I worked really really hard to prove myself to the world because I was young, and didn’t want anyone to look down upon me when I knew I had what it takes, even then. To my pleasant surprise, I grew my clientele exponentially, and within 6 years, I became a request-only stylist, which then I took only my own clients and no walk-ins for two years thereafter. We all hear that salons have drama and stuff like that but I truly cannot and will not work for a business/salon anymore that doesn’t share the same values/principles/respect that I share for people/employees and the business itself. One incident, in particular, was so disheartening, that I had no choice but to silently start thinking about other options, and within a day, I found the Luxury Salon of my dreams thanks to a very special friend! I went in and spoke to everyone and found the perfect place to work and start my own business/hair company of my dreams. Everything happened so fast that my head was spinning!!! But I knew I had my eye on the prize and wasn’t going to settle for less any longer, for the rest of my life. I needed to do what was best for me and my future.

I was terrified and didn’t know where to start just a day prior, and then I found the best outcome I could have ever asked for! I opened my salon, GENESIS BY AVIEL, at the LUXX SALON SUITES in Gilbert, AZ, on November 18th, 2021, at the age of 24. The amount of work that goes into perfecting everything about a business and all the important stuff in between is overwhelming! In March, I decided to completely gut the old decor/style of the previous owner’s salon, and renovated the whole place myself, along with the help of a friend.. new paint, wallpaper, shelves, premium luxury hair care, color bar, wax bar, mini bar with drinks; you name it. My one goal was to make it feel East-Coast Modern with an Art Deco/Zen undertone. I like different and wanted to show my personality but also show my love for interior design and incorporate everything together as one. After a year now, I’m feeling absolutely incredible and I’m so proud of how far I have come in such a short amount of time!

When I was 9 years old, my biggest dream in life was to one day, become an international high fashion model and travel the world, I’ve always had such a huge passion and desire for fashion, working with top designers and traveling the world. I knew it was going to be extremely tough to get to such a high level but I’ve always had that inner confidence and knowing that one day, everything will take off and all my dreams will come true. I started watching America’s Next Top Model and was completely obsessed from head to toe. I started copying all the advice and just about anything I could get from the show and Tyra Banks, to get myself started one day. At the age of 18, I started researching like crazy and one day on Facebook, I came across a model casting for a fashion show in Scottsdale, which was local, so I was ecstatic! Ever since then, I have worked many photo shoots, have walked in over 14 fashion shows in over 6 years, and have also met some of the best people in the industry so far! Two of my favorite moments were:

I worked with Project Runway Allstar, Emily Payne, for a local exclusive show and was cast as the only male to walk in her show with her ss19 collection. She and are husband were truly the warmest and most beautiful people, they made me so happy. My second was I worked for this Triple-Runway show back in 2017-18 called Mexico Under the Skin, featuring the top Mexican fashion designers at the time. This show had over 750 attendees, and was broadcasted live on Cox Communications in the US, and over 65 countries around the world!!! That was my favorite show to walk for to this date. Although COVID put a little damper on some models’ careers, I have now gained all the knowledge, determination, and fire I needed to get back into the industry and truly fulfill my heart & soul’s desire and destiny! The trick is, I just have one lifetime to do it!

Having compassion for others and doing the hard work truly pays off in the end. The sky is the limit from here for me. I thank god every day.

If you were to ask me “what is one thing that I think is most important in life”?

The answer is Love.

Love for each other.

And everything that you do.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
My life has not been a smooth road, but it has been a beautiful one overall. I have such a strong intuition, that I now always listen to and trust the divine to always have my back no matter what and that’s what drives me to push myself to still deliver my best every day no matter what I’m going through or what life throws at me. Bring it! Because I’ve been through just about anything, (not everything) and I’m only going to be 26. My life growing up, religion, self-image/self-worth, bullying, manipulation, and narcissism have always tried to affect me coming from others, and this year I told myself, I will never let anyone define my worth or tell me who I am / what I need unless they ask it from me, as I’m the one who holds that key at the end of the day. The moment I started taking care of myself in every way is the moment I started to feel the best about myself and everything that I’m doing and going to accomplish In the future.

My next goal is to create my own professional haircolor line, haircare line, and skin care line. I can’t wait to produce products that will truly help others with the same and transform their lives completely.

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 Salon Owner, Entrepreneur, Hair Designer, Model, and Actor and I own my own hair company as well called:

GENESIS by Aviel
Located in Gilbert, AZ
I’m on google and you can also find my hair page and book an appointment with me on Instagram. @genesis_by_aviel

I promise to give you the hair of your dreams, guaranteed!

I specialize in creative/dimensional color, color correction, dimensional blondes, balayage, precision cuts, extensions, and waxing. I offer services for anyone that needs their life changed and have always been looking for the right hairstylist that truly cares about them!

What sets me apart is my strong intuition abilities for all of life but especially hair, I can look at any photo and custom-design or what I like to call, “3D copy” to your head of hair. I take immense pride in that, and I will never tell you something isn’t possible as anything is possible with hair. I truly love people and care about bringing out only the best In others while providing a beautifully luxurious, transformative salon experience that makes you feel so relaxed yet so at home too.

I’m most proud of everything that I’ve accomplished in such a short time but have yet to accomplish in the future so I can one day, help thousands, if not millions of people around the world with my Salon brand and premium haircare/skin care products along with all the tools that I’ve learned along the way. The best is yet to come.

What’s next?
My next huge goal for my brand is to create revolutionary and deeply nourishing professional hair color, haircare, and skincare lines to further the umbrella. I’m hoping within 2-3 years I will create my first line and I’m so excited for that day!! I cannot go too much into detail as to what will be the ingredients but I can assure you with everything that I’ve learned, my products will have the deepest nourishing/rejuvenating/revitalizing ingredients that the earth has to offer. Of course, there is competition, but I’m sure that what I have to offer to the world will be so unique and completely revolutionize the way we see businesses and products as a whole.

I want to open several series of luxury salons in the future as well and extend my brand nationally one day. That way I can render my services/products to as many people as possible around the world! But I truly won’t stop there! My mind over time and I have so much I have yet to put into fruition.

Pricing:

• Haircuts w/style – $45-70
• Regrowth/All Over Color- $99-149
• Highlights- $135-195
• Balayage- $ 175-350
• Color Correction- $ 100/HR

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @genesis_by_aviel and @aviel_asher_erev
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001083486777&ref=content_filter

Image Credits
Holly Fain and Joshua Donte Barnes