Life and Work with Delores Turnbow

I’m a late bloomer. I didn’t have the guts to quit my corporate job and go to beauty school until I was almost 30 years old. I started school in 2007, right before the market crashed. I avoided the sweeping corporate layoffs that followed, but also headed into a new career when everyone’s spending was at an all-time low.

In 2008, I took advantage of my new license and desire to learn and moved somewhere where 30 didn’t feel old, but like more a median age. Brooklyn, NYC. I paired with an amazing mentor immediately at Self Salon Brooklyn. She taught me so much, and we are still very close to this day

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It was definitely not a smooth road. I moved to three different cities in six years and each time posed the challenge of rebuilding a clientele. I always paired myself with successful salons and did my best to nurture a clientele by staying in one place for as long as possible.

In 2017, already being independent and renting a chair in a wonderful salon in Tempe, I was diagnosed with an aggressive Stage 3C breast cancer. Surrounded by an amazing and loyal group of clients who had become friends. they formed a food train for me during my five months of chemo. Sending well wishes, gifts, and meals from as far away as Georgia, New York, and Seattle.

It made me realize that I don’t do hair, I connect with people.  Hair is simply something I have worked hard to be good at, but connecting with people is my gift.

Once I went into remission in early 2018, I decided I no longer had time to fear failure and opened my own studio in Palette Collective, Tempe in July 2018.  I did wonder how I could give back to other cancer patients when one person reminded me “You do. You do hair.” I have hoped to reach and help other people going through cancer that have suddenly lost or are regrowing an unfamiliar texture of hair, as I did.

My business has been wildly successful since opening, and for that, I am eternally and humbly grateful to my community.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Birdhouse Hair – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
My specialty has been lived in color and cuts, and recently a focus on curly, textured hair. My motto has always been “I work hard to make your hair easy”, however, it grows out of your head. I do that through low maintenance color services, helping people grow out gray, breathe life into fine hair and tame wild hair (or enhance it!).

I truly am able to connect almost immediately with anyone who sits in my chair. It sets me apart in the way that I am not looking only for the best cut for you, but for the best connection with you.

I am in the market of making friends.

There’s a wealth of academic research that suggests that a lack of mentors and networking opportunities for women has materially affected the number of women in leadership roles. Smart organizations and industry leaders are working to change this, but in the meantime, do you have any advice for finding a mentor and building a network?
I have seen Instagram change the face of our industry, and it has given newer stylists the guts to go independent earlier. It really is a game changer.  When I started this career 12 years ago, it was considered “career suicide” to attempt that right out of school. The playing field has been leveled, and now more experienced stylists need to keep up.

I do encourage everyone, whether they have been doing hair for 1 year, or 20, to constantly connect with stylists who differ from you.  I have learned the most by watching, creeping and asking of other stylists.  You don’t need to work 5 years underneath someone else anymore, but you do need to learn photography, algorithms, and marketing to get your work seen, no matter how good you are. You don’t need 1 mentor, you need 100. It doesn’t hurt to find one mentor who already has 100.