Meet Ashley Brown-Lantz of Tress Passing at Studio 24 in Avondale

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Brown-Lantz.

Ashley, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have been in the Beauty industry for 11 years. Straight out of high school I knew I wanted to be able to be behind the scenes for photoshoots and runway shows, which is what lead me to going to hair school. In all honesty, I was looking for a job I could obtain through a trade school environment that would eventually afford me the luxury of moving to California and attending FIDM, but also not stray too far from my end goal. That never happened. I fell in love with doing hair the second I checked out my first client. Being someone who was considered ‘shy’ and suffered severe social anxiety and panic attacks as soon as I would have to present ANYTHING, I realized how comfortable performing a service made talking to a stranger in such an intimate situation.

This confidence eventually leads me into something I never thought I’d see myself doing; Education. I have been a high-level color and cutting educator for Matrix Professional haircare products for six years, and a Twisted Fringe Extension Educator for one year. I spent seven years behind the chair at well known local full-service salons in the valley before making the leap into being my own boss. I moved into my own Sola studio and opened my business in February 2016, and the following year I was chosen to be one of the Faces of Sola for 2018 and have contributed by writing blogs for them about being a small business owner and being one of the first brand ambassadors for their online booking system.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Not every day is smooth, but I have found that being in the mindset of someone else always valuing my time enough to book appointments or attend classes with me helps keep me on track. Nothing causes me to lose more sleep at night than letting someone down. Being late, running behind throughout the day and having to cancel on my clients is an absolute no from me. Fine tuning my own “brand” and how I wanted to represent my business was a struggle at first too, being genuine and keeping my conversation true to whoever is in my chair has created an environment that not only my clients enjoy being in, but I love as well.

Please tell us about Tress Passing at Studio 24.
I specialize in color and extensions mostly, even though I’ve always said that a great haircut/style is the “gift wrap” to their custom color. Being Bi-racial myself, I tend to end up with a lot of multi-textural curls in my chair. I like to make sure the work I put out on social media is both natural colors and fantasy shades as I do see the beauty in both. However, my proudest moments as a service provider in such a small personalized setting is how deep I can get in conversation with both long term and new clients. Over the years and through experiences with close family, friends and myself I have become a big advocate for normalizing mental health awareness.

In cosmetology school, we were taught that it was so taboo to discuss things like that with a client in your chair because you might scare them away or it might be too “personal”. I am very proud to say that I check every single one of those things we were told not to discuss off my list on a daily basis and it has only solidified the relationships with everyone I work on. I love that I can tell I’m not only making someone feel beautiful on the outside, I’m helping to ease a little bit of the stress they may have on the inside with the couple hours I get to spend with them. No one should feel embarrassed about talking about anything that has to do with their own mental health, and my salon is a complete safe place for that kind of conversation.

What are you striving for, what criteria or markers have you set as indicators of success?
To me, Success means being in a place you are 100% proud of and comfortable in, having weekly, monthly, yearly goals and being able to check them off your list. I have found success in the fact that I can live a comfortable life, not dread going to work every single day, and correctly and positively represent my brand all at the same time. I love the quote “I remember when I dreamed of the life I have today”, it reminds me to be grateful for the goals I have reached thus far and how far I have come.

Contact Info:

• Address: 2935 N Dysart Rd Avondale AZ 85392 studio 24 inside the Sola Salons
• Website: Ashleylantz.glossgenius.com
• Phone: 623-203-9658
• Email: tresspassingsalon@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleylantzhair/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tresspassingsalon/

Image Credit:
Jake Pickle, Kassandra Noriega

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