Rising Stars: Meet Elisabeth White

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elisabeth White.

Elisabeth, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Our family bought an RV when I was five, so while other kids were being bussed into school for the day, my brother John and I were waking up with our parents pulling up on the coast to spend a day at the beach. Our parents were fun.

Our dad, Roy was the stage producer for The Doobie Brothers for over a decade and he and my mom Linda bought campgrounds and transformed them into destinations people now like to search for on Airbnb. It was a childhood beautifully written and composed with moments spent with people that I loved, that loved me. ​

Sometime around my early teens, we lived in Florida, and I went looking for a job. So the first place I thought I might like was a hair salon so I met with the owner Ana and she just straight up asked if I would be interested in being her assistant, and just like that, without even knowing it, my story had a beginning.

I remember having this feeling somewhere deep down, that I was going to be really good at this, but at that moment I had no idea what “this” was. Then I ended up getting myself into cosmetology school half of the day during high school and then worked at the salon afterward and on weekends. Assisting and shampooing, I later came to realize was and still is an art form in and of itself that I consider myself very lucky to have had the opportunity to master.

However, I didn’t stay in my hair. In fact, I was upholstering furniture in a Las Vegas warehouse when they decided to send me for some training in Saint Jerome, Quebec but I ended up not coming home on that returning flight. Instead, I just decided that I was going to backpack through Canada for a while until I knew what I REALLY wanted to settle down and make a career out of. I end up working abroad for 2 or 3 years in Canada and really did a lot of souls searching during that season of my life, but as fate would have it, during my stay there I ended up in a wouldn’t ya know it? A hair salon.

I think at that point something just snapped inside of me because overnight it seemed like I was in Charlotte, North Carolina applying for The Aveda Institute when the administration there informed me of some event the school was having for Earth month where there was to be a competition and the winner would win a full-tuition scholarship. I went all out and flew a model in, did her hair and makeup and put all these freshly picked flowers around her, sprayed water so that each petal had fresh dew droplets. And when they called my name, I knew this was my calling for real this time and I was going to really make the most of the opportunity.

That single event propelled me into my career so fast. I went from graduation to one of the top salons in the nation training with some of the best stylists in my profession and went on to be a Technical Director and Lead Educator. I now have my own salon concept called MADHAIRLAB Hair Salon here in Queen Creek, Arizona which I am working on expanding in the next few years.

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?
I don’t think the roads of life are paved. I think that sometimes we go off-roading in fact.

One of the hardest struggles I remember with my industry in my early days was never feeling pretty enough, talented enough, just never feeling like I was enough. I was never made to feel like I quite measured up.

The lies we tell ourselves probably make up more of the bumps to life than we will ever understand or realize but I also did and still do have to work very hard to tell myself how much of a badass I am.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I do hair and I specialize in balayage and baby light blonding services as well as extensions with all types of methods.

I do everything from haircuts to special event styling to vivids but I would say I am most known for my experience in extensions and my foiling techniques. I would say I am most proud of the amount of education I have taken in my lifetime surrounding the hair industry.

That is what has set me apart from others, my work ethic and my experience level along with my ability to have a conversation with anyone.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
You are in the business of relationships and networking for yourself in this industry so learn how to communicate effectively.

There are truly no days off in the beginning but the hard work does pay off. And last but not least, find a mentor, someone whom you admire that you can assist under and learn from, and then find another one.

Never ever stop learning and you will be given the keys to success.

Pricing:

• Advanced Haircut $85
• Babylights $400+
• Hand Tied Extensions $1,500 and up

Contact Info:

• Email: madhairlab@gmail.com
• Website: https://madhairlab.glossgenius.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madhairlab/

Image Credits
Kathie Hearn