Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Shea. She and her team shared their story with us below:
Lauren Shea has followed in her grandmother’s footsteps of over 63 years in the industry and has over 13 years of experience behind the chair. She is on L’Oreal Professionnel’s artistic team educating for the pioneering company of hair color and hairdressing education. Lauren Shea has worked on models for the runway at New York and London Fashion Weeks with big names like Jon Reyman, Ashley Smith, and other local ones in the Denver area while continuing to pursue opportunities in Paris and Milan.
Her specialties are in blondes, balayage color corrections, hand-tied hair extensions, and styling for weddings, special occasions, photo shoots, etc. She attended the Aveda Institute for training originally and has continued through an exceptional amount of classes and education over the years to grow her knowledge and skillset. Lauren Shea specializes in hair extensions and shares her passion for extensions as she enjoys training and coaching others in the correct application and best practices for achieving successful results. She has her certification in the Habit Hand-Tied Extension Method, as well as other hand-tied methods.
She has worked with all types of extensions for the entirety of her career and has a wealth of knowledge to share in this aspect. She has attended hair, skin, and makeup courses over time and has received excellent extended training and certifications. Lauren Shea loves working with the camera as well and has branched out to work on a number of commercial-style photo/video shoots including clients like Noosa Yoghurt, Associates in Family Medicine, Lifesize, and Ballet Wyoming. She has worked on over 300 weddings during her career and her wedding work has been featured by Rocky Mountain Bride, Couture Colorado, Styles Me Pretty, The Knot, and Colorado Weddings Magazine. Education is her passion, and sharing her knowledge to help others is what she’s all about! She has a huge heart for helping stylists cultivate their artistic qualities for success in their careers!
Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself. You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody. You have only control over your own thoughts and actions, no one else’s.
I have been in this industry of beauty for over 13 years. I have had hundreds of women every year sit in my chair and I am granted the ability to do all I can to make them look and feel amazingly beautiful. While this is a huge place of vulnerability each guest jumps into when they visit with me, I always try my hardest to make it the most comfortable experience for them in my salon “home”.
With almost every woman in my chair, there is unfortunately the biggest common denominator that I see to some degree… A lack of confidence, insecurities slipping out left and right in the conversation, concerns about life – REAL things like jobs, babies, spouses, kids, family, friends…the hard stuff… people craving connection…
When I went to school for cosmetology years ago I thought I was in the industry to make people look beautiful – nails, makeup, hair, skin – but for all of my industry ladies out there it’s so much more and until you figure that out for yourself, you will never develop into the fullness you are capable of in being able to make a difference in peoples lives.
First start the journey within the depths of yourself. Work on your own mind, body, and soul so that you can radiate the confidence you, the true you. Not you who everyone else wants you to be, but the person you can sleep soundly at night for, the person you’d die to have in your inner circle, the person you can truly stand proud of. Only then can you connect with your guests and elevate their experience with you.
Reach people where they are and affirm them – they’re craving for connection, craving time, craving someone they can be REAL with. Meet them there and the services you’re doing will not only meet their needs, but you’ll see the most beautiful thing happen as they leave – the strength in true beauty inwardly and out as there is not much more beautiful in the world than a confident woman in their heart, mind, soul, and body.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My journey in this industry has been quite a rollercoaster of ups and downs. I’ve had to hustle from day one and work towards every step of achievement. I’ve had to put in the long hard hours, deal with the hard clients, go in early, stay late, push through physical pain and exhaustion, and more.
Overall, however, I wouldn’t say I wish I would have chosen another career. My industry has provided an extreme variety of options that have kept me interested and evolving throughout the years. With the ability to be creative, connect with people, be an artist, travel, meet new people, expand my mind, pour into others’ lives through mentoring, and more, I am blessed to be in such a beautiful career.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Behind the chair, I specialize in blonding, balayage, and color corrections. I love working through amazing transformations with clients also utilizing hand-tied hair extensions. I love working with brides and their wedding parties for hair and makeup for their special wedding day.
In addition to this, to keep things interesting, I absolutely love working on sites for photo shoots, fashion weeks, and more. For the past few years, I have pursued coaching, mentoring, and teaching others in the industry what I know – aiding them in growth and success in our beautiful industry. I hope to leave a mark on the industry and help others love what they do as much as I have.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I work a few days a week currently behind the chair and am always excited to meet new faces and be granted new challenges.
Salons, Cosmetology Schools, and Stylists are welcome to reach out to me and have me teach, coach, and train for success in building their businesses and becoming as successful as possible in what they do. I love also building a network of vendors for photo shoots, special events, fashion shows/weeks, etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.laurensheaartistry.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/laurenshea.artistry
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/laurenshea.artistry
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/laurenshea1026/
Image Credits
Desiree Suchy – Photography by Desiree
