Life & Work with Madison Ethridge

Today we’d like to introduce you to Madison Ethridge. 

Hi Madison, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I got started doing hair by messing with box color and doing my friends hair in high school. When I graduated my mom and I were talking one day about my future and she suggested hair school because ‘you ruined the carpet doing you and your friends’ hair’. Love the honesty mom! But that what I did, I enrolled at the Toni and Guy Hairdressing Academy in fall of 2007 and graduated from there around October 2008. As a lot of people, life took me in some wild directions before I got my license in 2010 but once I finally got through testing, I immediately started applying at salons! I got hired at a local chain salon quickly and learned SO MUCH there. After moving locations with the company, I worked full time building a clientele (some of who still come to me to this day from here) and honing in on my craft. I started getting more and more comfortable with color and at the same time social media was really getting big and I found myself in some hair groups. I started culling through the groups, networking and finally started my professional IG. Utilizing the power of social media and finding amazing groups of professionals and continuing my education helped me grow as a hair artist! I eventually left the corporate chain salon life and found myself at a sweet local salon with an old family friend Leandra and quickly connected with her and saw her vision for the salon. While she owned and operated and we built the salon, I continued on building my clientele and following more, found my niche group and began to fall in love with vivid colors. Things were great and I thought I had found my forever home! When the Pandemic in 2020 hit and we had to shut down- things became so scary and uncertain and unfortunately in the end the salon had to close. But Leandra and I found ourselves an amazing new salon home in the Springs called House Of Color. It was the fresh new start I needed, the people I worked with were the most talented group of individuals and I absorbed everything they all had to teach me. It was here that I started to specialize and seek out all the vivid clients I could! There is something about painting fun colors on people’s hair that makes my heart so happy! A year after being at House of Color I moved just right down the hall to Suite Society into a suite with my hair bestie, Leandra and it was the cutest little space! We really worked so seamlessly together and worked hard to make that space special. Unfortunately, last year in November our room had an unfortunate flood and we had to leave and make our way into separate rooms. It was so bittersweet but Leandra still works right across the hall! My room at work is quite literally my home away from home. Getting to wake up every day and play with people’s hair making amazing colorful creations, seeing the happiness on their face when were done and the hours we spend together laughing and crying and singing… sheesh I feel like I’m literally living the dream. People have said to me since I’ve moved into my suite that the space, I have created is sacred, special and safe. I aim for everyone that sits in my chair have the best experience and leave feeling refreshed and magical! Doing hair is truly my passion and I can’t believe how far I’ve come in 10 years and can’t wait to see where I’ll be in another 10! 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has been farthest from a smooth road! Life has thrown me so many obstacles along the way! Throughout my career, my personal life has definitely caused some complications. have struggled with anxiety and depression since I was 10 and in my older years, I found myself in a very abusive and toxic relationship that also led me to addiction. With the support and love from my family I have been clean and sober for 8 years and counting. I know during those dark times it was hard to be present behind the chair but I’m thankful nothing horrible happened. I have also had an unfortunate amount of deaths amongst my loved ones in the closer years that have definitely taken its toll on my mental health. I know we all suffered globally since 2020 and the pandemic but I have to say I really found myself in some powerful communities that helped me thrive and continue to find a way to grow. My owner’s choice to close the salon during that time was so hard and hurt so much and I will never forget my first real salon home, Split Ends salon. The flood in our room last year as well was nothing short of painful and a pure disaster. Thankful again no one got hurt but Leandra and I had to very abruptly move on and mourn our old room and life. With the rise of social media as well and imposter syndrome being forever present for so many artist, the comparison game and the gross feeling that you’re not doing enough; the anxiety and stress of being and artist trying to get noticed online can really take a toll on you. I’m so thankful that more artist/stylists with big platforms are speaking on this! It’s so easy to beat yourself up and wanna quit and tell yourself you’ll never be as good as —-, but learning to push through that and be authentic is paramount! Be yourself CONSISTENTLY and you will find what you need! 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a vivid hair color and extension specialist! I make peoples hair into rainbows and mermaid hair and make them feel AMAZING while I do it! I love doing bright neon colors, split hair and weird stuff! Anything extra weird and out of the ordinary makes my heart sing! People always tell me when they see my work that they love how bright and saturated the colors are! I feel like a HUGE part of that is the color line I choose to use exclusively, Pulp Riot. Their colors are by far the brightest, most saturated as well as mixable color line I’ve ever worked with! I also love that they are cruelty free and vegan, sustainability is such an important aspect of what I do! This industry creates over 800 pounds of waste a MINUTE!! So recycling is super important to me, I clean and recycle everything I can and am working to find more ways to do so! One thing I thing that really sets me apart is I try to be as transparent as possible about all things with my guests and try to work with each and every person to get the hair of their dreams. I aim to be as inclusive as possible and want people to feel safe and relaxed in my space! Making this a full experience and not just ‘getting your hair’ done is the most important thing to me. Having a tailored experience for each client in a beautiful private setting makes ‘getting your hair’ done so much more. I want to build connections with these people, sometimes were spending 6-8 hours together and the last thing I want is for someone to feel awkward or unwelcome for that long so having those connections are so important. I have goals to expand my knowledge of hair more and hopefully expand my craft even more exclusively. Educating is my next passion and I’m excited to see where that takes me! 

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
The ability to adapt and grow is to me, the more important characteristic to my success. After I finally passed boards and got hired on at the chain salon, I worked with for about 4 years, I had to learn and adapt fast! It was that or get left in the dust. We were a walk in/appointment-based salon with the majority of walk in or day of appointments and that means think and work fast. I learned how to cut hair quickly but still efficiently, got very comfortable with coloring, highlighting and chemical services while working on my speed and learning on the job. I remember the crazy shift and back-to-back clients and late nights and they were so crucial for my growth. Moving to a local more family style, chiller paced salon; I had to adapt and make myself busy. Learning the ins and outs of Instagram and Facebook, how to market yourself and advertise; I had to get people to come to me and I caught on quick, I think! Moving again to House of Color was a whole different structure of salon and I found myself as an independent artist in the thick of the busiest most badass salon in the city and I had to step my game up. I had to be more strict with myself and really make myself charge my worth. Adapting from there to a room with someone to now my own room came with as many triumphs as challenges but I love it so much. I definitely had to figure out my style and cultivate a brand and I feel I have definitely done that and am continuing in that consistently. Adapting and growing in each scenario has found me a very powerful network of people and resources, which will only help me continue to grow. 

Pricing:

• $90 per hour for vivid coloring

Contact Info:

• Email: madibellehair@gmail.com
• Website: https://linktr.ee/MadiBelleHair
• Instagram: Instagram.com/madibellehair
• Facebook: Facebook.com/MadiBelleHair