Rising Stars: Meet Samantha Padilla

Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Padilla.

Hi Samantha, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I remember my first time at a real salon after my mom had cut my hair for my whole life. I remember watching the stylist cut my hair wondering why it didn’t look like that when my mom did it (sorry mom) and then really wondered how she knew where to hold my hair and cut it to make it all flow together. In high school, I would dye my hair as well as all my friends (If I knew then what I know now, I could’ve avoided dying my blonde best friend’s hair green). I spent countless hours braiding my teammate’s hair before softball games, and I had the honor of styling my friend Kelly’s hair for her quinceanera.

Now that I am here in this industry my love for it goes so far past liking hair… I have found the art in it. I have always felt called to create something artistically but didn’t know in what form. From blending lightener to using vivids, and cutting the perfect curtain bangs, I can say that I find myself never wanting to leave the salon. Transforming someone’s hair can 100% make them feel more confident, beautiful and refreshed. I cannot put into words what it feels like to make someone feel this way.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I was originally planning on starting school in February of 2020. In December of 2019, I found out I was pregnant and not only was I pregnant I was 8 months pregnant. It was the biggest shock of my life, having been on birth control and having no signs that there was this beautiful life growing inside me. In that moment in the doctor’s office, I felt like everything got flipped upside down. I had 8 weeks from that day until the day I delivered my son via c-section. I was so scared going to the hospital knowing I would be leaving with a baby boy. I truly felt so unprepared having such a short amount of time before his arrival so when my son was born I immersed myself into motherhood. My whole world changed having to care for someone other than myself…12 weeks later I was set to go back to work as a server and then COVID hit and my job was shut down.

At this time when everything seemed unsure, I felt like my dreams of going to cosmetology school would never happen. Especially now that I would have to do it while raising a child.

January of 2021 came around and my grandmother and I were having a conversation about my future and what I wanted it to look like. I said I wanted to pursue cosmetology school and started looking at start dates and by April 2021 I was attending my first day of school. With the help from my village knowing I had support and a safe place for my son to be while I attended class. I knew that day I walked into the doors at Paul Mitchell that the dream I had been dreaming about for so long was at my fingertips and I wasn’t going to let it go.

So the short answer is, no it hasn’t been a smooth road… but it was the road I needed to take because becoming a mother became my superpower. I realized by having this tiny human looking up to me constantly it would have been a huge disservice to myself to not chase my dreams and let my son watch me do it.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am currently an co artist at She Loves Hair Salon in Westminster, CO under the owner Sarah Garcia. I graduated june 7th and am accepting new clients at model pricing every friday and saturday starting in july.

My love is for dimensional blondes and brunettes but if you come in telling me you want pink, I’ll love you forever.

I am most proud of my work ethic throughout school. There were so many nights when my son would go to bed late and it would be past 10pm before I was able to sit down to start my homework, but I always stayed up late to make sure I never once got behind.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Growing up I think anyone who knew me back then would tell you I was the most talkative person in the room. I have always been fascinated with people and what makes them, them.

I spent most of my years growing up playing softball. From age 5 until I was 20 you could find me on the field. When I look back and think about growing up when I think about my identity, softball was it. It was truly my first love for anything. It taught me so much about being punctual, discipline, and how to work as a team player. Those times will always be so fond and anytime I can get my hands in a glove and on a ball, I’m ready to play. This past summer it had been almost two years since I had done either one of those and on the first play of a rec league co-ed game I laid out for a line drive. My 26 years old body didn’t handle it as well as I did when I was 16 but I guess it’s just deep down into my bones.

Pricing:

• Blow dry w/ Style – $25
• Haircut w/ Style – $40
• Single Process – $105
• Full Highlight – $135
• Full Balayage – $150

Contact Info:

• Website: sheloveshairsalon.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hairby.samanthap/
• Facebook: hairby.samanthap
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/s_manthapxo/

Image Credits
Cheyenne Schaller