After burning out on my quest for a bachelors degree in creative writing, at the age of 20 i was without an outlet for my creativity. a ton of soul-searching lead me to realize that my entire life id been doing hair. when i was 11 i started applying the drugstore hair color on my mom. In middle school and high school i was cutting and coloring my entire circle of friends as well as my own hair and it simply never dawned on me. Enter Indian River Community College. The Cosmetology program left alot to be desired and with the little motivation i carried along, it soon became obvious that there was no way i could do it. 4 nights a week from 5-10 after working all day and not sleeping nearly as much as i should have just didnt allow me to make it happen. I became the stereotyped beauty school drop out. fast forward 6 months to the livingroom of my fiance's and my new place. we were watching TV and saw the preview for a reality competition about hair stylists! 2 weeks later we watched the premiere of this show (Shear Genius) and upon the closing credits of the show i turned to my beautiful fiance and said, "I wanna do that." she reluctantly approved but asked why i wanted to go back when i already knew i wouldn't like it. the only answer i could give was that id just witnessed the evidence that Hair was the creative outlet i burned for, not just a job cutting behind a chair. the sylists in that competition cut, colored, styled and added craft store accessories to create these fantastic fantasy shapes. miles beyond what i knew a hairdresser's scope was. The next day i reapplied, got accepted, 10 months later graduated top of the class, and went out into the world. I trained under some amazing stylists in the early years, including a Goldwell Platform Artist and an incredible team of local Paul Mitchell educators that i had the pleasure of working with at a salon that fit my esthetic and my creative direction perfectly. the only flaw there was that the owner wasn't fond of paying me on time, if at all. i made the decision to move on so that i could have a reliable check to bring home for my wife and new baby twins.
I found all this time that i really enjoyed helping others to grow along with me and decided to approach a career as an educator, starting at home with what i knew, Cosmetology school. I spent 3 years leading the charge for bringing talented hairdressers into the world at the college i graduated from and even had the idea followed by the permission to design and implemented an Advanced Education Curriculum that was a first for the college and is still taught to this day, though i left to pursue education in the profession world.
I first fell into education for Babe Hair Extensions. while traveling florida educating and encouraging rooms full of eager learners I found myself experimenting more with the artistic side of hair than ever before as a result of their artistic director who's powerful and passionate personality sparked the determination in me to be even bigger than i was faster than i ever thought possible. As an Artistic Educator for Matrix Professional Haircare and Color, I've taken my imagination and my passion for hair and leapt off the edge; entering into editorial and art-driven photo work, creating a season hair collection that will rotate twice annually, helping with hair design for fashion shows, and fully embracing the artistry of hair. You can now find me at the helm of my own salon, Rock Paper Salon in Stuart Florida, fully embracing the Matrix family and culture and creating amazing hair every day. in the later half of 2013, my first photo collection graced the features section of the Modern Salon website and a photoshoot i did for the incredible cancer charity Love Out Lavender is featured on the pages of Modern Salon Magazine. i was named a Featured Stylist by Colorista; a mobile device app for stylists to enter client formulas and pictures, keep a client info database, add and use timers for color processes and more. Ive also been featured in Beauty LaunchPad (september 2015) and was named one of The Colorist Magazine's "Top 30 under 30". The only thing missing from this equation is my amazing, loyal clientele without whom i would be nothing but a passionate, imagination-driven crazyman with some very sharp scissors and color on the brain. And possibly the most important role i play is the role of husband and father. i have an amazing wife who, for some as yet undiscovered reason, is not only able to put up with my craziness, but can focus it and guide it into doing all the amazing things Im able to do. And my icing on the cake are those awesome twin boys i mentioned earlier, Aiden and Jackson and my beautiful daughter Delilah. those 3 are the reason the sun rises and sets and the inspiration behind everything i do.

Without any sugar coating, I'll openly admit that I have an ego. To some extent, it’s a show I put on for my clients. A confident stylist puts confidence in the mind of a client who is a bit timid, or has never had you do their hair before. My mantra as a stylist and my most important lesson as a teacher is that when your at work, you are on stage and should behave as such. After all, a Broadway show with a boring cast is not on Broadway very long. Having the goal of not only making the client happy while they’re in your chair, but also giving them a look that they can be proud of when they do it themselves at home each day. A look that brings with it self-confidence that they may not have had before. helping them to understand how to choose and properly use the products they put in their hair, and also what tools to use and again how to use them, so that even though i'm not there every morning to vamp up their style before they leave the house, they will still be near as stunning as the moment they left my chair. Truth be told, i can say that being able to let out my creativity, or that my love for the industry keeps me going. or that being that cutting edge for my clients is why i do what i do. but really, i do it because there is nothing better than plucking something out of my imagination and delivering it, and then seeing it translate in all its glory in print or online, or even moreso watching someone check themselves out in the mirror after I’m finished and suddenly, their head swells just a bit and my ego says to theirs, "You are welcome!"

"Mad Hatter" Collection Beauty LaunchPad 2015
The Colorist Magazine's Top 30 under 30 list 2015

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