Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Fisher.
Hi Ashley, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in a very small town in Canal Fulton, Ohio in a farmhouse without a whole lot going on around me. When I was about 9, my mom taught me how to do a French braid on one of my dolls and I absolutely loved it. I was bored a lot of the time, so to entertain myself, I would sit between 2 mirrors so that I could see the back of my hair, and taught myself how to French braid my own hair. To say the least, I am a perfectionist, so I kept on practicing until it was mastered. I even got a cabbage patch doll that had wired hair and came with a fake crimper and curling iron!!! I continued to practice on other girls’ hair on the school bus and began trying out new techniques on myself that evolved into more of an “updo”. My passion continued throughout school and by the time I got to high school (and makeup became a thing) I was definitely the friend who was good at hair and makeup and a go-to for dances and such. I started doing hair and makeup for some manager’s weddings of wherever I was working at the time and continued experimenting on myself as I got through high school. A friend’s mom asked me if I was going to go to Cosmetology school once we graduated. This was the first time that I entertained this hobby as a real job!!! I hated school… and I knew that I was pretty good at this hair thing so (against my parent’s advice) I decided to enroll in Cosmetology school.
I loved every part of it, but especially formal dance season. That’s where I was really in my element. After I graduated, I went to the best salon in our city and got a job as a stylist. Again, I loved the atmosphere and energy of a salon and felt like I was on the right path. A few months in, the owner started carrying Bumble and Bumble products- which I’d never heard of. She asked if I would be interested in being trained in New York and educating the salon. Ummm… duh. I didn’t even have a suitcase, but I packed up and went to the big city for a week of intensive training (about 12 hours a day) at the Bumble and Bumble University in NYC!! This experience changed the way that I thought about hair and was my first introduction into education.
After a few years of working in the salon in Ohio, I decided to move somewhere warmer with my boyfriend (now my husband). We didn’t have a plan at all!!! I just looked up Bumble salons in the south and came up with one in Charleston, SC. A place, by the way, that we had never been, knew nothing about, and knew no one. So, we drove down, I interviewed, and was offered a job that day. Done deal!!! We found a studio apartment online and moved down 4 weeks later… Ahhhh to be 23 again…
I threw myself into work, determined to not have to go back to Ohio with my tail between my legs. Failure is not really an option for me- which gets me into trouble sometimes. I worked constantly and built a clientele quickly. Still, though, when a wedding would come into the salon, I was the go-to person. I couldn’t understand why other stylists didn’t like it- not realizing at the time that schools don’t teach special event styling. So, if you are not self-taught, trying to come up with a skill set on someone’s most important day can be a bit stressful. After working in the fast-paced salon for another 2 years, I decided to go out on my own and start a Bridal Specific business. I figured, there are a lot of weddings here and not many stylists seem to enjoy doing them so this could be an untapped market. I also remember the stress of wedding parties coming to the salon and trying to fit them into the rest of the appointments that we had for the day. So, I thought, “Could you do these on location”? That seems like it would be more enjoyable for everyone! So, I created a website (no idea how to do that), and took photos of friends who would let me do their hair and makeup to create a paper portfolio. Yep, a printed, paper portfolio. I decided to call it Ash and Co. Everyone that I asked told me to call it something more telling like ” Hair by Ash” or something, but it just didn’t feel right. I called every wedding planner in town and asked if they would meet with me. I left several messages until they got back to me and would look at my portfolio. I just pounded the pavement and would ask them to please just refer me if they thought their bride might like my work. I just needed to book 5 weddings to cover the cost of my website (mind you, the entire time I was doing this, I also was still working behind the chair at a booth rental salon to supplement income). My first year, I did 35 weddings. I couldn’t believe it!!!! From there on out, I did everything I could to show my work and worth to this industry. I did countless free services and unpaid photo shoots to get my name in as many publications and blogs as possible.
I never wanted to have a big business. I always said that my goal was to be the tiny restaurant that’s really hard to get into, but fantastic every time. And that is my constant goal even to this day.
It’s always been about the work to me.
About 8 years into my business as a bridal hair/makeup artist, I decided to advertise a class. I thought maybe 3 people would want to come and see how to do hair the way that I do, but since there was very little education out there for this specialty, I thought it would be a good way to help other stylists not be nervous or afraid of this niche. I offered 3 class dates and they filled up within a few hours. I was so excited and also shocked! There were stylists flying in from other states!!!! Crazy!!! Again, after my first few classes, I was hooked on education. I love meeting and working with these artists and working through their blocks and reservations in this specialty field. I began travelling and teaching all over the country and teaching different workshops to cover all areas of styling.
In 2019, I received a message from Behind The Chair (one of the largest platforms for artists/stylists out there) about being on their BTC Team!!! This is a small team of artists from all over the world who focus on education in our industry. Once they started re-posting my work and showing it on their platform, my following went up and new opportunities came. I became a member of the influencer team for Moroccan Oil products and was asked to do livestream classes on larger pages as well. In 2021, I entered the BTC One Shot awards which is one of the largest competitions in the world for our industry. One of my photos was chosen as a Top 25 photo out of the 15,000 (in my category) that were entered from over 80 countries. I was floored!!! I was going to be attending what we call the “Grammys of Hairdressing” award show. I was even more in shock when Behind the Chair called me and asked if I would be interested in teaching at the hair show… ON the main stage… with Moroccan oil…!!!Oh, and also presenting an award for Best Editorial Shot International… what??!!!
SO… I prepared for weeks, doing mock classes and making my poor husband listen to me to get any nerves out before I would be in front of thousands of people, leading part of the show, for the first time… gulp.
Cut to a few weeks later, I got my backstage passes, packed my bags, and headed to Austin, TX for the show!! It was the absolute best experience of my life!!! To be surrounded by literally the best in our industry and being announced on the stage to show my work along with them is something that I will take with me for the rest of my life.
Since then, I have decided to only focus on Bridal hair and Makeup and no longer work behind the chair doing salon clients, this was an extremely difficult decision. I listened to an audiobook called Essentialism which was about doing less, but better. And I want to be the best, so I had to do less.
Now, I consistently do my brides (which is my most favorite) and have my beautiful salon, FOXY, which will be a bridal/special event-specific salon. I still travel all over to teach workshops and continue to work with product companies. Most importantly, I am constantly trying to one-up myself. To always push and be better than I was. Long story short… I think the cabbage patch doll was a good investment.
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 wouldn’t say it’s been smooth necessarily, but I am not easily deterred. I dealt with other people trying to tear me down or being misunderstood… which I think is pretty common among artists. My husband decided to go back and get his Ph.D. at UVA about 5 years into my business. So, I had to go back and forth to Virginia for the four years of his course work, while running the bridal business, teaching, AND still running a full-time salon business. Burnout is an understatement. I think the only thing that kept me going as coffee (obviously), fear of mediocrity, and the knowing that this too shall pass. And it did.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I think my main advice to new stylists wanting to get into this niche is to find what makes you different and run with it. For me, it was my ability to create texture in the hair. My Dad is an artist and was great at teaching me the importance of contrast, balance, proportion, and rhythm in your work and I carry that into every person that I work on. Yes, I do bridal hair, but I absolutely think of it as sculpture and create it using the same art principles. When I am doing makeup, I think of it in the exact same way as blending colors in a painting or drawing. Now, add in the insecurities that individual may have, their idea of what beauty is, and an unknown starting foundation… and you have a challenge that I live for every day!
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love that Charleston has the best wedding vendors out there!!! I love being surrounded by other people who are the best at what they do because you know that you can’t let each other down and you’re held to a very high standard. We are also so fortunate that our weather and venues allow for weddings to happen year around. I think the only thing that I don’t love about Charleston is the summer heat… I HATE sweating!!! The humidity poses all kinds of new obstacles for hair and makeup that we need to work around… BUT, coming from Ohio, I can’t really complain too much about the weather.
Contact Info:
- Email: ashandcobridalhair@yahoo.com
- Website: ashandcobridalhair.com
- Instagram: ashandcobridalhair
Image Credits
kristin piteo
