Hair stylist, Theodore Leaf, is taking the Los Angeles Fashion Industry by Storm
If you want to know how to make it in the fashion industry, Theodore Leaf’s story should inspire you. He’s 24 and he’s already accomplished so much in the 5 short years he’s been a hair stylist. After he trained at the Paul Mitchell Academy in Ohio, Theo took a job in Atlanta at the Paul Mitchell salon. While setting up the education department at the salon, he also assisted a colorist in Buckhead, Atlanta’s answer to Beverly Hills. One bad day at work, and the rest, as they say, is history! Theo called his mother and the two of them drove his 2 door Saturn from Atlanta to Los Angeles. He had $1,500 in his pocket and one phone number. He used that number and was immediately asked if he had experience working with wigs. He lied and said Yes! And then bought a book on wigs and read it cover to cover. The gig was for a musical in Noho (North Hollywood for those who aren’t familiar with LA). As luck would have it, one of the girls in the musical was Katharine McFee, who we all are familiar with winning American Idol. He was making $300.00 per week doing hair for the musical. His next job in LA was doing the Broadway tour of Annie. His salary jumped to $3,000.00 per week! After the tour, he dedicated himself to working with photographers, building his portfolio. He says that because he doesn’t do make up, make up artists felt comfortable calling him for testing gigs and he was able to make a lot of connections. He told me, “ I said YES to everything! It didn’t matter how much it paid or who was shooting it, I did everything that came along!” One example; he got a call on a Wednesday to key a fashion show on Friday. He had never done a fashion show before, and didn’t have that big of a roster to pull together a team. But he always said Yes to an opportunity. And of course, the show was a success!
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