To the stylist reading this between clients,
Every September, fashion agrees to begin again. New collections, a new mood, a quiet understanding that what worked last year has been noted, admired and set aside. Hair has its own version of that moment. For most stylists it doesn't arrive with the season. It arrives on an ordinary Tuesday, between a root touch-up and a blowout, as a thought that refuses to leave: I could do this on my own.
Four years ago, that thought arrived for me. I'd been at my commission salon for almost two years and had just moved to a different part of the city. The commute was wearing thin, and I knew it was time for a change of address. I was booked three months out, with loyal regulars and new clients finding me on Instagram every week. Moving to another salon felt like applying for another job, proving my worth all over again and renegotiating my commission. I didn't want another chair in another salon. I wanted the next step. It was terrifying, honestly. But once the idea took hold, I was committed to it completely.
I built Private Studio because I wanted a room where independence felt supported, never solitary. A space worthy of your work and your clients, one you love spending eight hours a day in, with serious talent and the kind of conversations that make you better at your work. Everyone who rents a chair here has taken the same leap, and every one of them arrived with questions nobody had written down the answers to.
Starting today, we're writing them down.
The Studio Edit has always been where you come to find out what's next in hair. Now it's also where you'll find what's next for you: the business of going independent, written by people who've done it.
Who this is for
The stylist who signed her first rental contract last week and is still a little giddy about it. The one quietly counting her regulars, wondering if they'd follow. The one who has been independent for ten years and is looking to feel inspired again. You'll find pricing, rental terms, money, building a book, creative direction, and the parts of running a business that nobody puts on Instagram.
It will be frank. Going independent is one of the best decisions a talented stylist can make, and it deserves better than vague encouragement. It deserves specifics.
What we believe
That skill is the foundation and taste is the differentiator. That a stylist who understands her own numbers is a freer artist, not a less creative one. That the best rooms are full of people who are very good at what they do and generous about it. And that you are allowed to want more, and to plan for it properly.
Just between us
If I could go back to my first month, I'd tell myself to trust my gut. Set yourself up properly and there's no reason you won't succeed. Everything else you figure out along the way, and by the end of that first year, you'll wonder why you ever doubted it.
Think of these posts as the setting-up part. Read them. Keep them. Send them to the stylist in your life who keeps saying "one day." And when "one day" finally arrives, we'll be here to cheer you on.
Kristen Patterson,
Founder, Private Studio
Meet the Collective, the stylists who've already taken the leap.
