One Stylist’s Career Story: What a Hair Segment Taught Me
Stylist Career Stories: Look at One Stylist’s Unexpected Early Career Moment—and How it Shaped Her Authentic Approach to Hair Education.
Let’s get right to one stylist’s career story. Back in 2001, I filmed a segment for Channel 7 News with Julie Auclair about beach hair styling—right around the time Bumble and bumble Surf Spray was making waves (pun fully intended). It was a big deal. A new texture product that actually delivered that salty, windblown, summer-in-your-hair look—without needing a trip to the coast? We were buzzing.
I was working with Bumble and bumble at the time and was given an opportunity that so many stylists would have loved: to showcase this new, exciting product on camera. But what I thought would be a quick, exciting demo turned out to be… something else entirely.
It wasn’t live. It wasn’t in a studio. And it definitely wasn’t relaxed. It was the moment I became a stylist behind the scenes.
The day was long, full of endless takes and re-takes. There was an elevator involved—my model had to keep riding up, stepping out to greet me, again and again and again. Julie Auclair directed us as we went, but there was no space to breathe—no time to reset or let the moment settle into anything natural. The camera hovered—huge, unblinking, and completely unforgiving.
I remember looking at Julie—she was wearing so much makeup—and wondering, “What is my face going to look like on TV?” I was just learning how to public speak, learning how to teach and hit all the right points in my classes, and here I was trying to do all of that while a camera followed every move. It felt chaotic. Forced. Inauthentic.
And honestly, that’s why I never did something like it again.
Even though I was sharing knowledge—and it was a moment of pride, especially when my family saw the clip on TV—it never felt like mine. My dad called me after and said, “Jessie, not everyone gets to be on TV.” He was right. It was special. And I’m grateful for it.
WHDH-TV | Channel 7 News “Beach Hair” Segment with Juli Auclair, 2001
A long day of retakes, elevator entrances, and salty hair magic. A glimpse into a moment I’ll never forget—even if I never did it again.
WHDH-TV | Channel 7 News “Beach Hair” Segment with Juli Auclair, 2001
A long day of retakes, elevator entrances, and salty hair magic. A glimpse into a moment I’ll never forget—even if I never did it again.
But what that experience helped me understand is that my power doesn’t live in a perfectly edited take. It lives in the real-time connection I have with the people in my chair. The guests, the students, the stylists I’ve educated over the years. That’s where I thrive—when it’s honest, present, and about the person I’m working with, not a performance for the camera.
Today, we think nothing of a scene with cameras and edits and social media-ready moments. But back then? That camera was enormous—and it took a very special kind of person to make it look effortless. I realized I wasn’t that person. I didn’t want to be.
I wanted to be this person—the one who shows up fully for her clients, in the moment, with her hands in someone’s hair and a conversation that means something. I wanted to teach in real time. To listen. To share. To connect.
And now, decades later, that’s exactly what I still do.
Show up. Create something real. And let the moment speak for itself.
Moments Like These Shape More Than a Career
If you’ve ever had a moment that made you rethink how you connect, create, or teach—whether behind the chair or not—I’d love to hear your story.
And if you’re curious how that early experience still informs the way I work with clients today,