A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet someone who is a huge influence within the hair industry. If you’ve never heard of Chris Appleton, you’ve definitely seen his work. He works with everyone from the Kardashians to Rita Ora to JLo to Katy Perry.

He’s created signature looks that have become celebrity staples—like the 35” ponytail, the glass hair trend, and he’s known for his hair extensions looks. You may know Garnish’s numbers guru, Sahar, but what you may not know is that she is also hair obsessed and loves everything about the industry. When she found this event, we decided to venture up to DC together to attend.

The event combined education with styling demonstrations by Chris, him sharing his story within the industry, and then a VIP after party, which you know we definitely attended. During the education portion he talked to us about the styles he had created, and showed us some different signature looks.

My favorite part, however, was when he started sharing his story about how he came to be the influence he is today. He was living in the UK, but knew in order to achieve the goals he had set for himself that he really needed to be in LA. So without a contract or anything, he moved to LA on a whim. He talked about how everything about living here was different, but he just knew he needed to be here. This whole story resonated with the same things I talk about all the time—faith over fear and taking risks when you see your vision even if no one else does.

He also shared about how important resilience is, particularly in an ever-changing, highly competitive industry such as ours. This also struck a chord with how much change my business has gone through over the past couple of years. This idea of staying true to your vision, and being able to roll with the punches. He emphasized how important that is as you become more successful as well. It’s that do whatever it takes to make it happen mindset that I love so much.

Listening to Chris’s journey in the industry and some of the advice he offered allowed me to reflect on my own journey and how Garnish has evolved. I love that we share the same mentality towards vision and growth, and it’s always refreshing to hear someone who’s made it give the same advice that I share with my team and BMS students all the time.

I’m a huge believer in continuing to connect with other visionaries within the industry, and as you all know, I’m all about some continuing education. And of course, it’s always better when attending with bae.