Gratitude and Bond. Oscar Bond.

The last few months have been a chaotic, frenzied, unbelievable experience of opening Abstra(kt) Studio. Our doors opened on October 3, and our grand opening party is November 3 (we hope to see you there!). Every once in a while, the universe delivers a moment. Where life comes full-circle. Sunday was that day for me.

To set the stage, let me touch on a couple of things:

1. At Abstra(kt) Studio, we have a culture of learning: I’d challenge any salon in north Dallas to match the level of course work our team has done both as attendees and instructors.

2. We believe in bringing good people together, and from that awesome things will happen.

3. A quick overview on who Oscar bond is.

a. He’s one of the most sought after hair stylists in the world. You’ve seen his work on the pages of InStyle, Self, Vogue, just to name-drop a little bit.

b. He is a Brit, and started his career as an instructor at Vidal Sassoon (yep, you heard that right) Academy in London, and he has been teaching ever since.

c. He’s award winning. He picked up a little award called Master Hairstylist of the Year in 2010 from the North American Hairstyling Awards.

d. Oh and, he worked for a little company called Aveda. But more about that in a minute.

So with the beauty of great people coming together we were lucky enough to land Oscar Bond. THE Oscar Bond. To come and teach our Abstraktors. So, before our grand opening party here he was. In the flesh. We have boxes that haven’t even been opened (Trish: stick those in the back!), and we still have cabinets being hung (he won’t notice will he?). And here he was to teach a special, master cutting class to the Abstra(kt) Studio team, who can now claim to have been “Bonded”, and we can’t wait to put THESE skills into action (ask for a Bond Lob or Bob).

So now for the full circle moment. You all know that from our bios, we think Aveda is a pretty big deal. And, I said to him, “I went to Aveda in Minneapolis.” (like a star-struck goober, trying to keep her cool). Why is this an important point? He designed the cutting curriculum that I (and several of our team) took for weeks and weeks and weeks, in the bitter cold of that Minnesota winter. Every page, every chapter, every test, was the foundation of my education. And here he was at Abstra(kt) Studio. This was way past a “pinch myself” moment.

Full circle, with a lot of gratitude wrapped up in it. For Robie Kiefer, the Hattori Hanzo rep, for putting this opportunity together AND for putting the most awesome shears on the planet in our hands (they really do make our job easier). For the clients that have been with me since I trotted down here to Frisco Texas to follow a dream. For this awesome team of Abstraktors who have a common belief system grounded in creating an environment where we push and make each other better. And for Oscar Bond and his belief in educating our industry for 35 years and the investment he personally made in each of us.