Secrets come out at salons

Working in the hair industry, stylists hear it all. Some say they have to be hair dressers and psychiatrists all in one.

Cammie Toone, a stylist for the USU barber shop who has been cutting hair for 14 years, said clients will often spill news and information to their hairdresser they normally wouldn’t tell anyone else. Sometimes it’s to gain advice and other times just to talk their problems through.

“We are the listening end of a psychiatrist,” Toone said. “My dad is a psychiatrist. I guess I am following in his footsteps.”

Katie Meidell, a stylist for the USU barber shop who has been cutting hair for six years, said when clients tell things they wouldn’t normally tell other people, it can be difficult.

“People say too much sometimes,” Meidell said. “You know what is coming when people start their sentence with, ‘I was never going to tell anybody this, but … ‘”

Marie Wiser, a stylist for Serendipity who has been doing hair for eight years, said she has heard it all since the time she started doing hair.

“There is nothing I haven’t heard,” Wiser said. “People talk a lot about their relationships, anywhere from homosexual relationships, to marriage relationships, to raising their kids and dating.”

Meidell said she has pretty much heard everything, including the good news in people’s lives. And some of the strangest things she has heard are what clients ask her to do.

“One lady came the day she got out of prison and asked me to wash her hair quite a few times because the prison has nasty shampoo,” Meidell said. “That was probably the most interesting request I have ever had.”

Wiser said her most interesting client problems have been a result of what the clients have done to their own hair, rather than what is going on in their lives.

“Once somebody put a blue direct dye into their hair, and other people have done perm after perm after perm,” Wiser said. “I have seen hair fall out like cotton candy.”

Even though doing hair can result in some interesting requests, Wiser said she has also been told things that are disheartening and sad.

“When people allude that there is abuse going on in their family somewhere, it is the saddest story,” Wiser said. “One of the hardest things is I feel like it is not my place to help with situations like that unless they specifically ask for my help.”

Wiser said she thinks people come in and talk to the stylist because they need somebody who can listen but isn’t a part of the situation, so they can get all of their feelings out without feeling guilty about it.

“I think that women need sounding boards, because that is our nature, so sometimes people turn their stylist into their own personal sounding board,” Wiser said.

Cheri Housley, a stylist for the USU barber shop who has been cutting hair for nine years, said sometimes people tell stories about themselves or their friends just because they find the story interesting.

“I had one guy who came in tell me a story about how his friend’s family had to escape Iraq and go into hiding because of their involvement in the Iraq government,” Housley said.

Wiser said she has heard her share of fantastic stories.

“One of my clients was kidnapped in Mexico for a month,” Wiser said. “She had resigned that she was going to die until one day they just dropped her off and told her to start walking and she just kept walking until she found a phone. She said the worst part of being kidnapped was her parents would never know where she was and they would never get closure.”

Meidell said sometimes being told the sad things in the lives of others can start to weigh her down.

“There have been times I have had to come home from work and tell my husband what I heard too,” Meidell said. “Sometimes you just feel sad about it. You should have to get a counseling degree to do hair.”

Toone said even though hearing stories can be saddening, the most uncomfortable times are when she personally knows the people the client is talking about.

“It is uncomfortable when I know the people,” Toone said. “Sometimes people tell you about extramarital affairs other people are having and you know that person. It can be really hard to keep that quiet.”

Even with the sad things, Wiser said what she is told is overall positive.

“I have heard negative things, but whether you consider something positive or negative is really up to how you interpret each comment,” Wiser said.

Wiser said talking to clients can also be uplifting and inspiring.

“I love when people have big events like getting married and having babies, but what really inspires me is when people have triumphed over trials.” Wiser said. “The most inspiring and wonderful thing is people triumphing over trials.”

-debrajoy.h@aggiemail.usu.edu