2019 MODERN SALON 100: Ursula Goff @uggoff

Ursula goff  @uggoff specializes in fashion hair color and hair painting. She is inspired by art and nature as evidenced by her most popular posts – a Van Gogh “Starry Night” finish and anything with a sunflower theme.

Ursula Goff

@uggoff

Karma Salon, Wellington, Kansas

Specialty: Fashion color and hair painting

Top-performing post: The art inspired hair I’ve done over the years all consistently get a lot of attention. It seems like any time I’m kind of geeking out on a weird project, it ends up being popular. I think the Van Gogh Starry Night hair has been the most re-published, probably because of how recognizable Van Gogh’s work is. More recently, the nature-inspired hair I’ve done has gone viral as well. People seem to especially like sunflower-inspired hair.

Favorite apps: The only app I really use is Splice for video editing.

I follow: @kristinacheeseman, @natgeoadventure, @callenschaub, @johal_geometrics,@mymodernmet

Pro tip: I find that the posts I am reluctant to share, usually because they feel silly or self-indulgent, tend to be the most popular ones. If I make a nerd post about being inspired by nature or art or space, I usually assume everyone will be bored, but those are often the ones that do really well. Basically, I just recommend that you be yourself, because your people will really respond to that, and since it’s “social” media, that’s kind of the point!

Hidden talent: I’m actually pretty good at balayage, but they almost always end up covered with fashion color.

Fun fact: I can remember almost everything I read, so I can get ridiculously high scores on standardized tests.

My audience follows me because: I think they like the uniqueness of my work, but I also get a lot of good feedback about the things I discuss in my captions and stories, which is usually general life stuff and mental health discussion and advocacy. I think a lot of people out there feel heard when I invite discussion about difficult or taboo subjects.

How social media changed my life: Social media has given me a community of similarly creative and ambitious people to connect with. Having a platform to express my specific brand of weirdness has given me opportunities for work and status that are not otherwise available where I live in rural Kansas. I make more money now doing exactly what I want than I ever could have dreamed, and I have found a fantastic support network that I didn’t think was possible. It has made the trajectory of my career take a 90 degree turn straight up!

My first @modernsalon feature: Modern shared a collaboration look I did with some of my besties for a Goonies class we taught last year. Joleen Thicklin lightened the model. I gave her a last-minute sunset hair color with Joico colors. Nadine Donovan styled her, and Philip Ring took some great photos of it.

Click here to the see the full list of this year's MODERN SALON 100.