You think you’re cool showing up silently and disrupting the wellbeing of my family of salon professionals? You probably don’t care what I think, but I am here to tell you that you will never win against my peeps. You have no idea who you attacked. My family, they are first rate. Next to medical professionals, they dedicate their life to the wellbeing and happiness of millions of people. Unlike you, they shower sad and dejected humans with hope and confidence. You are going to make a lot of enemies because people really love us. They want to take us home with them all the time. We are front row center at weddings, birthdays, and funerals. You know why this happens? Because, unlike you, we are way cool.

Hey, COVID-19—mind if I call you Covi? Here’s something else you are not aware of, my family and I, we are resilient. Boy are we strong. You see, Covi, we know struggle, we’ve been making lemonade from lemons ever since beauty school. Back then, the future looked uncertain also—and, we totally made it. Our hearts have been played, cheated, burned, and gossiped about, and somehow, they still tick. We  penny-pinched, saved, begged and borrowed because we knew making others look and feel beautiful is our mission in life. Fair warning, we are about to put up the biggest fight of our lives. Watch us.

Go ahead, try and hit us up one by one, just know that none of us, not a single one of us, is alone. We have each other. And, all of us  together? You just picked a fight with the wrong team, silly Covi.  We are an army, we are warriors that are there for each other, plus we have our associations, manufacturers, publications, podcasts and angels that will step up to the plate. We come from the land of always making room for another seat at the table.

Look around: every salon professional in the world is texting another right now. This is our way of showing love for each other, let off steam and stay real—plus it’s amazing therapy. Yes, we may be short on cash and fear not paying our bills, but just to hear the voice of someone who gets it express his/her fears and hopes reminds us that we are in this together, it’s never just one of us. We win by remembering the worst thing we can do is isolate, because then, are vulnerable, not just to you, but to our fears. When we act in fear, we don’t see our best options. So, we reach out. We connect, we share, we cry, we hope—together.

This situation, no matter how scary, will not define our future. Here’s why, Covi: at first, the shock of your attack on our lifestyle  was overwhelming and threw us off balance. But what you don’t know is that there is a quality of creativity which is solution focused and always comes to our aid. We just don’t do well in a bad situation because our creativity depends on the right environment to thrive. So, we quickly reject bad vibes, jobs, relationships and situations. Within two or three days, our creative minds move past a problem and into some sort of a solution—even if temporary.

And, don’t you know we are already there? We are past the shock and into formulating the solution. We know life might not return to what it was before your sneaky attack on us. That’s ok. We know how to deliver top quality service anywhere at a moment’s notice. If we have to start at the bottom, that’s also ok. Just remember, we make things pretty. It won’t be long before everything is better than ever. We totally got you there.

Spring is here and soon the sun will wake me up way too early in the morning. There’s a rumor going around that you don’t do well in the heat? Oh, isn’t that precious. You will soon be gone. Proving to one and all that your visit to a family you tried so hard to destroy only made us stronger. Don’t mess with salon professionals ever again.

Good riddance, Covi.  

Carlos Valenzuela is a hairdresser, educator, ex-salon & school owner. His focus is guiding salon professionals to a more fulfilling career & lifestyle. @carvale19

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