Every hairdresser learns the lesson to slow down. But at age 19? That’s when Bianca Hillier got her wake-up call.

Working up to 16 hours a day, six days a week, Bianca was an ambitious, talented rising star at Sally Hershberger Salon in the busy L.A. market. But she was also a teenager. After graduating high school at age 17, she raced through beauty school in 10 months and was hired at Sally Hershberger two days later.

“I’d work all day in the salon and then go out and do a house call,” she remembers. “Sometimes I’d work until 1:00am. But I was young, so I’d still go out partying, then wake up the next day and go back to work. I was overworking myself by choice, but it wasn’t good for my body. My body just shut down.”

Forced to face the facts, Bianca went into the hospital and was put on fluids and antibiotics. She was out of work for two weeks, which gave her plenty of time to figure out how she would take her doctors’ advice. “They told me to change my lifestyle,” Bianca reports. “They said, ‘Don’t work as much, don’t party as much and make sure you’re drinking water and sleeping—every day!’”

Now an international educator for Olaplex and a highly in-demand colorist affiliated not only with Sally Hershberger on the west coast but also Immortal Belovedin Washington, D.C., Bianca hasn’t exactly slowed to a crawl. But she says she makes sure that she sets aside time for herself. She takes vitamins, probiotics and, after developing a sensitivity to bleach, allergy medication. She bought a bicycle and tries to find time to ride it. As an educator she travels often but, instead of turning around and getting right back on the plane, periodically she schedules a three-week vacation around her travels.

“Traveling makes me appreciate what I have at home in a different way,” Bianca says. “I always learn something about myself. But I still eat like a child! I’m fussy; I always have been. I love protein—meat, cheese, bread and fruit. I take vitamins because I don’t like vegetables except for spinach.”

Although her allergies triggered asthma, Bianca says she’ll stick with her profession. “I love doing hair,” she says. “I don’t ever want to give it up, but maybe I’ll educate more or someday create a color line.”