Editor's Note: We're very happy to introduce our latest expert voice, Carrie Bailon.   Carrie will share her experiences in the world of professional beauty and her enthusiasm for all things hair. 

Who am I?  This is always something that I tend to struggle with whenever I am asked to talk or write about myself.  I guess it is because I feel like there are so many other things I would rather chat about than me.  But with this honor to share all of my thoughts with you does require a proper introduction. I will try to keep it short!

 My name is Carrie Bailon.  I am a single mother, a full time hairdresser, a business owner, an educator, an editorial hair stylist and one of the founding creators of The Hair Nerds.  But most of all I am a big cheerleader for ALL of those who have the passion for our craft.

 My HairVenture started when I was a little salon brat sitting in the break room ear hustling on all of the fabulous hairdressers telling the stories of their fabulous lives. Along the way I became a beauty school drop out and ventured away from hair to get a "real job" finding myself wasting away behind a desk in finance.  As the years went by my regret grew stronger and my poor me pity party became louder.  So loud and annoying that my circle of friends actually threatened my life if I didn't go back to what I loved.  So I did.  I had 1300 hours under my belt from my first round but I decided to start over to maximize my education if I was to truly treat my passion as a career successfully.  

 During my second round of education I became very involved with my school's advanced education program.  This opened my eyes to this exciting and unexplored side of our industry and I was instantly absolutely in love.  To this day I am still not quite sure if it was the knowledge packed classes led by the hairdressers I wanted to be or if the bass induced stage presentations just hypnotizing me. The one thing I did know is that I was completely obsessed and needed more. I had no idea about this new world because sadly it really isn't always talked about in the day to day salon life.  In my personal hair family circle I would come back from these UuhMazing hair shows and education events, dying to share what I had seen and learned.  I found myself having to explain to hairdressing vets what NAHA, ISSE and sometimes even who Sassoon was. As sad and frustrating as it all was it also made me realize how important this information was for those who never knew.  After all, I was truly new to it myself so to judge would just be super lame!  So one night while enjoying lots of the P&G champagne at the 2011 Trend Vision Awards, fellow stalkers Erin, Amanda and I decided to spread the word and The Hair Nerds were born.

 Since then I have had so many memorable moments and have met so many memorable people who have inspired me and have helped me both behind the chair and in front of a class.  These people and experiences will be the motivation for the topics to come.  I look forward to sharing my journey and thoughts with you.  You will see that my writing style isn't always super appropriate and will most likely drive you grammar buffs mad but it will and does always come straight from my heart. xo