What’s Sandra Smith’s secret to success? Knowing that life is not about finding yourself, but creating the self you want to be.

If laughter is the shortest distance between two people, it goes a long way in explaining why accomplished stylist and educator Sandra Smith connects with almost everyone. A constant laugher—not the polite type, but a full-on, genuine one— Smith’s happy and she knows it.

No One Knows: I used to love playing basketball!

Fave Hobby: Gardening. Smith landscaped her yard, even laying the stone path.

Early Public Appearance: Rode the fl oat with Miss Georgia in the Rose Bowl Parade.

Reading: Leonard of Mayfair—He created Twiggy’s crop; cut The Beatles, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and the Kray twins—organized crime biggies in the ’60s.

Movie Most Influenced By: Imitation of Life—It explores how we give values and meaning to our lives and what is love without the giving.

Guilty Pleasure: My husband.

“I grew up in a caring, happy home and have so many great memories,” recalls Smith. “I was a Daddy’s girl and followed him everywhere. There weren’t a lot of girls around, so I played with my brother and his buddies— maybe that’s why I have a good relationship with guys.”

In a stereotype-defying twist, the former beauty contestant is equally liked by women—perhaps because the Matrix Artistic Director lives her motto: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

What she cares about most: Her husband Brian, her family and the idea she can have a legacy as someone who has shared with others. Good thing for us those others are hairdressers— her alternate career choices were nurse and missionary.

What’s in a Name

Smith always wanted to be a hairdresser; her family name, in fact, is Hair, and there are other “Hair” cousins who are stylists. Maybe it’s the power of the subconscious, she laughs. In the ’80s, she traveled the country educating other stylists, but when she met husband Brian and became a plain old “Smith,” things really got interesting. The two met when she assisted Brian at a show.

“I never thought I’d work with my husband; I never even dated in the industry,” she says. “But now I work with my best friend.”

When they married 25 years ago, they decided the marriage would always come first. Through a now-sold salon, global travels and their current positions (educating for Matrix) they’ve always kept that vow, making them one of the most successful husband-andwife teams in the business. “The whole is better than the sum of the parts,” notes Smith.

Working the power of two, the Smiths were North American Hairdressing Award (NAHA) fi nalists 10 times and won the Avant Garde (1990), Haircolor (1997) and Masters (2009 and 2011) categories. They also won International Stylists of the Year in the Canadian Mirror Awards (2006) and were voted two of the “75 Educators of the Century” by MODERN SALON readers, and profiled in the December 1999 issue.

“You should strive to be everything you can imagine,” says Smith of her accomplishments. “Hairdressing is such a great profession. You are what you’re willing to learn.”

Smith also believes in “giving it away,” and hopes to do more of that by one day writing a makeover book, because nothing uplifts you up like seeing a client look in a mirror and hearing her say, “You changed my life.”