Community Highlights: Meet Stephanie Wood of Stephanie Wood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Wood.

Hi Stephanie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been in the beauty industry for 20 years now. Styling hair was always my biggest passion and that is what lead me to specializing in bridal hair. I solely work wedding and events now and have left the salon life of cutting and coloring. How I got to start my own business came out of desperation in a series of traumatic life events. Firstly, I was in an abusive marriage that I absolutely had to get my child and I out of, working side gigs styling hair I was able to make cash and hide it to build my escape nest egg. To my surprise and luck I came home after work one day to find my husband left my son and I and moved out leaving me with divorce papers and no money besides what I had been secretly putting away; it was only about 5K and that wasn’t going to last long. Lastly, my heroin addicted and pregnant sister moved in with me when her fiance murdered someone over a bad drug deal. I couldn’t be held down by a job with so much going on in my life and I made the crazy decision to quit my job and be my own boss.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would say especially now, things are smooth. The biggest obstacle in the beginning learning how to handle my business finances like banking, paying myself and taxes.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I specialize in styling hair mainly for weddings, but I also style for all special events, photographers and even performers on stage or television.
A few things that set me apart from most in the beauty industry is my professionalism, my strive for a superior client experience, I travel on-site to the clients, and my strive to execute a perfect style that helps woman feel beautiful and confident.
I’m proud of my brand because I am the brand. Continued education has always been a priority of mine in order to deliver the best results, and to always be practicing and not thinking you are too good to not learn or master something. I have traveled all around the US to learn from the top beauty industry leaders. My favorite was being published in Martha Stewart Weddings because Martha was always a fixture in my home growing up between my mom and aunt.
I want people to feel confident and safe with me, and I want nothing more for them to be happy with their look on one of the happiest days of their life, their wedding!

How do you think about happiness?
For my personal life, what makes me happy right now is my family. I am married to my soul mate and love of my life and my two boys are happy and that means everything to me.

Professionally I am happiest when the bride sees herself for the first time in the mirror and smiles, Getting to see the entire look come together, hair, makeup, and dress. It’s magical to be there with her.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.weddingwire.com/biz/stephanie-michelle-hair-virginia-beach/2575b208078e7cd7.html
• Instagram: @stephaniewoodbrides
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephaniemichellehair