Tales of a Hair Model

I am a hair model. I have been doing this for the last 12 years and it’s been fun and lately, quite an adventure.

I started this early in college. I went to get my hair trimmed at a local franchise of a very large chain. On one of my visits, the stylist happened to be the owner and manager of the store. While she was trimming my hair she asked me if I would be interested in modeling.

This was something I had never thought of doing and she said it would be for my hair. I was intrigued and asked her what was in it for me and what I would have to do.

Her name was Kathy and she explained the franchisees had been asked to search for women of a suitable age and hair type that might be interested in modeling their hair. There was a fee involved and a contract to allow them a bit of leeway in style.

As a student, I was always looking for extra cash, so we discussed the fee structure and possible styles. I decided to learn more, and Kathy explained that she first needed to take photos of me and my hair. She would then send them to corporate for evaluation, and they would contact me afterward. She added that it might take some time before a decision would be made.

Not being in any hurry, I agreed. She finished my trim, “On the house”, she smiled and took me to have a few pictures taken. As we finished, she told me not to do anything to my hair as far as color or length until she got back to me.

This all sounded pretty good to me. A college student could always use some money, and it seemed like a good way to get a free haircut every month or so.

I went back to my dorm and after a week or two I almost forgot about it. I was too busy with my studies to think about anything else.

I was at Baylor University. Studying pre-med hoping to be a doctor. My family is full of doctors. While it was never expected of any of my brothers or I, it just seemed to be the way things would be.

My father is an orthopedic surgeon, as is my mother. Dad specializes in knees while Mom does shoulders to wrists. My oldest brother just finished med school, and he seemed to be leaning towards orthopedics as his area of interest. My other brother was currently applying to med school, but nobody thought there was going to be any question about him getting in.

I was going to be the rebel in the family. Mom always called me “Corazon” meaning heart. If you live in Texas, you know at least a little Spanish. Mom was fluent.

That whole Corazon thing might have been the reason I was interested in cardiology instead of orthopedics.

About a month after sitting in the chair with the hair stylist, I got a call from her. She asked if I could come in for a chat. We agreed on a date, and I met her at the store.

She quickly took me to a nearby Starbucks, saying it would be quieter there and we could talk. We ordered some coffee and she began.

“Lisa, the marketing people at corporate loved the pictures I sent of you.” I thought this sounded like a promising start.

She continued, “They would like to get things rolling with a contract, fee structure, the whole nine yards. All we need from you now is a preliminary agreement to begin the process and we can get things rolling.”

Now it was my turn to ask some questions. “Kathy, how much control do I get on my hair as far as style and color. I don’t want to suddenly look like someone I’m not, with some wild color too.”

Kathy laughed. “First of all, none of our stores do color. You can take that worry off the table. What they want is a good-looking young model with great hair that they can make look like a style any woman walking into one of our stores would want. I don’t think a shocking cut is what they’d want. You certainly qualify on all counts. You look like the All-American girl next door. Your hair is the first thing I noticed about you. You are one in ten thousand women as far as color and texture. As soon as you sat down, I knew you would be a great candidate for this marketing promotion they have planned. And they think so too.”

I inwardly had to agree. I am a natural redhead with blue eyes, as is everyone else in the family. Probably from our Irish and Scottish heritage. My hair is quite thick and almost board straight, but I can get a wave or curl into it at my desire.

I am 5’7” and fairly slim at 120 pounds. I have been a competitive swimmer all through middle and high school. I was currently on the swimming team at Baylor, but I wasn’t on a scholarship, and I was seriously considering dropping from the team. My studies were consuming more and more of my time. I knew I would never be a world-class swimmer, so ending my competitive swimming career was going to be an easy decision to make.

I said, “This sounds pretty good. What do I have to do and when do we go to the next step?”

“They sent me a preliminary contract for you to look over and sign. Once we do this, we go downtown and have our district manager agree to things and press on from there. Once we sign this contract, I think I’ll be out of the loop unless they ask me to do something more. You’ll be in the hands of upper management from then on. If I’m right, only our best stylists will touch your hair from now on.”

Kathy then gave me the contract, encouraging me to have it reviewed by anyone I wanted and then bring it back to her either signed or unsigned.

I took it to the dorm and scanned it and then sent it to Mom and Dad for their review.

Mom quickly called to ask me what was going on and we talked about the entire process and what I thought my next steps would be. Mom and Dad had only one question; it was something that had been on my mind too. And it wasn’t about the money. What kind of control did I retain?

Mom also asked me. “Corazon, do you need money? Is this why you’re thinking about doing this? If it is, you know that’s not a problem. Your father and I can send you some.” I laughed, “no momma, this just sprang up and I thought it would be a nice way to earn a little of my own money for a change.”

“OK, as long as you’re not doing this to stay out of the poorhouse.” We both laughed.

Dad got back on the phone and said he saw nothing in the contract that worried him. It was a standard consent form allowing them to use my image for marketing purposes. Nothing indicated they could do anything to my hair without my consent. They would style my hair, take a few photos and pay me.

I thanked them, hung up and signed the form. I called Kathy and told her I had signed it and asked what to do next.

Kathy told me to bring the form into the shop on Tuesday when she’d be there, and she would have more information.

I went to the shop, and Kathy said our next step was going downtown Waco to get things rolling.

This all sounds like downtown Waco is a fair distance from campus. It isn’t. Waco isn’t at all large and from the school to their offices was literally a walk outside of campus.

I met their marketing manager, and she told me she wanted to get things rolling as soon as possible.

She introduced me to David, their head stylist. He asked me to go into what turned out to be a full-service salon inside the office. I didn’t expect this at all. I thought we would be doing the styling and photos inside one of the stores. This was nothing like the store I had been going to.

David put me at ease. Saying not to worry, the only thing he wanted to do was trim my hair and get it ready for the photographer to take pictures.

By this time, it had been almost two months since my last trim, and I thought I could seriously use a trim.

And that is exactly what David did. He took off maybe an inch. Leaving me with hair about as long as I had ever had it after a cut. It now reached the middle of my bra cups.

David turned me over to the photographer, Eric, to take some pictures. I say “some”, but it turned out to be over a hundred.

This process repeated itself just about every month over the next several months. I also noticed my picture was on display in Kathy’s shop when I walked by. Several of my friends commented to me they thought they’d seen my pictures hanging on the walls of the shops they frequented.

I was getting famous!

Just over two years after I started modeling, David sat me down in his chair and told me that corporate loved my photos. There seemed to be a “but” coming as I waited.

“They would like to change your style a little bit. But only if you’re willing.”

“What would they like to see?” I was both nervous and excited as I had somewhat expected this to happen eventually.

David started his explanation. “Corporate thinks they need to somehow subliminally advise clients to go a little shorter. As you know, longer hair doesn’t really need to get trimmed every month. Coming in every two or even three months is fine for longer hair like yours.”

He continued, “They believe if we can get women to cut their hair shorter, they think it will increase the rate they will return to our stores for a trim. Obviously, this will increase our bottom line.”

I had to agree with this logic. Before I got involved in modeling, I only had mine trimmed every two months or even longer.

But what did they want from me?

David didn’t let me sit for long. “They think following the European styles would be good for North Americans. The European look these days is all about bobs. And that’s what they want from you.”

Whoa. That would cut off a good eight inches at least. The absolute shortest my hair had ever been.

David could see my thoughts. “Do not tell anyone what I am about to tell you. Don’t think that they expect this change in style to be free or at your current fee rate. They are willing to pay a much larger fee for you to go shorter. All you have to do is ask for it.”

Wow. I hadn’t thought about that. I just thought once I agreed to a cut it was covered in the original contract and fee. David was opening my eyes to the world of contracts and finances.

Now I had questions. “David, I need some help here. What should I be asking for a fee? I am a novice at this end of things. All I know is I’m a junior in college in pre-med. That’s my world today.”

David smiled. “Your current contract only allows me to trim it. No changes without your approval. If you allow this to happen, you tell them you want a new contract and you have final say as to any cut or changes they want to make.”

“Lisa, you would be completely in charge of things. You are the only redhead in marketing. Your face is angelic. And your hair is stunning. It can take any style you or me or corporate want to do to it. They expect to make a lot of money off you and your new style. Make them pay for it.”

I blushed full red in the face at these compliments.

“But how much? I have no idea what my hair and my image is worth.”

“It’s worth a lot to them. Since it’s a marketing scheme, tell them you want to triple your current fee and that you will need a trim and therefore a payment every month.”

I gasped. Triple my fee? We were now talking about full payment of med school tuition when I got there. And the bob was a great style. One I would simply have to get used to and possibly be a style leader on campus. And all for just a haircut every month?

Hell yeah!

I looked at David with what I knew were huge eyes. I was excited and I think he knew it.

“Who would the stylist be? Would I need to travel someplace every month?”

David grinned. “As long as you stay around Waco, I am yours. If you go to school somewhere else, I have no idea who would be doing your hair.”

That was going to be fine with me. I planned to apply to Baylor Med School and with my grades and family history there, I thought I was a shoe in.

Long story short here. Headquarters and marketing agreed. Making me think maybe I should have asked for more. But I was happy in my little world. And as soon as I applied to Baylor, I was accepted.

Early in my final year in college, I met a guy who I had seen many times in some of my classes. But he was either very shy or just awkward around women. I knew he was also in pre-med as I had heard him talking to some of his guy friends about going to med school.

We were put together as lab partners and we began talking.

His name was Jim Flynn, a good Irish name as I knew my parents would want to know all about my new lab partner. And he was an outstanding student. He breezed through classes as if he’d already had them. He turned out to be a great lab partner.

He also started talking to me about other things, not just lab stuff. Finally, he asked me for a date.

As we got to know each other better, our dating became more intense, and I began thinking he might be something special.

The day of my major haircut was coming up, and he could tell I was nervous. “Lisa, you seem a little preoccupied with something. Can I help?”

I had never mentioned my side job. It had never come up.

“I have a job as a hair model. I’ve been doing this for a few years and now they want to make a big change. I’ve never had shorter hair before and I’m nervous about that.”

I looked him in the eyes and said, “I’m also a little worried about how you might feel about me getting my hair whacked off.”

Jim just smiled and said, “Lisa, I am not in this relationship for your hair. I think it’s great hair, but it isn’t the only thing I like about you. If you need to do this, that’s fine. And, if you might need some emotional support when you get it cut, I can be there with you.”

I let out a huge sigh of relief as this was the final sticking point in my mind. I liked him enough that I was worried he might tell me he couldn’t be with someone with short hair. And he’d end our relationship.

I told Jim when and where to meet me, and he said we could make the walk together.

We walked into the same salon I had been coming to for a couple of years. The only change was Jim’s presence.

David met us and walked us all back to his salon chair. I could see Jim just looking around at all the hair care paraphernalia in place.

David pointed to a chair and told Jim to just take a seat and then he took me back for a shampoo.

As we came back to the styling chair, David told me he had been gone for a few weeks of training. I looked confused as I knew he was already a master stylist. David told me periodic training is normal. Especially if the stylist wants to stay up with the latest styles and trends and how to cut them.

I grinned at him. “So, are you doing the latest and greatest bob on me then?” His answer was a short and sweet “You betcha.”

And then he got down to business.

He sectioned off my hair quite differently than when he was trimming my hair in the past.

Then he looked at me and said, “Are you ready for this?”

I looked over at Jim. He seemed to be very interested in what was about to happen. Then I looked at David in the mirror and nodded my head giving him the go ahead to proceed.

David then cut about 8 inches of my hair off just under my right ear. He slowly worked his way around. Pushing at the hair with his fingers and comb and then closing the scissors quickly cutting just an inch at a time before moving to the next strands.

I thought I looked funny with my long hair piled on top but the rest of it just barely touching the bottom of my ears.

I glanced over at Jim again and he had a slight smile on his face, which made me glad to see. He also seemed to be fidgeting around in his chair.

David let the rest of my hair down and I looked somewhat normal, but this didn’t last long at all. Using the same technique as before, he snipped away at my hair until it was all the same earlobe length.

I thought this was about the end of the haircut. But David said he had to blend things in, and it had to be dry for him to do that.

He turned his dryer on and in no time at all my hair was done.

Then he picked up his scissors again and said he was now blending the hair to get it to look better than if someone had just stuck a bowl on my head and cut away at my hair.

He then point cut at the hair. But cutting deeper into the hair than a typical point cut. Cutting away what I thought was quite a bit of length. David said nobody would ever notice and it would allow the hair to curl under a little and move.

Standing back from the chair he said, “Turn your head quickly side to side,” and I did. It moved exactly the way he wanted it to. And it felt great to me.

“And this is to finish the cut.” And David produced a small pair of clippers to cut away at the small hairs on my neck. I got goosebumps from this process.

The cut was finished and I’m sure Jim thought we’d be leaving. He forgot about the photos that Eric needed to take.

Eric took me back to where we had always been taking pictures and he took the normal 50 plus photos.

Then, seeing Jim in the area, he seemed to have an idea.

“Let’s go on down to a small lake on campus and take a few there.” He and David then talked while Jim came over to talk with me.

“Well, what do you think of my new hairdo?” I waited, just a little nervously for his reply.

“Lisa, you look like a million bucks. I really like it.” I glanced down a bit, and I noticed a large bulge in his pants. I could tell he wasn’t lying.

While Eric and David had been talking, they came back with a piece of paper for Jim to look at and sign. Jim looked confused.

Eric said, “I had an idea of getting pictures of the two of you sitting by the lake. I think marketing might like it and for us to use those pictures with you Jim, you need to sign a release, and we’ll give you a small fee.” Jim and I looked at each other and he signed the form.

We went to the lake Eric was thinking about, and he took a lot more pictures than normal. “The two of you are so made for the camera. You have great chemistry. These are going to be great.”

After the first styling session with the bob, our dating took a decided turn for the better and it became clear that we were in love.

And the marketing people did love them and I got a lot of trims of my new bob. And now Jim was a fixture in the photo process as well.

Jim and I were both accepted into the same med school class. We did quite well. My fees were paying the way and Jim’s modest income from his part in the modeling was at least paying him something.

This was all going along quite well. At times David took my hair just bit shorter and his clipper work in the back was giving me some short little hairs that Jim appeared to be enjoying quite a lot. I certainly enjoyed Jim’s exploration back there, and it added some spice to our intimacy.

We were now about to complete med school and go on to residency. It had been a very fast paced four years. Jim and I were both interested in cardiology.

We thought about staying at Baylor but our advisors, and my Mom and Dad, thought it would be best to go elsewhere.

I applied at the University of Southern Cal and was accepted there. Jim got accepted right ahead of me. Competition was now a part of our thing.

But it was going to be expensive. Just living in LA as well as going to school was going to be costly.

David told me marketing wanted to extend my contract no matter where I was. They passed me off to their LA people. I was really worried about this. David had now been cutting my hair for almost 8 years. What would I be getting into in LA?

My fears were pretty close to spot on when I arrived in LA.

We found an apartment and I went to see the marketing team. They were way more aggressive than their counterparts in Waco Texas had been.

“Lisa, we love your hair. But the bob has been on you for almost five years now. We think it’s time to change things up.”

I thought they might want me to grow it out. Quite the opposite.

“We want to do something shorter. Something very edgy that will make a statement.”

I gulped and started shaking. “What are you thinking?”

“We’re thinking of something along the lines of a bowl cut. But very modern, and something that will allow your hair to move constantly.”

I remembered David’s advice and thought about a new contract. Marketing had already thought about that and handed me a contract complete with a new fee structure.

One thing my parents had always told us. “If you score a goal, win a race or something comes as a surprise to you, always act as if you’ve been there before. Don’t make a scene. People will respect you more for it.”

I took one look at the fee and was barely able to hold my breath. It was enormous. I would have no financial worries at all while I completed my residency.

But I remembered my parents’ advice and stayed calm and told them I would need to look it over and I would get back with them within 48 hours. They immediately agreed.

I took the proposal back to our apartment and to Jim. He had a sense for business as he’d taken a few of those classes as an undergrad. He thought a doctor needed to know their business as well as their medicine. Thank God for that!

When I showed him the contract his eyes almost bugged out of their sockets. “Lisa, this is nothing short of unreal. What exactly are they asking you to do?”

And I told him. The bob would soon be history.

As usual, Jim accompanied me to my next salon visit.

We met Andy, my new stylist. He was in his early 30s and was all ready for me.

He escorted the two of us back to his workstation. “Lisa, they told me your hair was special and I’ve seen your photos. But they don’t do you justice. This is fantastic.”

Of course, I blushed again at the compliment. My face was probably as red as my hair.

Instead of Andy giving me a shampoo, he handed me off to an assistant who then took me back to Andy. I sat and noticed he and Jim had been talking while I was away.

“Lisa, we’re going to be taking a lot of length off today. Your hair is thick and it will need a lot of thinning to get the look we’re after. Are you ready?” “As I’ll ever be.”

Andy laughed and sectioned the hair off. Not too much differently than what David had been doing for the bob. But just enough.

Then he started cutting. Wow, I thought. In my mind a bowl cut wasn’t that much different from a bob. Boy was I wrong.

Andy was cutting at least 4-inch pieces off. Well above the top of my ears. I glanced nervously at Jim to see his reaction. His eyes looked about the same as I felt mine were. Huge. But he was also grinning.

Whew, I thought. At least he appeared to like what he was seeing. And I could see a little squirming in the chair. By now I knew what that meant. Good news and something to look forward to once we got back to the apartment.

Andy was cutting and then drying my hair. I had learned not to think anything was over until they told me to get out of the chair. Once it was dry, Andy brought out his thinning shears and took away a lot of bulk.

And it made all the difference. My hair sat close to my head. Not the bulge that I was afraid of having.

Then Andy got a set of battery-operated clippers and selected a guide for them.

“We need to give your neck a close cut, almost shaved. This look is perfect for you. You have a nice long and very graceful neck. Going very short back there will accentuate the look.”

And then he virtually shaved my neck clean. All the way up to where the bowl was and beyond. At the bottom of my occipital bone. Then he used some grips and held the hair on the sides and back up so he could get access to the hair there.

Using his clippers he cut my hair almost up to where I would have put a part in before. But when he released the bowl part it completely covered the now shaved parts.

I looked over at Jim to see his reaction. He wasn’t grinning anymore.

He looked like the cat that ate the bird. I could tell he loved it. I could relax.

Andy said he was finished and turned me over to Chris, the photographer.

He already had a piece of paper in his hands. He handed it to Jim. It was a new release form and new fee for him too.

Chris said, “I’ve seen your pictures and hoped the two of you were coming to LA. Your chemistry together in the pictures I’ve seen is impossible to miss and trying to get that with a new male model would have been tough. I am so glad both of you are here.”

“I now know why the two of you are in the photos I’ve seen. We don’t have a lake, but we have an ocean and beaches. Come on, let’s get going.”

And we took no photos in the studio. He took us to Venice Beach. He used the people there as background but obviously focused on primarily me and then on Jim and I. Lots of photos. They turned out really well.

I had to go back to the studio every three weeks for a trim. My schedule was now completely full. Between my medical program, studying and our visits to the studio I barely had a minute to myself. And since Jim was a part of the studio process his schedule was as full as mine.

But we still found time for each other. And we filled those private moments to the max. How I would have made it through without Jim, I have no idea.

About 18 months after we moved to LA, the marketing people came to me again as Jim and I were entering the studio.

Oh-oh. I hadn’t seen them in months. What were they cooking up this time?

And then they unloaded their newest idea on me.

“Lisa, your hairdo morphing has gone better than we ever imagined. People are going into our salons and asking for the haircuts you’ve been seen modeling hanging on the walls.”

“We want to take you to the next step.”

I thought they wanted to cut a pixie or something along those lines.

“We want to give you a buzzcut with faded sides and back.”

I looked over at Jim, and I figured his face must be what I was doing as well. We were shocked.

“This is just a short-term thing. Maybe two or three times for this cut and then you’ll grow it out to something longer and we’ll have you into another style in about 6 months.”

“Obviously, the fee will be changed for the new style.” At least that was something. But what they showed me for the fee floored me.

I had thought my previous fee was very high. This was exorbitant. My concerns vanished immediately. I thought to myself, “Hell for this kind of money they could shave my head.”

And they said Jim had to be included. They had noticed the two of us were very photogenic together. Having the boyfriend there showed the women in the stores, their guys could learn to love the style as well.

Jim and I quickly signed the new contracts.

Then Andy got to work. “Lisa, this is going to be very short. A quarter inch on the top and maybe a sixteenth on the sides and back. Are you ready?”

I nodded and his clippers popped to life. These were a larger version of what he’d used to clean things up on my bowl cut.

Placing whatever guide on them he needed; he started at my forehead and pushed them straight back.

I had thought my bowl cut was short. But as the clippers removed all but a quarter of an inch, I found out just how wrong I’d been. This was SHORT.

Finished taking the majority of it off, Andy changed his guide and used them on my sides, starting with my right side. I watched as little balls of red hair rolled down the cape. He did this all around my head and then meticulously blended in the almost shaved sides with the slightly longer top.

I was in shock, but I could tell the cut itself was perfect.

I looked over at Jim to see his reaction. I had been too focused on my hair being cut to look his way. His mouth was hanging open and there was no doubt once I looked at his pants. There was no hiding his bulge.

Chris gave us each a swimsuit and told us to change in the studio. Then he took us back to the beach.

He wanted to see Jim just looking at me and my hair. Jim had never been allowed to touch me or my hair. In the past he had just been an interested boyfriend. Now Chris had him actively touching it. Playing with me and my hair.

Soon the two of us didn’t even know Chris was taking pictures. It just became the two of us. It was a great afternoon.

And those pictures found their way to the walls of every store in North America. The company thought they had made a great statement, and women seemed to no longer be afraid to come in and ask for the buzzcut they’d seen of the redhead on the walls.

As marketing had promised, the buzzcut lasted about 2 months or 3 haircuts. Now they wanted me to grow it out. They continued to pay me for the 6 months that took. I grew to like the buzz and Jim certainly liked it. But I was looking forward to getting some length back.

At the end of 6 months my hair was about 3 and a half inches long.

Marketing called me and said they wanted to see me and proceed to the next stage.

I met them at the studio, and they said the promotion was exactly what they wanted all along.

Now they wanted to change things up again. What more could they do, I wondered.

“Lisa, we want to do a very short pixie. Leave some length on the top but the sides and back are going to make a bold statement.”

I had been getting used to their demands by now. This was nothing to even think about. But again, they had a new contract, and it included Jim and the fee was about the same as for the buzz cut.

I immediately agreed.

Andy quickly used his clippers to remove the hair on the sides and back, giving me a fade. He blended this into the top while only taking about an inch off there.

He seemed to be finished but then brought over a can of shaving cream. He spread the foam on my sides and back. Higher than I thought he might. And then he shaved my sides and back clean.

Again, Jim was in heaven. But my hair had never been this short. Even with the buzz I still had at least some hair there. Now I knew it was slick as glass.

Andy removed the cape and told me to feel it. I was immediately turned on. It felt great. Chris took us back to the beach in our swimsuits and took lots of photos.

These found their way to the walls of the stores and the response was exactly what marketing had intended.

This haircut continued for another 2 years. We were finishing up our residency and about to enter into practice.

At the same time, marketing came to me and said, “Lisa, we have had a wonderful partnership with you and your boyfriend for the last almost 12 years. But seeing the same model in the stores is getting a little old. We think it might be time to go our separate ways.”

I had kind of expected this. Actually, I thought they might have terminated the agreement several years ago. But I wasn’t about to disagree with them while the money and the campaign were going so well.

We all shook hands and walked away. My hair modeling career was at an end.

Jim and I joined a cardiology practice in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. We married shortly after finishing our residency.

By now I knew Jim loved short hair. And I loved it too. I manage to go short, shorter, buzzed and back to a longer short style all the time. Our partners and my patients never know what version of me they’ll be seeing.