Life & Work with Jadyn Petty of Down town Grosse Pointe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jadyn Petty

Hi Jadyn , can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Growing up I always loved that I had the opportunity to express myself through hair, from a young age I started playing with hair dye and dying my hair anywhere from purple to blue. My friends always came to me when they wanted to change up their hair and do something fun. Where I am today I can’t thank those friends parents and of course my parents enough for letting us destroy their bathrooms and use anything from Sally’s beauty hair dye to kool aid. As we got older I became the designated get ready friend, every homecoming , party, and even prom I did all my friends hair and makeup and I loved every second of it, I look back on those memories so fondly as they shaped where I am today. I would say I’ve always considered myself a creative. Art, media, design always fueled me so I knew that was the path I wanted to go down. After high school I attended College for creative studies in Detroit as an Interior design major. I eventually realized I couldn’t see myself doing interior design long term and decided to withdraw from CCS. I work part time as a server in my local sports bar and restaurant and have for years, I thrive in the service industry as an outgoing person. During my time out of school and just working in the restaurant I was still debating on going into something like real estate or design staging. I’m extremely lucky to say my parents have always been so supportive of every decision I made, they wanted me to try everything and anything and figure out what my passion is so work didn’t feel like work. I can honestly say I would not be where I’m at now, so set on my path if it wasn’t for my mom and dad. I would find myself watching hours of hair content on tik tok and instagram and I shortly realized that was what I wanted to do, I wanted to stop searching for inspiration and actually create what I wanted to see, I wanted to have the flexibility to create a schedule that works for me, I wanted to make other woman feel confident, refreshed and beautiful and build a loyal clientele that I’m happy to see in my chair everyday. I talked to hairstylist and cosmetology students I knew and started figuring out the best route to take. After touring cosmetology schools I decided I didn’t want to go back to a class room I wanted to be hands on in the field getting to work. That led me to a Michigan cosmetology apprenticeship where I am a year in and am so excited to continue to grow as a stylist and see where this takes me.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It absolutely has not been a smooth road. There’s been tears, hard decisions, transitions and countless hours of work. I think it is very important to find a team you can trust. It’s common to feel taken advantage of as a student or baby stylist in the beauty industry. The service industry can be very demanding and frustrating at times. When I first started my apprenticeship I was driving an hour and a half to a salon, assisting and working anywhere from 8-12 hour days unpaid. Even still I have to remind myself daily this is going to make me a better stylist and person in the end. Although these are long hard months Ive learned so much and I apply these things daily and will continue to apply them through out the rest of my career. Balancing the learning, assisting, my clients and a second job and everything that goes on behind the scenes or in my personal life can be exhausting but I’m extremely grateful to get to learn from talented stylist directly and know that this will all be worth it in the end.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a cosmetology apprentice in Michigan. My passion is hair, anything from cutting, blonding, styling and coloring. I’m learning the ways of a salon while pursing my education and taking on clients. Although, I’m still learning and always will be my favorite service I offer is lived in color. I love the look of a blonde balayage or showing my clients you can have a super blended blonde with your natural roots. I think something that sets me apart from other cosmetology students is that I work out of a salon rather than a classroom and that as an apprentice I put in twice the amount of hours to complete my education and get my license. It’s very important to me to be an honest stylist with my clients and giving them the best advice to maintain hair health even if that’s turning down a service and suggesting other options. I love curating a personal take home routine for my clients so they are getting salon quality hair care at home in their routine to ensure they have beautiful healthy hair. I believe that is why I’ve created such a trusting, great relationship with my clients and why they are ready to book their next appointment when they leave my chair! I’m proud of where I’ve gotten and the relationships I’ve built and I can’t wait for everyone who was here in the beginning get to see where I go. I’m excited to continue to create content as well, I’ve fallen in love with posting my work in a fun way and showing my journey on social media for everyone to see and I have always loved editing videos together and making media as a hobby, it’s come in handy with this career thanks to my high school media teacher Mrs. B who paved the way for me in terms of media and content creation, and even just adulting in general. I valued that class so much and continue to use what I learned now as an adult in my career. I hope to build a following and have the opportunity to grow my social media along with my clientele and skills, it is hair content creators that made me realize this is what I wanted to do and I’d love to pass that on to young girls figuring it out too!

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memories are all when I was surrounded with my family, growing up my family was very close knit and we used any chance to get together, spend time and celebrate. My siblings are my best friends and the bond we have now is built on the best childhood our parents could have given us. My mom has always been the best at making everything feel special, from themed dinners, the best decorations, movie nights and even more she made everything look as if it was out of a movie. I’m so lucky to get to see her still do that with my niece and nephew and experience that childhood magic with them.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jadynellahair/profilecard/?igsh=MWRydG5xazYyaHgxag==