Krista Paul has a love for helping people both inside and out, and found it in the beauty industry. Born and raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, she is a hairstylist and makeup artist and has been in the industry since 2009, changing and evolving throughout it all.

Paul went to cosmetology school for 10 months, where she learned things that she both expected and didn’t expect.

“One of the things that I didn’t really think of was the physiology of the body and understanding it and knowing it. So that was probably the hardest time in school,” said Paul.

A lot of the focus was on hair but she also learned about makeup and “the basics of everything,” but in doing so “you don’t really get to know a whole lot.”

So for the first five years of her career, Paul didn’t take any extra education and worked at a salon to try and figure out what was next for her. Eventually, after staying at the same salon for a few years, Paul was questioning her career.

“I started to question whether or not I should still be doing hair because I just didn’t have the spark anymore. I kind of felt like I kept doing the same thing over and over and over,” said Paul.

She moved on to another salon and was introduced to more education about hair, taking a class about colour and learning more about it and “going back to the basics and fundamentals.”

“That’s when I was like, ‘Oh, this is amazing,’ because it just like reinvigorated my passion and it re-inspired me. So ever since then, I take so many education classes throughout the year.”

Growing up Paul had no idea what she wanted to do or even if she wanted to be a hairstylist, she just remembers being young and cutting her friends bangs or styling their hair.

“I always had this little knack that I didn’t think was part of my talent or you know what I naturally do,” said Paul.

She also says people have assumptions about hairstyling saying it’s fun she gets to “play with hair all day,” but it’s so much more than hair for her.

“One thing I always go back to is, I love helping people, but I get to help people on the outside and then on the inside,” said Paul.

“That’s why I became a hair stylist is because connecting with people and just making people feel their best.”

Getting to where she is now wasn’t easy. Paul says one of the things she had to face that was difficult was starting out and trying to figure out who exactly she was, because it’s “what’s going to drive you.”

Another obstacle she faced was not being in the right environment where she could thrive.

“Sometimes you outgrow your environment depending on who you are because you change constantly,” said Paul.

“Don’t ever stay somewhere that doesn’t make you feel good, or even in any other industry or career path you choose. If you don’t feel good in that environment, find another environment that you can thrive because sometimes you outgrow it and sometimes you can keep growing.”

Special thanks to Jasmine Kabatay for authoring this blog post.