Inspiring Conversations with Sierra Nyx of Fox and Jane Salon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sierra Nyx.

Hi Sierra, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
My name is Sierra, I’m 28 and I am from Tampa, Florida (I am actually from Pasco County.) My mom worked as a server at Denny’s and I lived with her full time until I was about 11. We’ve always had a pretty toxic relationship and didn’t get along much. She had some pretty unhealthy relationships with men and it was hard to watch. We haven’t talked since I was 16. My dad seemed to get himself in trouble a lot when I was growing up. He struggled with his mental health and was battling addiction. He was my best friend but a pretty unreliable parent although, I know he did his best. He worked as a door guy at a bar and would be gone sometimes until early mornings which allowed me to do whatever I wanted.

Probably not the greatest environment for 14 years old. When I didn’t have anywhere else to go, I lived with my mom’s sister for a bit when I was about 16. She and I never had much of a relationship. We didn’t talk much and I did whatever I wanted so we were pretty much just roommates. I barely graduated high school and started getting into trouble.

I started getting my life together and figuring things out. I got a job as a server and bought my first car for $900 (It had a car phone and there were a bunch of wires hanging out of where the stereo was. I covered it in duct tape and drew buttons on it with a sharpie. Still the coolest car I’ve had to this day.)

I like to think I’ve always had a pretty solid work ethic. I was always the person to stay late and I never turned down picking up a shift. I knew I didn’t want to be serving tables forever and I wanted to help people. I started going to a community college. I had no idea what I was going for or what I wanted to do. I always struggled in school so, it only took me about half of a semester to realize there was no way college was for me. I decided to go to Cosmetology School. I couldn’t really tell you why. My friends and I would always box color each other’s hair in my kitchen when we were young so it seemed like it was worth a shot. I went to Paul Mitchell the School of Tampa. It wasn’t exactly the “This is it” “This is for me” experience I was hoping for.

I went to school full-time (five days a week, seven hours a day) and worked two jobs. I still wasn’t exactly a star student. In cosmetology school, we spent half the day in a classroom and half the day on the floor taking clients. I pretty much slept through a lot of what I learned in the classroom and then would try and hide in the bathroom or volunteer for towel duty whenever I had a client because I didn’t have any idea what to do.

I started bartending just after finishing Cosmetology School. It was a difficult job to walk away from when I was sometimes making rent in one shift. Not to mention, the amount of people that decided to give me their drunk sob story about how they were a hairstylist that hated it and didn’t make any money was pretty discouraging. I started a full-time apprenticeship at a salon during the day and kept my night job. I liked being in the salon, I wasn’t in love with it but I loved making people feel good. I think that had a lot to do with the fact that I was just exhausted coming into work after working late nights and maybe that particular place, wasn’t the place for me. My partner at the time was offered an opportunity out in Denver that he couldn’t refuse. Scary. Seems cold. What did I have to lose?

I applied at a few places and was ready to take a job from just about any salon that would hire me but the first one I walked into really had my heart. It was the sweetest family-owned salon the had been around for 20 years. The owner was a total rockstar running the show with her husband all while working behind the chair full-time. I walked up to the front desk and asked if they were hiring and they said “no.” I handed the person working the front desk my resume, shook her hand, introduced myself, and said I wanted to work here. I called this salon my home for about four years. I started as an assistant to the owner and made it onto the floor as a full-time stylist about a year later.

I eventually started running our social media pages, the website and took on somewhat of a management role ( I wasn’t asked to do any of this, I just started doing it and the owner eventually asked if I’d like to get paid for it lol.) I built a pretty solid clientele here, received education experience at the Redken Exchange in New York, got to shadow a high-profile stylist and I invested a lot of time in money into my education. I started to feel like I was finally on the right track and really fell in love with the industry but I felt like I was starting to hit a point where I was capping out. I wanted more but I didn’t know what it was and I didn’t have a plan.

I had been following Fox and Jane on social media for some time. I didn’t know much about them besides they were kind of like “The Harvard of Hair.” I literally remember thinking “These people would never hire me but whatever.” I sent in my resume.

I started as a stylist with Fox & Jane. I met two really incredible and inspiring people who I now call my business partners; Lorean Cairns and Billy Canu who saw something in me and offered me a partnership. I’ve now taken what I’ve learned building my career into a six-figure stylist and combining it with the knowledge and experience my two amazing partners already have from building a rockstar team of hairstylists, business coaches, and salon partners with nine different locations. 100% locally and diversity-owned.

I now work with this amazing company that is all about doing incredible things for extraordinary people. We’re not just “doing hair” anymore. We take modern hairstylists and provide them with the right business coaching and endless education opportunities to maximize their skills and put them on an endless path to success. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics; the average hairstylist makes about $22k a year. Over 44% of our stylists are six-figure earners.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I definitely wouldn’t say it’s been a smooth road.

Just after I left my salon of four years and was taking the next big step in my career at Fox & Jane, my personal life was crumbling and I went through an ugly divorce. As a result, and to keep myself busy; I focused on my career. To be honest, I think that’s when things really started to take off for me.

If there’s anything I’ve learned in life, business, and love even… nothing so far has been smooth. I used to get so down every time something didn’t go the way I wanted it to. Every bump and every roadblock is just more opportunities for growth. There is always something to learn and although it seems like the end of the world at the time I look back and realize the bigger the obstacle the more I learn from it.

I encounter new obstacles/challenges all the time. I’m not perfect. I’m still learning every day how to be a better leader, coach, partner, artist… but I’m learning and further, I travel the smoother the road seems to be.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We’re a Hair Salon, of course, and maybe I’m biased but we aren’t just any “hairstylists.” The amount of talent I see in the work this team creates is really incredible. I’m really proud to work alongside them.

We offer everything from Blonding, Advanced Color, Keratin Treatments, and Specialty cuts to Barber cuts with a pricing system that reflects hair length and technical difficulty rather than gender. We are 100% locally and diversity-owned. All partners are women, people of color, and members of the LGTBQIA+ communities.

How do you define success?
I’m not sure I can define success. I think success is different for everyone. I am surrounded by people who love and support me every day, I have a roof over my head and I’m doing what I love. I’m not exactly where I want to be just yet but considering where I started, I’m feeling pretty successful.

If I am a better me today than I was yesterday; I consider that success.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://foxandjanesalon.com/denver/
• Instagram: instagram.com/sieleenyx 
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/fox-and-jane-salon-denver-2

Image Credits
Collette Joy Photo