Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexis Gonzales
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Hi, my name is Alexis Gonzales, but I’m known as Mrs. G to my students. I am the Assistant School Director at Ogle School. Since I was little, I always wanted to be a teacher because I loved school so much it came really easy to me. I loved the atmosphere, building relationships, learning but most of all I really enjoyed helping others learn. After graduating I thought I wanted to teach kindergarten, turns out I did not want to teach kinder. So, I took a year off to decide what I really wanted to do while also enjoying life. During that time, I met my then boyfriend now husband Adonis and he is actually the person that asked me if I had thought of pursuing a career in the beauty industry. He said, “every time we go out, you’re always doing your friends hair and makeup” this was in 2012. At that time, I didn’t know anyone who was going to beauty school or to be honest I never thought of that as a career path that I would take. I thought to myself wow that would be fun to do something like that! The next week Adonis and I were touring a beauty school, and I started the very next class start! I met two amazing instructors there that really inspired me, and I looked up to. Now I have to give credit where credit is do so thank you to Ms. Rosa Ozuna and Ms. Jessica Keough for teaching me, inspiring me and outlining what a great instructor looks like! I pushed myself to learn everything I could while in school, except pedicures! I would go hide anytime a pedicure client walked in, but all other services I was eager to take. They also had a team that you could apply for and had to be selected by the instructors called the gold team, if you made the gold team you got to sit in the front of the school with the best stations and had first pick of the clients. Only six students could make the team, I made it my goal to be chosen. After making the gold team it boosted my confidence and felt so proud of myself. After I graduated beauty school, I was hired at this little hair shop, it was the worst experience ever. I would go home crying because I was not expecting the “real world” to be like that. That job didn’t last long. I applied at JCPenney salon and worked there for about three years; the manager found me a mentor who had been in the industry for about 25 years at that time Sharron Cipriano. She showed me the ropes and taught me so much, her and I are still friends to this day. When I felt it was time to move on, I went on to work at Regis for four years. I met amazing hairstylists there and learned so much, especially from Hope Casias, she really took me under her wing and made me grow into a confident successful stylist. During my time there I loved it, but I always felt like something was missing. I had to stop and ask myself why I felt unsatisfied. I realized it was teaching and giving back that I needed in my life. Lucky for me there was a beauty school down the road from Regis, so I went to check it out. I spoke to the director about the instructor program and toured the school, I can’t even describe the feeling I felt just being inside the school and talking about pursuing a career as an instructor. I started the instructor program at Ogle School in March of 2019 completed my 500 hours and graduated in July 2019. I started working at Ogle in September 2019. When the director offered me a position, she said she only had an opening in the esthetics department. I didn’t know anything about esthetics, but I was willing to learn! Coincidentally, my former instructor Ms. Ozuna was the lead esthetics instructor here, I was put with here to train and lived and breathed esthetics. I wanted to know everything there was to know because I did not want to let my students down, I knew exactly the kind of educator I wanted to be. To my surprise I fell in love with skin and waxing, so it was very easy to teach. Then Covid-19 happened, the world shut down and we had just had our first baby boy Adonis Jr. It was a weird and scary time for everyone, that didn’t stop us from teaching. We all jumped on zoom and figured it out. I am thankful to have had all that time home bonding with my baby boy. I continued teaching esthetics until 2022, when we had our baby girl Airis. When I came back, I was brought back to teach cosmetology for five months. In February 2024 I received a promotion to Assistant School Director. It was defiantly a bittersweet time; I absolutely love teaching, so it was going to be hard to leave the classroom. Now I get to help students from a different platform and in more ways. You can still always catch me on the salon floor or spa sharing my tips and tricks with students. I still do hair on the weekends when my husband and I are not coaching our son’s t-ball team. I am really passionate about wedding hair, updos for all events, waxing, haircutting, most of all helping make people feel good about themselves and bringing beauty into the world.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I feel blessed to have had such an amazing support system at home, I am grateful for all the people in the industry that helped me grow into who I am today. For that reason, I don’t feel like I had to struggle along the way. I have had the best time in this beautiful industry. In the 13 years that I have been in the beauty industry. I have had the opportunity to broaden my knowledge in all aspects of cosmetology through teaching, owning my own business, being an assistant director etc…..
I feel like my struggle right now is time. There isn’t enough time in a day to have a full-time career, be a full-time momma and still have time to tend to my wonderful clients. All of these things fill me with joy, I wish I could do all three full-time!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My business is called hairby_itsme.mrs.g. I have actively been doing hair for 13 years. I specialize in Updos for weddings, quinces, galas, photoshoots etc. and full body waxing. I offer certification classes for Brazilian waxing. I also offer hair color and haircutting services. I am proud of all my accomplishments, extended education and variety of knowledge I have to offer. I am most proud of making my dream of becoming an educator come true. It was not in the way I thought it would be, but I am so glad life lead me here. Giving back, teaching and helping others is what I have for me, its mine, it fills my soul with happiness. I would have to say my personable personality and passion is what sets me apart. Anyone of my clients, students or stranger on the street that I have ever had a conversation with about anything beauty would agree.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I am definitely a risk taker! I love a challenge, and I love to push myself to be the best I can be at everything I do. When I was about 6 or 7 years old my grandpa told me “When you grow up you should be the best at anything you do, even if you want to mop floors for the rest of your life, they better be the cleanest damn floors I have ever seen!” I took that to heart. I feel like I would have never accomplished all that I have if I didn’t take any risks. It’s ok to be “uncomfortable” in new life opportunity’s, it means your evolving.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: hairby_itsme.mrs.g
- Other: TikTok- hairby_itsme.mrs.g
