From Business Administration Major to Salon Owner: My Education Journey

By Janelle Alexis | My Story

People are sometimes surprised to learn that I studied Business Administration and Business Management at the University of Houston-Downtown. They assume that because I’m “the hair lady” on Instagram, my entire identity has always been in beauty. But the truth is, my business education didn’t contradict my beauty career — it made it possible.

Why I Chose UHD

University of Houston-Downtown was the right school for where I was in life at that time. It’s a place that values working adults and non-traditional students. It takes education seriously without being inaccessible. I was working in beauty even while I was in school, and UHD allowed me to build both simultaneously rather than having to choose one or the other.

What the Degree Actually Taught Me

Business school taught me to think systemically. To look at a business not just as a collection of services and revenue, but as a system of processes, people, finances, and positioning. When I was ready to open my own salon, I had a framework for asking the right questions: What is my cost structure? Who is my target client? What is my competitive advantage? How do I build a team culture that retains good people?

These are not questions that come naturally to most stylists who are exceptionally talented technically but have never studied business formally. I had both — the technical craft and the business lens — and that combination is what allowed me to build something sustainable rather than just hustle myself into exhaustion.

The Gap Nobody Talks About in Beauty Education

Cosmetology school teaches you how to do hair. It does not teach you how to run a business. It does not teach you how to market yourself, how to price your services profitably, how to hire and fire, how to handle taxes and quarterly payments, how to negotiate a lease, or how to build a personal brand that generates consistent new clientele without paid advertising.

This is a gap I am deeply committed to helping other beauty professionals close — through my speaking engagements, my newsletter, and eventually through more structured education programs I’m developing. If you’re a stylist who wants more business knowledge, start with the basics: read everything, talk to other business owners, and never stop learning.

My Advice to Students in Beauty School Right Now

Take a business course. Take two. Learn to read a profit and loss statement before you graduate. Study marketing psychology, not just color theory. Build your Instagram before you graduate — you can start building an audience from your student work. And find a mentor who has built what you want to build. Pay attention to the whole picture, not just the technical craft.

You can read more about my full journey in Rose Colored Glasses, and I share business insights every week in my newsletter.

— Janelle Alexis