Description
In this episode, Daved sits down with Anna Marie for an honest and inspiring conversation about finding purpose, trusting your path, and discovering a passion for beauty that changed everything. From early self-doubts to the moment she realized she was made for this industry, Anna Marie opens up about the experiences that shaped her — inside and outside the classroom.
Whether you’re a current student, thinking about enrolling, or simply love personal growth stories, this episode is full of motivation, authenticity, and the kind of real talk that reminds you why following your passion matters.
Follow Anna Marie on Social Media:
Show Notes
– Anna Marie’s early experiences and what drew her to beauty
– Learning to trust her talent and build confidence
– The moment she realized she was in the right place
– How her education shaped her personally and professionally
– Advice for anyone considering cosmetology or esthetics
– What it really feels like to train inside a beauty-focused environment
Links:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/x9TBIObHJy0
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6RDmzQHpoh3GJy8vewPUqs?si=68a05cafa01144df
Transcript:
We are here to make people feel good about themselves.
We really have to feel we are a day maker for the guest.
“You’ve made my day.”
How great is that, when you hear those words from your guest?
Hello.
Welcome to the Day Makers podcast.
I’m your host, Daved Dolce, and today I have the pleasure of interviewing one of my former students.
Anna Marie, welcome to the program.
Hi.
Thank you for having me.
You are so welcome.
So it was a little journey getting here today, huh?
Yeah, it was.
I live downtown, so I had to take the metro out here today.
I love it.
So thank you.
That was a lot of effort on your part- Of course.
so I really appreciate you being here with us.
, so tell our viewers a little bit about yourself.
I am
My name’s Anna Marie, , I am 24 years old, I’m a licensed cosmetologist, and I live in Chicago, and I work in theater for hair and makeup.
Yes.
So what made you want to get involved in the beauty industry?
So I grew up in theater and performing arts and dance and all that fun stuff, so I was always having to do, , stage makeup looks and hairstyles and slicked-back buns and things that.
And I would even help some of my friends that didn’t quite understand makeup the way I did and eventually I realized, , this is kind of a little hobby that I to do.
So I realized my work made people feel good about themselves, made them feel confident- Yes.
and I enjoyed it, so I ended up, with recommendation from my family, going to cosmetology school.
That’s part of it.
Right.
So I’m sure you researched other schools.
Yes, I did.
, I toured a couple schools actually when I was figuring out where I wanted my path to go.
Oh.
So I toured Tricoci, obviously, and I toured Aveda, , and I even thought about Truman for a little bit, but eventually Tricoci was where I landed.
Yes.
And why did you pick Tricoci?
I cho- What catch did- Oh, of course.
I’m glad I did too.
, I chose Tricoci because of the real-world application.
They, , trained us in Redken, in Keratin Komplex, in Matrix, and those are all brands that you see out in the real world.
Yeah.
And so I wanted to, , be ready to hit the ground running when I finished school.
, and then just practicality as well.
It was a good location for me, and just where I lived at the time, so
That’s fantastic.
I got to see you at 2 different campuses.
Yes, I did.
I started off at the Rogers Park CNE campus and then I ended up transferring to the CNW campus.
I’m so glad you did.
Yes.
Was I the director?
Yes.
When I- Was I the director at CNE, and then I switched to CNW?
I do remember.
‘Cause I knew you from CNE.
Yeah, we had met at CNE, maybe just in passing, but when I decided I wanted to transfer, you were the one that was , “Come on over.
We’d love to have you.”
And you were the director at CNW when I started there, so
Got it, got it.
Okay, that makes sense to me.
Yeah.
‘Cause I’m , “Well, I knew her from both campuses.”
“Wait.”
, looking back now, right?
‘Cause I don’t think sometimes you realize the stuff you’re learning and how it’s gonna apply in your life later.
Yes.
Looking back, is there anything that you did learn in Tricoci that’s kind of been an, “Oh, ah-ha, I’m glad that I learned this here”?
Tell me.
Well, the biggest one was professionalism.
Oh.
I feel school is definitely so important for learning that.
, getting hands on with the clients and practicing how you’re gonna talk to people and be a professional behind the chair.
, another one, just a lot of these small skills that you don’t realize you’re gonna use.
So in theater, you do a lot of work with wigs, and- Mm-hmm.
a lot of the times they’re human hair, so you’re styling them just you would style them in school.
So I’m doing roller sets and I’m doing, , men’s cuts and I’m doing everything that I learned s- at- I-
school, so
I say you, I love your Instagram, I love following you.
Your content’s so good, and I’m just , “Look at”
I’m trying.
I’m trying with the content.
Oh my gosh.
Even though it’s adult education, we look at you you’re our kids, ?
And me, , I don’t have- Right.
children, so to see my students grow up and just be so proud.
Well, and I was such a baby too.
I was 21, 22 when I started my cos- school journey, so I was young, and I mean, I’m still young, but I was so fresh-faced and new to the world, so
Felt my parents in a way.
Aw.
Good, yes.
We just want the best for everybody.
What, what did y- what did you learn about yourself through that transformation?
Because you did mention the professionalism.
I don’t think a lot of people know we’re not here to just show you how to do hair.
We’re here to teach you how to be a professional.
Yeah.
You’re also in a creative environment with a bunch of crazy personalities for the first time ever.
For sure.
And you really do leave beauty school somebody different than you started.
Yes.
So what did you learn?
So, , before beauty school, I tried a couple different paths for higher education and I just kept feeling so discouraged and not motivated, I just didn’t find my niche, my thing.
-huh.
And so, kind of, honestly, cosmetology school was a little bit of a last ditch effort for me.
I was , “Mm, I’ve always kind of had a, a knack for this, maybe I’ll try it.”
So going in, I was, , just a little bit apprehensive, quiet.
I didn’t really wanna make waves or be seen.
Mm-hmm.
And eventually as I started taking clients and I started getting more confident in my skills and behind the chair, I realized, “Oh, I have a real drive and a real passion for this, as, as long as I let myself work for it.”
So even, when I was at CNW, I was commuting an hour and a half every day from the city to come out there, and I just kept going.
So I learned that I’m a pretty motivated person when I want to be.
That’s great.
I’m glad you mentioned that you were shy, didn’t want to make waves- Yes.
because I saw that journey within yourself.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
, I seen that.
I remember shy Anna and I remember Anna that graduated and- Yes.
just how much more confident you were and- Yeah.
you were a little social butterfly buzzing around the school.
Yes.
So, so many people, I think, , I don’t know, every- “I wanna own a salon.
I want a salon suite.
I wanna do this.”
“I wanna go work in her salon.”
Yeah.
You’re in theater.
Yeah.
So how, how did we
I know you said you grew up in that- Yeah.
but how did you get there?
How did you
The application proce- what, what do they do?
Do you have to try out?
How
It’s a long
It’s, it’s hard, it’s difficult.
A lot of the times it’s about who .
Oh.
So I was fortunate enough when I very first started at CNE, the very first day I walked into Essentials, my teacher at the time, her name was Becky Wilson or Rebecca Wilson, she, at the time, was a hair and makeup attendant at a theater.
And so I walked in and one of the first questions she asked us, all around the room, all these new faces, she said, , “What do you see yourself doing?
What do you want to be with your license?
, what do you want to do behind the chair?”
And I, , working in a salon was always, “That sounds fine.
I would, I would love to do that.”
But she said, “If you could dream big, if you could have the”
top job, biggest dream job, , what would it be?
And I said, “Well, I grew up in theater and would love to do hair and makeup in theater.”
And thankfully, she saw a little bit of that spark even in quiet little old me, and she ended up helping me find that job later on.
That’s- So
fantastic.
You see, I know none of this.
Yeah.
I just was , “Look at her go.”
No, well she, she was working, she was working on The Notebook at Chicago Shakespeare Theater- Really?
which is a, it was an original production at the time and it’s now a touring production all across the US.
Wow.
, and she saw that I wanted to do this and they were in need of an extra set of hands, so
That is absolutely beautiful.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, I mean, I don’t even need to ask you this question-
’cause I feel it’s true, but do you feel you’re living your life’s dream?
Absolutely, I do.
I, , being a part of, we call it WHAM, wigs, hair, and makeup- -huh.
is what it stands for.
, being a part of WHAM, you work with so many departments;
you work with actors, you work with creatives, you work as a small piece of this, this little machine and it just makes one big great picture.
And so, I feel I’m living my passions because I’m working with others and I’m collaborating with creatives to create something magical and beautiful, and allow people to kind of step out of their world and into mine for just 2 hours.
But
That’s so cool.
I love it.
, so you obviously, you work for the Shakespeare Theater in Chicago- Yeah.
that’s on Navy Pier, correct?
Yes, it is.
Yes.
It iS Do you want to share your Instagram with our listeners so they can actually follow your journey?
‘Cause it, I, it’s incredible.
I love watching you do it.
Yeah.
My Instagram handle is styled_by_annamarie_ with an underscore on either end of it, but you can just look up the name.
, I’m also on TikTok as annamgorsuch.
My last name is G-O-R-S-U-C-H.
Yes.
So, what’s been your favorite part about your career in theater, and what is something that was a little bit more challenging when you got into theater?
Favorite part first, ’cause that’s the easy part
, I, I said, I love collaborating with others.
I love making something bigger.
But the other thing I love is that I bring the professionalism of being behind a salon chair- Mm-hmm.
to the theater.
So, I’ve had a lot of actors come in, and sometimes it’s standard to get haircuts during a run or something that.
But actors will come in and they’re nervous because they’ve had those bad haircuts, and they’ve had those stylists that didn’t listen to them because- Yeah.
they just listened to what the designers of the show want or what the higher-ups want.
And so, something that I love that’s one of my favorite parts of being a licensed cosmetologist while working in theater is bringing the professionalism of the salon into the theater and making sure that everybody leaves my chair confident and happy with what they look .
So, yeah.
And then the most challenging part, if I’m being completely frank, sometimes wigs, hair, and makeup is a little bit of an overlooked department within the theater world.
Yeah.
And so, sometimes people forget about us ’cause we’re just the hair girls and we’re, we’re the ones backstage with not as much to do.
But, , it’s, , no matter what, people respect you still.
It’s just a way of figuring your way through the path and – I mean, I, maybe ’cause I’m a cosmetologist-
but I think you’re the most important people.
This- Thank you.
is called the show.
This is what people are looking at, is what you put out.
And that’s- Yeah.
what I wanted to say, is , I gotta go to one of your shows so I can see- Oh my gosh.
“Look what she did.”
Well, I will say I did just get, , an opportunity.
I will be leading a show for the first time in a year.
, so I will be in charge of the wigs, hair, and makeup for an upcoming show at Shakes called Paranormal Activity.
Oh my God, I can’t-
believe this.
So I will be doing prosthetic and special effects makeup for kind of a horror show.
Insane.
Yeah.
That’s what I’m gonna go see.
Yes.
That’s my genre.
Yep.
Absolutely.
That is my genre.
Absolutely.
I’m so proud.
Thank you.
, did you participate in the first Beauty Blitz?
I did not.
, so I was
I never participated in the competition itself, but I was around the school when it was happening and people were prepping for it.
So I did help, , some people here and there.
I would curl, curl a h- curl some hair for somebody or throw some color on something if they needed h- needed help, but I was not a formal competitor, no.
It’s cool to have you here, that saw the first 1 Yes.
at our little campus.
Yes.
Not so little, but little compared to this crazy campus.
Crazy, yes.
I love it.
, so one of the questions we ask everybody at the conclusion of our podcast, which is probably the most important question we can ask is, what does it mean to be a Daymaker to you?
Hmm.
Being a Daymaker, to me, it means
So I, I said, I work with mostly actors, and , they, they spend long rehearsals, long hours, they’re on their feet, they’re moving their bodies.
So when they come and see me, they just need a space to sit down and decompress and trust.
Mm-hmm.
So being a Daymaker to me means being somebody that others can trust with their appearance and their confidence.
, and then, obviously, their confidence and their happiness with how they present themselves to the world is what g- makes my day.
So it’s kind of a, a cy- cycle of you do something good for me, I do something good for you, and now we both feel great.
I love it.
Anna Marie, this has been an honor, a pleasure, a full circle moment, all of it, to be able to interview you today.
Thank you so much for representing Tricoci out there in the world and- Of course.
putting out beautiful art for other people to enjoy.
I’m really happy to have you here.
Thank you so, so much.
Well, thank you for having me.
It’s really good to see you again.
It’s been- Of course.
so great talking to you.