Description
In this heartwarming episode of The Daymaker Podcast, host Daved Dolce reconnects with one of his most memorable students, Taylor, a spirited and determined alumni of Tricoci University. Known for her unwavering positivity and go-getter mindset, Taylor shares how she carved her path in the beauty industry—from school sunshine to salon superstar. This candid conversation reveals how authenticity, connection, and persistence can shape a thriving career in cosmetology.
Show Notes
– Meet Taylor – Former Tricoci student with unmatched energy
– Daved reflects on Taylor’s personality and presence at school
– From classmates to shared studio space and beyond
– Funny coincidences and ongoing client connections
– How she transitioned from student to successful stylist
– Keeping a positive mindset in tough times
– Taylor’s impact on her clients and her community
– What Taylor wishes all current beauty students knew
– Her next big goals in the industry
Links
YouTube: https://youtu.be/8tQUcxIbEtI
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1PaNSTlQqecT1QMeb8TjoA?si=f9GRSQCaQ1CLghXjFIBaIg
Transcript:
We are here to make people
feel good about themselves.
We really have to feel like 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.
Hey, everybody.
Welcome to the Daymaker podcast.
I’m Daved Dolce and today
I’m interviewing one of my
alumni students, Taylor.
Taylor, you are welcome.
You had all the personality.
Thank you so much.
All the energy.
You were sunshine in that school.
Even if you’re having a bad
day, you still were
just positive all the time.
One of those people.
Yeah.
So I’m happy to have you.
Thank you for having me.
You’re very, very welcome.
It’s like you’re someone I’m
never going to get rid of.
You can never get rid of me.
I feel like we’re always like,
somewhere at the same time.
We were in the same studio
space for a minute.
My cousin now gets her
hair done at your salon.
I see her like every week.
I’m like, christ, hey, girl.
I’m like, Where’s Mr.
Daved?
She’s like, he’s here.
I’m like, you tell him I say hi.
She does, she does.
Crazy good.
I love it.
Yeah.
So you’re Tricoci alumni.
Yeah.
Did you check out any other beauty
schools before you came to Tricoci?
I did not.
So I was in high school.
I started right out of high school.
I was supposed to go to college.
Like the stereotypical four year
go to college, do what
everyone else is doing.
And I’m like, no, I’m like,
I’m not going to do what
everyone else is doing.
So it was actually my mom
who signed me up for Jocosy.
And before you get into, like
enrolled into the program, you have
to do like the interview kind
of thing over zoom that meeting.
And my mom’s like, taylor, you’re
going to do this interview.
It was probably like
a during the week sometime.
And I was just like, okay, like,
cool, sign me up.
Let’s do it.
And I get on the interview
and everyone was just immediately
so sweet and so kind
and I just felt so welcomed.
And you don’t do that at a four year.
They don’t give you that
at a four year college.
They do not.
It’s not personalized at all.
You’re just like,
oh, you’re enrolled.
Go to college.
And that was just the beginning
of where I thought I wanted to be.
And I was like, so happy that
I did choose it because
I didn’t look anywhere else.
I did not want to.
I was just like, yeah,
that felt right.
I’m going to do it.
And so I showed up the first
day and I loved it.
Well, we’re glad that you did.
I’m so happy.
Definitely.
So happy.
You’re one of the people that I met.
There’s people that go to beauty
school because, like, myself,
I didn’t know what I wanted
to do, but I had to do something
and I was able to learn that.
And then there’s people that, like,
this is what you want to do and this
is what you’re going to be.
And you being in my campus, I knew,
like, this was your career,
this is what you were going to do.
This is where you’re supposed to be.
So your success, like, really
doesn’t surprise me much.
I always knew that you would be.
How do you think your experience
at Jocochi helped shape your career?
My experience at Tricoci definitely
started by, like, making friends.
Like, the first day I met some
of my best friends who I’m
still friends with to this day,
and helps me get connections
to where I’m currently working.
This is a crazy, amazing opportunity
that I get to have with you.
You helped shape my career
and millions of different ways.
I’m so confident.
I feel like because of you
and because of all the different
teachers and teachers that
I’m still friends with.
Close with social media chukosy.
Without it, I would not have
the knowledge and my license.
I got my license like this,
and now I’m certified in extensions.
So it’s just like one
thing after another.
And it all started with you and all
the educators and the staff.
It’s just, I cannot
thank you guys enough.
You guys are amazing.
You’re welcome.
Thank you.
I miss being a director, and that
means a lot to me because I wanted
to establish a good culture,
a place you guys wanted to have fun.
I also believe that certain
classes come together
for some reason in the stars.
Like, your class was so close.
We were very close.
Class, your personality, like, you
were all supposed to start and go
through that program together.
Ms.
Laura Lee was the best.
She was my essentials teacher.
She started us out great.
And I mean, everybody
was just amazing.
I adore her so much.
So good.
I remember one day I was
walking around and I’m like,
taylor, get off the phone.
And you’re like, I’m
talking to coach.
I’m like, well, that’s got nothing
to do with, you know, school.
You’re like, yeah, it does.
TRA coach.
Yeah.
TRA coach.
Yeah.
Typical Taylor.
It was a Taylor moment, honestly.
You’ve kept it entertaining.
I did.
I tried to.
You had to.
You’re there, like, Monday through
Friday with the same people.
Like, you have to make it fun, so.
Yep, you sure did.
We definitely did.
So obviously, this was a investment
of your time.
A lot of your time.
You mentioned nine to five every day.
And money too, as well.
Was the investment worth it?
100%.
I mean, I would do it all over again,
and if I did do it all over again,
I definitely would pay attention.
More attention to the book,
which I think is, like.
It’s very overwhelming.
Like, the first, like, couple
weeks can be overwhelming,
but it’s all worth it.
Like, I would not be where
I am without Trigosy
or, like, the Essentials
book, the Milady book.
I’m like, love it.
So I’m like, I try every day.
I’m like, you know what?
Maybe I still have my flashcards.
I still look at those.
I still.
I still am trying.
I told you, you literally
were supposed to do this.
I swear I was.
Yeah.
So you chose a direction
for your path.
You ended up working
somebody that had a salon suite.
So you didn’t go
to this big, crazy salon.
I see Diane is there.
How many people actually
work out of there?
So I’m at a place called
Hidden Gem Salon right now.
There’s three people.
Patricia is the owner.
I’m a stylist.
And then Diana, she’s assisting
and styling right now.
Perfect.
You guys moved locations, right?
We did.
Front now.
Yeah.
We were in the Sola Suites over here,
Park Ridge, for a couple months.
I started there when I was still
in school assisting, and then
we grew out of the space.
She opened up the salon,
and I just followed her.
It’s a boutique salon, and I love it.
Super cool.
Yeah.
So you had a lot of individual hands
on, like, training after school.
Yes.
How important was that for your.
To your career?
Oh, my gosh.
I don’t know, like, what I
would do without my mentor.
Like, Patricia is the best.
She got me into extensions.
She helped me become
a blonde specialist.
Even in school, I was doing, you
know, the highlights, the balayage.
Like, I had that clientele
that I wanted, and they’ve all
still followed me over to
the salon I’m at right now.
And it’s just the progress
and the work is just getting
better, and over time, I’m
getting quicker everything.
So, I mean, I just love it.
Like, I love the blondes,
I love the balayage.
I love all of it.
When I looked at your Instagram
and I was Looking at all of your
blonding clients, I was blown away.
Seriously.
Because people don’t.
Me too.
I’m blown away too.
Honestly, I blown away too.
Sometimes I’ll finish a client, turn
them towards the chair, and I’m
like, I’m like, I just did that.
I’m like, oh, my God.
I mean, it’s beautiful.
It’s beautiful.
And like, I’m one of those people.
Like, I really look at blondes
and the tone is everything to me.
Oh.
The toning and the bold
can be scary, though.
Oh, it’s a little,
you know, whatever.
No, I like it like that.
It looks good with a little gold.
That person’s like, no, it’s not.
I see exactly what
you’re talking about.
Yeah.
Here’s the inspo picture.
Here’s what you got.
It’s the same thing and you’re
same thing through
and through, top to bottom.
Yeah.
Like, look at this girl killing it.
But I told you, I
knew that you would.
I completely knew that you would.
You totally did.
If you, Taylor, 18 year old
Taylor, literally came back
to the start of your journey.
Yes.
What would you have done different
besides park
in the employee parking lot?
The parking lot that was.
The parking is definitely a thing.
My driving is just not the Dr.
Driving thing for me is just not.
Not a good thing.
If I could go back,
I definitely would pay more
attention to the book.
Yeah.
Pay more attention to the class
time and pay more attention
to like, the layered haircuts.
Because I’m still.
I still want to, like, continue my
education with the haircutting.
Coloring and the blondes is like,
what I know I’m really good at.
And then I wish I just paid
more attention to
the cutting, like men’s cuts.
Like, I know we had a short section
of that in school, but I mean, I
have so many people asking me to cut
their hair, like my dad’s friends.
And I’m like, I don’t know how to do
that, but I would love to learn.
And I wish if I could go
back, I would learn how
to do men’s cuts better.
And cutting that is very valid.
Yeah.
Because that’s the one thing I
know I’m just not, like, I’m not
skilled at because I didn’t
really pay attention because I
was just focused on the color
and, like, knew that that’s where
I was drawn to.
I want to backtrack a little bit.
Yeah.
I want to be able to tell us
where these people can see your
beautiful work on social media.
Okay.
I mean, I have An Instagram
page, hairbytaylor made.
And then if you wanna see the salon
page too, that’s Hidden Gem Salon
and Hair Vibes by Patricia.
She posts a lot of my work too.
So those three handles, I
think is like the best.
All right, perfect.
I wanted to make sure
we got that in there.
Yeah, for sure.
What’s one of the biggest
lessons that you learned
as a student at Tricoci?
Biggest lesson I learned is just
to be patient with your clients.
You never know what
someone’s going through.
Like, truly, a lot of my clientele is
younger high school students or,
you know, moms that are going
through a divorce, just had a baby,
you know, they’re going everything.
Everybody is going through something.
You never know what
someone’s going through.
Especially in beauty school, you
know, we have like the lower ticket
prices and, you know, you can get
frustrated having the same person
come in every single week for a red
root touch up, but you don’t know
what she’s going through when she
gets home.
Like, if she.
If that hair appointment is the
only thing that she’s looking
forward to that week, then you
better make sure that you’re
giving her everything that you
can to make her feel better
about herself.
That’s a good segue into,
like, my next question.
So when did you realize you had
the power, like, it’s a legit power
to make somebody else’s day?
Just having, like I said, like
the high school clientele
coming in, I feel like I’m like
their big sister in a sense.
A lot of them trust me
with things that, I mean,
they’ve never told anyone.
You know, like breakups,
boy drama, girl drama.
Like, they all come in and they’re
probably not feeling great
about themselves and they’re
like, hey, I want this done.
And it’s more than
just the hair color.
Like at our salon.
It’s a very personalized experience.
I’m with a client from the beginning
of the appointment until the end,
and there’s like, there’s no
leaving them by themselves.
There’s no treating them
like they’re not human.
Everybody deserves to, like, get
pampered and have self care.
I think that’s a huge
thing, especially in mental
health these days.
Like, kids are just.
Kids are bullies.
And there’s kids out there that
feel like they’re not good enough.
And if all I can do is, like, make
their hair feel a little bit better,
then that’s all I’m happy about.
That’s huge.
We actually have a wellness
program now that we developed
into our curriculum
at Tricoci that I’m very proud of.
Oh, my God.
Congratulations.
Really cool.
Than.
Thank you.
So those experiences that you have
with your clients, how do you think
that they take that experience
and carry it out to the regular day?
A lot of them, like, repost stuff
that I post about, or they will.
Word of mouth.
Everybody is like.
I mean, people come in,
like, Main Maine west or
Maine East High school.
I mean, I probably am doing,
like, the entire sophomore,
junior grade of their thing.
And so I know, like, half
of this drama and then half
of this drama, and, like, all
of them just have great hair.
And I’m like, okay,
at least she has good hair.
You know what I mean?
Like, drama with each other.
Yeah.
And then I’m the big older sister
that, like, does the hair.
They’re always texting me.
I’m always getting, like, some
kind of, like, DM emails.
I mean, when I realized that I had
the power to make someone stay,
like, it has just not stopped.
Like, I’m just like, I’m so hungry
to, like, make someone’s day
just feel a little bit better.
Even if it’s a blowout, even if it’s
just, like, a little bit of a cut,
even if it’s like, a placebo
effect, and someone’s like, you
know, I’m not loving this piece in
their hair.
And I’m like, okay.
And I fix it just the tiniest bit.
They’re like, oh, my God.
You just changed my entire day.
That is the truth.
That whole aspect of it.
I’m so proud of you.
Thank you so much.
The most beautiful part of what
you’re saying is, I think when I
was younger and I was a high
school student, I think that’s
when I needed somebody to listen
to me the most.
And you being able to be that person,
they’re gonna remember you forever.
Yes.
And the advice that you give or just
by listening to them, that’s gonna
go, I think, way farther with a high
school student than anybody else.
Yeah.
And I’m the oldest sister of four.
I have three younger sisters,
so it’s like, I’m used to being that
older sister vibe to, like.
I mean, I have my salon family,
and then I have my family.
That’s how I like to put it.
Yeah.
It’s true.
It is her family.
It is.
Everyone is real.
I got my Tricoci family and my
family family, and it’s beautiful.
So also, your customer service
skills, talking kind of a little
bit back about what we’re doing.
How do you think that’s helped you
develop a long lasting clientele?
I would definitely say
my personality from.
I was a cheerleader
and a gymnast my entire life.
So I.
I’m never the quiet one in a room.
I am very comfortable, like speaking
in front of others, like
giving my input, like constructive
criticism to what I think that
would look best on somebody.
So you were a very wonderful
student for us to have.
You were the type of person that if
Taylor wasn’t at school,
like everybody knew because it
was quiet in the building.
Right.
But you really didn’t
miss too many days.
Right.
You had a great attendance.
I didn’t.
I didn’t miss a lot.
I mean, I.
I definitely hung out with
my friends a lot in school.
Some of the friends that I
met in school are still my
best friends to this day.
I try not to miss as much
school as I can as I could.
And I would be there Saturdays
to make up time as much as I can.
I would always be like the only
person on a Saturday.
If I start something,
I want to finish it.
So as quick as I can.
Good.
So if there’s a new student that
was sitting here right now,
they’re starting school tomorrow.
How would you explain how important
the attendance policy is to them?
Well, the first 12 weeks,
I would say in theory, is
the most important time.
That is going to be everything
on your state board.
And you should really be
paying attention to the small
things that might not seem
important, like the skin
and the nails and the anatomy
and biology, chemistry.
Like there’s so much that
you don’t realize that you need to
know until you get into the field.
And then obviously the state
board test, you have to know
so much that, I mean, I didn’t know
and I learned it.
And if I could give advice
to somebody who is just starting
out, that my only advice would be
to pay attention to theory,
because that is everything.
That is everything that
you need to know.
And then you’ll develop the skills
from that knowledge.
It’s just really cool listening
to you speak back about this stuff.
I know.
It’s crazy.
It’s crazy that I finished.
Like I always see, like two years
ago I was in school and I’m like,
that was two years ago.
It’s crazy.
It flies right?
Look at you now.
Thank you.
Well, thank you, Taylor.
Like I said, thank you so much.
I am so, so proud of.
Thank you.
This is a great moment for myself
to be able to interview to you.
Thank you.
Yeah.
And thank you for being
here with us today.
Thank you.
So much.
And I will be seeing you
in the future, I am sure.
Definitely.
Thank you.
Take care.