Timing is everything, and as a hairdresser you probably see that old adage play out often. Over the weekend I read a four-part, online article that offered women’s stories of how they reconnected with their truer selves when they finally changed a longtime hair pattern. Before the moment of change, they simply weren’t ready, so if you have clients like that I’m not sure there’s much you can do to rush the process. But when they do arrive at the decision, be ready!

The first woman, who I’m betting represents many of your clients, had clung to her long hair too far into her 30s. The problem wasn’t that she was necessarily too old to wear her hair that length; it was that her hair no longer kept pace with her life as an energetic, trend-focused Manhattan professional. Her hair was more tired than she was!

When you take our hair classes and others, you learn how to create the latest, cutest cuts for clients just like this woman. It’s frustrating when, visit after visit, they ask for a “trim.” So click here if you want to print out and show clients this first-person account of the great sense of freedom and power this woman experienced when she cut the length to reflect her current lifestyle and attitude. In my next three posts, I’ll discuss the other stories in this article series. Please note that the photos here are appropriate to, but not from, that article.

Hair by Nicholas French; color by Daniel Roldan; photo by Roberto Ligresti; make-up by David Maderich; photostyling by Fallon Sinclair.