How a Twenty-Four-Year-Old International Hair Stylist Earns 450k a Year Traveling the World and Is Helping Others on Their Paths to Financial Freedom — Here Is His Story and Lifestyle
Aric Congdon is a young entrepreneur who grew up in a rural town in Connecticut, came from nothing, and works hard for his money. As an international traveling hair stylist, Aric earns $450,000 a year just from his beauty industry-related work, not including what he earns from his marketing company, Arcc Media. While he likes to enjoy his life with the money he makes, he tells us most of what he spends his money on is assets.
“I grew up in a small town with less than 7,000 people in it, most of which didn’t have any real dreams or aspirations to make it big. Growing up as one of six has its pros and cons (especially when you’re the middle child born two days before Christmas). I learned a lot about appreciating what I did have because we were in and out of shelters due to being a low-income family on a single parent’s salary. To this day, that’s probably why I save about 15 to 20% of my income annually because of all the trauma of growing up without. Hair was never really on my radar, and I kind of fell into it by mistake. Fast forward to me being a fifteen-year-old teenager—the worst and best year of my life. I was kicked out of my house when I came out of the closet to my parents. I was working at a movie theater. I was on track to early graduation due to doubling up on academics, which, in hindsight, probably was the smartest thing I did. I stayed with my eldest sister for a little until it became too much for her family, and then I was back on the streets between shelters and sleeping on bus benches.
“One of my best friends to this day told me to come to NYC and stay with her in her dorm room illegally. I, having nothing else to lose, packed one backpack and hopped on a bus. I then assisted under a celebrity stylist in the city for a year, and she helped me to grow into the stylist I am today and connected me with a very well known curly hair salon in NYC. That’s where I began to niche my talents into curly hair and balayage. Hair helped me to pay for education in marketing and has me debt-free from student loans in the present day.
“Roll up to 2016—I auditioned for American Idol and had a short stint on the show that wasn’t then added into filming. I did, however, make a few connections along that journey and scored my first shoot with a celebrity in Miami (Post Malone). I started getting gigs for other small ventures with lyrical writing, composition, hair shoots, commercials, NYFW, etc. This all led to me moving out to the West Coast, building a clientele not only in NYC, but the likes of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Mexico City. Today, I am a traveling international stylist who coaches and trains other independents or salon owners on how to put systems in place to not only hit 100k, but 250k+ by working only five days a week. Not only that, but I run a marketing company, still dabble in the arts when I can, and travel the world. If you were to ask me ten years ago if this is where I would be now, just shy of 25, then I would have said, ‘You’re nuts.’”
In total, Aric earns $450,000 a year from client revenue including tips, but how much does a hairstylist make? The median income for hairstylists in the US is $27,000 with top earners earning between $33,000 to $62,000 a year. Aric’s goal is in turn to elevate the industry.
“The biggest misconception about our industry is that it’s not a real job or you can’t make real money, but if you break down an average color and cut ticket to be 200 in an average small- to mid-sized town three clients per day makes you $3,000 a week, not including gratuity, which totals $144,000 before taxes.”
Congdon, being at the top of his game in the industry, now wants to dive into helping others replicate his business model, whether it be to also be a traveling stylist like himself or make over six figures for their families.
“There are many people in the industry who are striving to elevate and enlighten others about charging what they are worth, but many don’t understand connecting point A to point B, especially for stylists who may not live in a densely populated city.”
We concluded our interview with Congdon asking him what is next for his career.
“My goals are to educate digitally and in person, not only that but I would like to establish the first online investment portfolio for salon owners, coaches, and integrated marketing professionals to gain stakes in individual businesses to grow them—essentially a modern-day Tabatha Takes Over on a branded scale. Ideally, I would like to have partner salons all over the country.”
Learn more about Aric Congdon by visiting his website.
Media Contact
Company Name: Hairicc
Contact Person: Aric Congdon
Email: Send Email
Phone: +1 (347) 925-8225
Country: United States
Website: http://www.hairicc.com
