Russell L. George Blog: Holistic Hair Stylist Spotlight: Kat Cline

Kat Cline

As our Holistic Hair Tribe continues to thrive, we can’t but notice some standout stylists! In the spotlight this month is Kat Cline. She’s a Managing Stylist at TMAC’s Hair Studio in Mobile, AL. She specializes in hair color, highlights, cuts, and styling, but also men’s grooming and barbering services.

She’s no stranger to educating others on health, beauty and wellness, and has been able to combine her love for all three behind the chair.

Get to know Kat!

Tell us a little about yourself! What brought you to working with a holistic hair line?

Although I haven’t been in the hair industry for very long, I’ve been very involved in the holistic and health/wellness world. I started a food blog The Primordial Table in 2012 that was geared towards ancestral health. In the last several years, I have transformed the blog into mostly recipes and support for those who are hoping to control/maintain/reverse autoimmune conditions.

I have a very large Instagram following, where I also share my dedication towards finding all natural and less toxic cleaning supplies, makeup, skin care, hair care, and so on. To me, holistic wellness is a lifestyle, and I want to incorporate it into all aspects of life including my job and career.

What is one of your favorite looks to create and which products do you use to create them?

My favorite looks right now are the balayaged/ombre styles that are soft and blended. I love the reverse application process – that’s where you take a previously highlighted or blonde client and transition their base into a soft, blended, more low maintenance style.

I’ve been using Oway’s Hnectar color almost exclusively for these looks because the color line is so natural and almost flawless in the blending process. My clients are also loving the shine and silkiness of their hair post-color.

What is your favorite client story?

My favorite client story recently is probably my brother’s story. I don’t regularly cut his hair, but he’s had fine, thinning hair for almost the last decade. He’d tried everything and resigned himself to no hair within the next five years. We’ve talked and argued a lot about different products. I’ve given him samples, and so on.

On my last trip to Tampa to get Oway Certified, I met him for dinner since he lived in the area. We talked and argued about him trying Oway, and he was stubborn that he wasn’t going to try it. But he shared that he was almost out of the usual stuff he had so I bought a bottle of the Micro-stimulating hair bath and left it with my mom to give it to him. When he ran out, he decided to try the Oway since it was “laying around”.

He called two months after my visit to share with amazement that the shampoo was making his hair feel the strongest he’s felt it in years. And he also shared that he was no longer afraid to touch his hair because it used to fall out in his hands when he did.

He also wanted to remedy to go with the hair bath. Sure, this story makes me feel great because my older brother finally admitted I was right for the first time ever, but it’s also a reminder to not give up on a situation just because a client has! There’s always going to be new information or new products, and you never know what might work!

How do you relax after a long day at work?

I’m a huge foodie, and I LOVE to cook so my favorite way to relax after a long day is usually to cook a simple dish or enjoy a delicious meal from one of my batch cook sessions. Enjoying a meal with a glass of wine and a friend are always a bonus.

If you had one wish what would it be?

My one wish is for a more eco and environmentally aware society.

I love being a part of a community like Oway, and others that desire environmentally-friendly, sustainable products, that desire better farming and agriculture practices, that desire fair trade and sustainability, but I wish that more of society as a whole felt the same way. I’m happy with the revolution that is underway, but I can’t wait for it to continue to grow and become a very big thing that will change the world.

What would you like to see change in our industry?

The biggest thing I would love the see change in our industry are higher standards to continue to educate ourselves as hairstylists. I’m fortunate enough to work with coworkers who are always looking for new classes and information, but I know this isn’t always the case.

I think the industry is only as strong as our weakest link, and I would love to see more hairstylists working together to find new ways or better ways to do hair instead of being so competitive. I think the sharing of information is a beautiful thing that not only creates great hairstylists, but also creates happy clients and a world full of beautiful people with great hair.

What sort of trends do you see on the horizon for the beginning of 2017?

As for upcoming trends, I still see the “lived in” looks reigning supreme for most clients. With the 80s and 90s making some comebacks in the fashion world, embracing natural texture or enhancing tousled, bed-head texture for ease of styling seems to be the go to. I think texture, low maintenance, easy styling are going to be the key words for a while.