Styling your way to success with freelance hairstylist & educator Mitchell Cantrell

Freelance hairstylist Mitchel Cantrell’s work on Instagram immediately drew us in. In bonafide solopreneur fashion, Mitchell is a talent that wears many hats. With the motto “power hairdressing for impactful women”, his creativity has led him to great success - as a traveling hairdresser, reiki practitioner, and global educator. Ads, magazines, and the red carpet feature his work. Now, Mitchell has started the “Fresh Start Workshop,” an educational program that aims to enliven the hairstyle practice within other hairstylists by making it more innovative, ergonomic, and most importantly, fun. His biggest strength as a solopreneur is that “I believe in myself 100%, I believe I am worthy and that I am capable of achieving my goals.” Read on for more of his freelance success tips.

What’s the best business or money advice you ever got as a freelance hairstylist?

Network! If you network properly and consistently, your network will refer gigs and clients to you which translates into money. Also, have multiple sources of income!

Now for a moment of realness, what are you struggling with right now in your business?

Consistency, consistency in my networking, sales work, and community building.

As a freelance hairstylist and educator that works all over the world, what challenges and advantages do you think are unique to always being on the road?

The challenge is that I am responsible for my own schedule, my own career, my own everything. I can't just show up to a job and know that I'll have a check every two weeks. I have to grind for mine every month. 

The advantage is that I am responsible for my own schedule, my own career, my own everything. I can say, this month I want to make X amount of dollars. I'll get out a piece of paper and work backward including all my venue streams. I may have to sell a class, or a one on one workshop to reach my goal. Same with travel, if I know I want to go to a city, I can try to book some education in that town one day out of my trip and it could easily pay for the whole trip's expenses.

We know the freelancer life is all about the hustle toward incredible goals, where do you see yourself in 5 years? Financially, personally, and with your business?

In 5 years I would like to be established as a top artist globally and signed to a top agency. I'd like to work on releasing either a hair product or a tool as another revenue stream. I would love to be in the position to finance my first real estate property. Personally, I want to hire a personal trainer to help take my body to the next level, continue to evolve spiritually through my Reiki practice and continue to learn a variety of things over the years to grow mentally. 

Follow Mitchell @mitchellcantrellbeauty

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