Foil Me Feature: Evan Stowers (USA)

Emily: Hello, Evan - you’re here! (laughter)

Evan: Hey! So sorry, I’m here! (laughter) I was driving, I didn’t want to have a bad habit. So I rushed home. I don’t know if I should say this…you asked me where I was and I told you I was on my way, and I was driving and had barely left and I put my phone down and there was a policeman pulling up around the corner! And I wasn’t wearing my seatbelt, and he tapped his own shoulder to signal ‘put your seatbelt on’ and I panicked because I thought, ‘oh no, I’m going to get pulled over and miss this whole live!’ (laughter). He didn’t pull me over. I’ve actually been pulled over twice for that [not wearing a seatbelt], and the second time the guy didn’t actually give me a ticket. I said to him, ‘hey man, I don’t mean to be a jerk, but don’t you have anything better to do then to give me a ticket’, and he said ‘I’m going to give you a warning. I may not care about you but others do’. But, I promise, I normally wear them and I got here safely! Sorry, we started on a bad note… anyways! (laughter) Thanks for having me.

Emily: That’s fine, that’s why I love you Evan - you’re always throwing something out there. You’re very welcome, thanks for joining us and spending your time with us… ‘cause I know it’s 7.30pm at night now…?

Evan: Yeah, my kids are at my in-laws. I was also moving a chicken coop around 7pm cause I thought it was 7.30. So they’re over there with the chickens (laughter), and I’m here with some Colorco critters and other little girls toys, just sitting here on the couch. I’m not in the salon anymore, I’m hanging out with a rabbit! (laughter & shows toys)

Emily: So, this is Evan Stowers. Evan is an amazing balayage and blonde expert. He owns his own salon called ‘The Desert Lounge Salon’ in Utah, USA. Evan is our USA ambassador and we’re super honoured to have you here. So, take it away Evan, where did you grow up?

Evan: So, I grew up in Anaheim, California….so Orange County, by Disneyland.

Emily: The OC!

Evan: Yeah! One of my buddies Justin, who’s been on here, he’s from that area. Then I moved when I was around 8 years old to Salt Lake City, Utah, which is Northern Utah, and then I ended up in Southern Utah, which is the border between Utah and Nevada and I’ve been here since 2011.

Emily: What made you move here? Was it meeting your wife?
Evan: I met my wife in Salt Lake City and we ended up moving to be closer to her family down here in the desert.

Emily: Did it take long to adjust or your quite happy being there?
Evan: Ironically, I love trees, so it took an adjustment to get to the desert… we have some trees. We live near Zia national park which is one of the best national parks in the world. We’re completely surrounded by desert, which is why we have The Desert Lounge Salon and we embraced the surroundings. It has a lot of hikes and lots of cool things. I have grown to love it!

Emily: Yeah, we love the photos of you and your family, there are some with the desert background – who takes those photos?

Evan: My wife does a lot of our photography. She’s an influencer, so she’s really savvy with Instagram and photography is a passion of hers. A lot [of the photos] is a timer & she uses her phone.

Emily: A husband and wife super team! We love the photo we featured on our Instagram of you for this interview…

Evan: Oh yeah! I had a client in Las Vegas once, and then we would stay at a hotel and she [my wife] took that real quick.

Emily: Well she’s super talented, as are you as a hairdresser & a dad. What made you want to become a hairdresser?

Evan: Without getting too far into it, it was something I had an interest in when I was young, my mum did hair down in Newport – she had a home salon and she ended up doing family in Utah. She would cut my sideburns off, but I was picky so when I was 12 I started cutting my own hair. It was just something I did - I never thought I was going to do hair. I kept running away from it until about 6-7 years ago. I’ve been licensed for 10 + years. I struggled with confidence and so I got a degree in communications and started a Masters. As I’d been doing hair I thought, I need to get back into this. I spent a year in Missouri. I’ve been back here for 5 years and that really pushed me back into it. I’m really young in the hair industry and I really struggled. I’d go home and think of all the things I did wrong. I don’t know if it’s just part of being an artist, but it was really hard for me. Then I did a masters in Rhetoric, it came back full circle and I always felt like I had something else [other than hairdressing], and once I cut all of that out, I loved it [hairdressing]. I don’t have to shave or wear slacks, so it suits me pretty well!

Em: You’re able to wear whatever you like because that’s you - your personality and your clients are used to that. I used to be a teacher and I joined the industry about the same time as you. 

Evan: It’s been fun!

Em: You’re very much known for your lived-in blonde, balayage style – how did you come to be that kind of salon. The lighter hair/the balayage/the bronde…?\

Evan: I got really lucky. My wife loved being a blonde and ever since we started dating I’ve been doing her hair. We started off as a paint and tone, and I got to experiment - she pushed me back into doing hair. She’s a hair school dropout and she’s always really supportive. Her hair is a natural brown, like level 5. My entire week off was doing her hair – we just put up a timelapse…. When the kids go to bed and we’re watching the walking dead and I’m doing her hair until like 1am in the morning!

Em: You guys are parents, how are you up until 1am?!

Evan: She’s [my wife] amazing, she’ll let me sleep in and my kids sleep in too! …So my wife, I tested out a lot of product on her hair, and I’ve tried lots of things! A lot of trial and error. I started getting into the lived-in look about 5 years ago. It’s a game for me - lets see how long this can last for the client! Some stylists used to say it was about the money…that always bothered me (and that’s not every hairdresser), so I always wanted to know how long the colour would last. It’s a bit of a retirement town….Palm Springs in Utah. We’re just starting to get tech. I had a lot of guests spending for a premium service for longevity. I studied a bunch of colourists, then put a million things in together, to make my own style of a lived-in blonde.

Em: I am absolutely flawed that this isn’t something you just decided one day…this is years and years of getting your own style from other colourists! You emulate not imitate. So, Evan, the big question…what’s the longest a colour you’ve done has gone?

Evan: 6 months to a year! Lighter base clients I see once a year. I feel like we were in a really good time before this pandemic… [I was seeing clients] once a quarter to every 6 months…I have a couple of clients that I do once a year. I saw a guest recently who had been growing out her hair for about 1 and a half years…it grew out really well! So well I actually thought she’d cheated on me (laughter)…I was asking her ‘and is there any other colour in here’ (laughter)! I love Amiee Marie’s work!

There is nothing wrong with doing high maintenance colour. If people say ‘you should do this’ I tend to then not do that….unless my guest wants that. I love the underdog, if an influencer says this is what you should do, that’s what I tend to not do. I hope it [lived-in colour] doesn’t go out of style forever because I love it, but on to the next style if so.

Em: You said before about focusing on this [lived-in colour] for about 5 years ago, and, correct me if I’m wrong, but I only noticed it taking off about 1 and a ½ years ago!

Evan: Watching Amiee’s live yesterday, I started my insta about 5-6 years ago and I got lucky and started following a few people that I loved, and really started to connect with them, work with them. I just really loved it, and I don’t know it’s a beach thing but I just really love the lived-in look!
              My cousin Jo lives in Hawaii, and just joined the live, and Jacob in Atlanta – I’ve been very blessed to work with some really cool people! Once I dove in [to hairdressing] I tried to take a lot of classes and education. It was a sacrifice as we really didn’t have a lot of money. My dad always said ‘pray for the work, then put your head down and work’. I come from a history of workaholics. I did what I did to go to the classes and make the money to go!

Em: You really emulate the ‘be kind during your grind’. You’re so down to earth. Yes, you’re getting bigger, more and more people are getting to know you and love what you do, and you don’t change who you are.

Evan: Going back to confidence, I’ve always struggled with depression, and I think its grounded me. I just always feel blessed - I feel blessed people enjoy what I do. I’m just doing my thing, and I’m there to be there for anybody else who is a part of this journey. We’re all just trying to make a living and trying to make our guests happy. We’re just trying to etch out our purpose. When you asked me to be an ambassador I was like, WHAT?! (laughter) I’m very fortunate.

Emily: We asked you because you really do align with our values, and you supported us from the beginning. We knew for you it wasn’t about spreading your name and trying to promote who you are. It’s really important to us that we align and that we’re a family! …So lets get on to Buckminster – I’m really interested in this. I was flawed when you told us he was your influence (check out our post if you haven’t seen it and you’ll see what we’re talking about!)

Evan: So Buckminster…I’m kind of a nerd, I like to go to the thrift store, read them and then return them back. I found one of his books at a thrift store and was like, ‘who is this guy?’. I think it was a book for youth. This guy is super rad, he came from nothing, he got into architecture, he got kicked out of Harvard twice, he tried to better the world, and lot of people thought he was crazy or a hack, and through science and artistry he just kept trying to better the world! Even until he died, he was lecturing and talking about ‘spaceship earth’. Well ahead of sustainability before others were. His whole thing about houses is that they should be automated, and we should be using our talents to be bettering ourselves. This guy wasn’t trying to be prestigious; he wasn’t trying to get a lot of glory, he just wanted people to be better. His daughter died from pneumonia from poor housing conditions and that’s why he became an advocate for housing. He had a voice in his head that said your life is not your own, during a time when he wanted to commit suicide. He’s not super popular, he’s just a really cool guy. I just dig him.

Em: He’s an underdog, and kept pushing for what he believed in! …Someone asked what’s the best way to colour your hair at home as she can’t get her hair done whilst at home.

Evan: Majority of my clients are blonde and I have had them able to wait it out. I have been following different colourists…there is 3 camps: 1. Don’t touch it [your hair colour] because you’ll be paying lots of money to pay for the correction. 2. Different options to colour [home kits, etc]. 3. We’re all human beings and you have got to do what you’ve got to do. An act of kindness will outweigh if your client leaves. When a client leaves, it gives the opportunity for new clients. If they box dye their hair, I know how to fix it. I don’t want them to but I’m not going to shame them. I’m not God of your hair, I’m your stylist, I’m your friend… some people have done some seriously drunk hair things! (laughter) There is so much stress out there, some are working and some aren’t. This is going to affect us longer than a month. Some clients aren’t going to have money and they want low-maintenance looks. A lot will go to your neighbour. I can’t do everyone’s hair. There is so much room for someone to pay $7 for a haircut, and I don’t need to be bothered. If a client chooses to go somewhere else, it gives so much opportunity to grow. I’ve had to detach from a lot of it, I follow my news and people that I care on Instagram – but I’ve really had to distance myself from the rest because there is a lot of fear and some people aren’t concerned, and some are. It’s stressful and sad, but we just need empathy. Someone will just want their greys covered.

Em: A lot of hairdressers are like you - a lot of hairdressers want to make them [their guests] feel good about themselves. Particularly with all of the mental health going on. Once things resume there is still going to be so many differences. I believe it’s up to each and every stylist, not judging. As long as they’re not hurting others.

Evan: It’s not about the hair. You can see with the foils – I’ve seen you making really rad designs. It’s more, it’s something fun! People want the connections; they want to have fun. We’re going through a period but it’s not going to devastate us. There is so many different opinions, but I’ve seen so many people giving up some really cool things, like education, etc.

Em: It’s amazing, really nice! …You did just bring up the foils, we can’t ignore the fact we did a collaboration together. We really enjoyed creating a foil with you. What kind of feelings did you have? Talk us through it!

Evan: Without divulging too much, I saw you were working with some stylists in Australia and I was like we’ve got to do this! I hit Emily up and said I really want to do this. Emily explained how many packets, etc. and…I used to play in a band, I thought, we’d do a run and we’ll do more when we need them. (laughter) I talked to my stylists and my stylists put in a little bit of money and we had a pool and we went through the process and it was about 4-6 months. My dear friend did all the graphic design, and Emily said we wanted to do the cacti!

Emily: Yeah, you sent us your logo. Knowing you, we were like, we’ve definitely got to have cacti’s on there and some kind of desert colour! It just so happened that our manufacturer was so awesome that they were able typo produce this gorgeous colour! (showing foils)

Evan: Yeah, you showed us different schemes of colour and we were like, let’s be extra, and let’s go gold! We thought it was kind of silly, we’re going full gold; desert. I remember us solidifying that and then you told me how many were coming….I thought cartons were boxes…like packets. (laughter) I remember calling you and thinking, oh my gosh, a carton has all these packets! We were so pumped on it and were like, let’s do it. We loved our relationship with you and so we thought we’ll make it work and we had some spare to share with the public. We thought we were just doing something fun for the salon, and it turned out to be this fun collaboration! We were blown away by how many people were stoked to want them!

Em: Yeah after our post [featuring The Desert Lounge Salon custom foil] the engagement was amazing! We asked you if we could sell the 20 extra and they sold within 2 minutes…so I was like, okay Evan, how about we make these a permanent thing. I have very fond memories of that collaboration!

Evan: I called 2 of my stylists, I remember getting off the phone with you, and one of them said, ‘oh my gosh, can we send them back?’ And I was like NO! And then the other one was like, ‘hell yeah, we’ve got so many foils!!!’ (laughter) We were so stoked! We’ve used them all and now we’re getting more!

Em: I’m a big believer in they were meant to happen! It’s the first and only time our manufacturer has made 20 spare packets! …so Evan, I know it’s getting late, I did want to ask you about your Dad/work life, because I know you’ve got 4 kids. Do you have any tips for working hairdressers with kids?

Evan: Marry an amazing wife! My wife is incredible, she’s the most patient and chill person. She’s next level chill. We’ve been really blessed to have some amazing kids. I’m a talker, and my wife will know that when I say ‘I’m on my way’ I might be a little longer. The biggest thing for me in this pandemic has been learning to chill out a little. I love to work - I was there at the salon today. I love being where I am. I would say, try to figure out where you need to be with your balance and then work towards that. As hairdressers, we can always take one more client. I had this friend that was in law school. There is a curve in Law school grading, and they said ‘did I [my friend] want to be an A student or an A- student, and I’ve chosen to be an A- student who spends more time with my family.’ I need to see my children. Without giving you any advice, just figure out how much you need to make, and what is the risk of the relationship with your family. For Christmas, we took 1 and a ½ weeks off and you know you have an addiction when you are struggling to do a puzzle, and that’s a present to take that step back. In the grand scheme of things, what’s the most important thing? You’re just going to grow up, and you’re not going to be able to go back from that.

 

Em: That’s great advice, I’ve got kids and being an owner of a company, you do work your ass off and you have to reminder yourself life is always going to go on, and you have to remember what do you want your kids to remember you as.

Evan: No one does it right, per say. There is all these stressors in life and you’ll know when you need to draw back and when you want to accelerate. It takes time, you figure it out as you go.

Em: Does it just come to you or are you constantly thinking of ways to grow, etc?

Evan: There is some interesting things that come with the reality of becoming bigger…..You have to pull yourself out of being bigger sometimes, because some of those things are totally out of your control. They are just stressors. Sometimes you’ve got to have faith that things will be provided to you in the right way, and not necessarily in the way you want them to. If we don’t believe that we can receive what we need, not in abundance, but being like, all I need is just a couple of bedrooms, I don’t need a mansion. If you can accept what you need, it helps destress you a little bit. Easier said than done. I struggle with that. I want to be a homeowner so my wife can do projects and my kids can run wild….I don’t know if my time frame is in sync with the universes time frame. We’re able to take care of our families with what we have now. One of my main goal when I was going to college is I wanted to become a professor and communicate through a secretary…I didn’t want to own a cell phone! My wife said ‘how will I get a hold of you’, and I said you’ll email my secretary. (laughter) That was a goal in one point of my life! I just wanted to live life different to the scope I am in. You ended up in places you don’t expect, and you have to be grateful and fortunate and run with it.

Em: Yeah definitely, I didn’t see myself being here 6 years ago. Honestly Evan, every time we get together we could just talk and talk. I really want to thank you for giving us a glimpse into your life and what makes you tick. Thank you so much for sacrificing your time and for sharing what people may not know about you.

Evan: Thank you. Thank you for letting me be a part of your family and team. Anybody feel free to reach out to me, I’m an open book.

Em: Look up Evan Stowers and The Desert Lounge Salon. Bye!

ed me where I was and I told you I was on my way, and I was driving and had barely left and I put my phone down and there was a policeman pulling up around the corner! And I wasn’t wearing my seatbelt, and he tapped his own shoulder to signal ‘put your seatbelt on’ and I panicked because I thought, ‘oh no, I’m going to get pulled over and miss this whole live!’ (laughter). He didn’t pull me over. I’ve actually been pulled over twice for that [not wearing a seatbelt], and the second time the guy didn’t actually give me a ticket. I said to him, ‘hey man, I don’t mean to be a jerk, but don’t you have anything better to do then to give me a ticket’, and he said ‘I’m going to give you a warning. I may not care about you but others do’. But, I promise, I normally wear them and I got here safely! Sorry, we started on a bad note… anyways! (laughter) Thanks for having me.

Emily: That’s fine, that’s why I love you Evan - you’re always throwing something out there. You’re very welcome, thanks for joining us and spending your time with us… ‘cause I know it’s 7.30pm at night now…?

Evan: Yeah, my kids are at my in-laws. I was also moving a chicken coop around 7pm cause I thought it was 7.30. So they’re over there with the chickens (laughter), and I’m here with some Colorco critters and other little girls toys, just sitting here on the couch. I’m not in the salon anymore, I’m hanging out with a rabbit! (laughter & shows toys)

Emily: So, this is Evan Stowers. Evan is an amazing balayage and blonde expert. He owns his own salon called ‘The Desert Lounge Salon’ in Utah, USA. Evan is our USA ambassador and we’re super honoured to have you here. So, take it away Evan, where did you grow up?

Evan: So, I grew up in Anaheim, California….so Orange County, by Disneyland.

Emily: The OC!

Evan: Yeah! One of my buddies Justin, who’s been on here, he’s from that area. Then I moved when I was around 8 years old to Salt Lake City, Utah, which is Northern Utah, and then I ended up in Southern Utah, which is the border between Utah and Nevada and I’ve been here since 2011.

Emily: What made you move here? Was it meeting your wife?

Evan: I met my wife in Salt Lake City and we ended up moving to be closer to her family down here in the desert.

Emily: Did it take long to adjust or your quite happy being there?

Evan: Ironically, I love trees, so it took an adjustment to get to the desert… we have some trees. We live near Zia national park which is one of the best national parks in the world. We’re completely surrounded by desert, which is why we have The Desert Lounge Salon and we embraced the surroundings. It has a lot of hikes and lots of cool things. I have grown to love it!

Emily: Yeah, we love the photos of you and your family, there are some with the desert background – who takes those photos?

Evan: My wife does a lot of our photography. She’s an influencer, so she’s really savvy with Instagram and photography is a passion of hers. A lot [of the photos] is a timer & she uses her phone.

Emily: A husband and wife super team! We love the photo we featured on our Instagram of you for this interview…

Evan: Oh yeah! I had a client in Las Vegas once, and then we would stay at a hotel and she [my wife] took that real quick.

Emily: Well she’s super talented, as are you as a hairdresser & a dad. What made you want to become a hairdresser?

Evan: Without getting too far into it, it was something I had an interest in when I was young, my mum did hair down in Newport – she had a home salon and she ended up doing family in Utah. She would cut my sideburns off, but I was picky so when I was 12 I started cutting my own hair. It was just something I did - I never thought I was going to do hair. I kept running away from it until about 6-7 years ago. I’ve been licensed for 10 + years. I struggled with confidence and so I got a degree in communications and started a Masters. As I’d been doing hair I thought, I need to get back into this. I spent a year in Missouri. I’ve been back here for 5 years and that really pushed me back into it. I’m really young in the hair industry and I really struggled. I’d go home and think of all the things I did wrong. I don’t know if it’s just part of being an artist, but it was really hard for me. Then I did a masters in Rhetoric, it came back full circle and I always felt like I had something else [other than hairdressing], and once I cut all of that out, I loved it [hairdressing]. I don’t have to shave or wear slacks, so it suits me pretty well!

Em: You’re able to wear whatever you like because that’s you - your personality and your clients are used to that. I used to be a teacher and I joined the industry about the same time as you.

Evan: It’s been fun!

Em: You’re very much known for your lived-in blonde, balayage style – how did you come to be that kind of salon. The lighter hair/the balayage/the bronde…?\

Evan: I got really lucky. My wife loved being a blonde and ever since we started dating I’ve been doing her hair. We started off as a paint and tone, and I got to experiment - she pushed me back into doing hair. She’s a hair school dropout and she’s always really supportive. Her hair is a natural brown, like level 5. My entire week off was doing her hair – we just put up a timelapse…. When the kids go to bed and we’re watching the walking dead and I’m doing her hair until like 1am in the morning!

Em: You guys are parents, how are you up until 1am?!

Evan: She’s [my wife] amazing, she’ll let me sleep in and my kids sleep in too! …So my wife, I tested out a lot of product on her hair, and I’ve tried lots of things! A lot of trial and error. I started getting into the lived-in look about 5 years ago. It’s a game for me - lets see how long this can last for the client! Some stylists used to say it was about the money…that always bothered me (and that’s not every hairdresser), so I always wanted to know how long the colour would last. It’s a bit of a retirement town….Palm Springs in Utah. We’re just starting to get tech. I had a lot of guests spending for a premium service for longevity. I studied a bunch of colourists, then put a million things in together, to make my own style of a lived-in blonde.

Em: I am absolutely flawed that this isn’t something you just decided one day…this is years and years of getting your own style from other colourists! You emulate not imitate. So, Evan, the big question…what’s the longest a colour you’ve done has gone?

Evan: 6 months to a year! Lighter base clients I see once a year. I feel like we were in a really good time before this pandemic… [I was seeing clients] once a quarter to every 6 months…I have a couple of clients that I do once a year. I saw a guest recently who had been growing out her hair for about 1 and a half years…it grew out really well! So well I actually thought she’d cheated on me (laughter)…I was asking her ‘and is there any other colour in here’ (laughter)! I love Amiee Marie’s work!

There is nothing wrong with doing high maintenance colour. If people say ‘you should do this’ I tend to then not do that….unless my guest wants that. I love the underdog, if an influencer says this is what you should do, that’s what I tend to not do. I hope it [lived-in colour] doesn’t go out of style forever because I love it, but on to the next style if so.

Em: You said before about focusing on this [lived-in colour] for about 5 years ago, and, correct me if I’m wrong, but I only noticed it taking off about 1 and a ½ years ago!

Evan: Watching Amiee’s live yesterday, I started my insta about 5-6 years ago and I got lucky and started following a few people that I loved, and really started to connect with them, work with them. I just really loved it, and I don’t know it’s a beach thing but I just really love the lived-in look!
              My cousin Jo lives in Hawaii, and just joined the live, and Jacob in Atlanta – I’ve been very blessed to work with some really cool people! Once I dove in [to hairdressing] I tried to take a lot of classes and education. It was a sacrifice as we really didn’t have a lot of money. My dad always said ‘pray for the work, then put your head down and work’. I come from a history of workaholics. I did what I did to go to the classes and make the money to go!

Em: You really emulate the ‘be kind during your grind’. You’re so down to earth. Yes, you’re getting bigger, more and more people are getting to know you and love what you do, and you don’t change who you are.

Evan: Going back to confidence, I’ve always struggled with depression, and I think its grounded me. I just always feel blessed - I feel blessed people enjoy what I do. I’m just doing my thing, and I’m there to be there for anybody else who is a part of this journey. We’re all just trying to make a living and trying to make our guests happy. We’re just trying to etch out our purpose. When you asked me to be an ambassador I was like, WHAT?! (laughter) I’m very fortunate.

Emily: We asked you because you really do align with our values, and you supported us from the beginning. We knew for you it wasn’t about spreading your name and trying to promote who you are. It’s really important to us that we align and that we’re a family! …So lets get on to Buckminster – I’m really interested in this. I was flawed when you told us he was your influence (check out our post if you haven’t seen it and you’ll see what we’re talking about!)

Evan: So Buckminster…I’m kind of a nerd, I like to go to the thrift store, read them and then return them back. I found one of his books at a thrift store and was like, ‘who is this guy?’. I think it was a book for youth. This guy is super rad, he came from nothing, he got into architecture, he got kicked out of Harvard twice, he tried to better the world, and lot of people thought he was crazy or a hack, and through science and artistry he just kept trying to better the world! Even until he died, he was lecturing and talking about ‘spaceship earth’. Well ahead of sustainability before others were. His whole thing about houses is that they should be automated, and we should be using our talents to be bettering ourselves. This guy wasn’t trying to be prestigious; he wasn’t trying to get a lot of glory, he just wanted people to be better. His daughter died from pneumonia from poor housing conditions and that’s why he became an advocate for housing. He had a voice in his head that said your life is not your own, during a time when he wanted to commit suicide. He’s not super popular, he’s just a really cool guy. I just dig him.

Em: He’s an underdog, and kept pushing for what he believed in! …Someone asked what’s the best way to colour your hair at home as she can’t get her hair done whilst at home.

Evan: Majority of my clients are blonde and I have had them able to wait it out. I have been following different colourists…there is 3 camps: 1. Don’t touch it [your hair colour] because you’ll be paying lots of money to pay for the correction. 2. Different options to colour [home kits, etc]. 3. We’re all human beings and you have got to do what you’ve got to do. An act of kindness will outweigh if your client leaves. When a client leaves, it gives the opportunity for new clients. If they box dye their hair, I know how to fix it. I don’t want them to but I’m not going to shame them. I’m not God of your hair, I’m your stylist, I’m your friend… some people have done some seriously drunk hair things! (laughter) There is so much stress out there, some are working and some aren’t. This is going to affect us longer than a month. Some clients aren’t going to have money and they want low-maintenance looks. A lot will go to your neighbour. I can’t do everyone’s hair. There is so much room for someone to pay $7 for a haircut, and I don’t need to be bothered. If a client chooses to go somewhere else, it gives so much opportunity to grow. I’ve had to detach from a lot of it, I follow my news and people that I care on Instagram – but I’ve really had to distance myself from the rest because there is a lot of fear and some people aren’t concerned, and some are. It’s stressful and sad, but we just need empathy. Someone will just want their greys covered.

Em: A lot of hairdressers are like you - a lot of hairdressers want to make them [their guests] feel good about themselves. Particularly with all of the mental health going on. Once things resume there is still going to be so many differences. I believe it’s up to each and every stylist, not judging. As long as they’re not hurting others.

Evan: It’s not about the hair. You can see with the foils – I’ve seen you making really rad designs. It’s more, it’s something fun! People want the connections; they want to have fun. We’re going through a period but it’s not going to devastate us. There is so many different opinions, but I’ve seen so many people giving up some really cool things, like education, etc.

Em: It’s amazing, really nice! …You did just bring up the foils, we can’t ignore the fact we did a collaboration together. We really enjoyed creating a foil with you. What kind of feelings did you have? Talk us through it!

Evan: Without divulging too much, I saw you were working with some stylists in Australia and I was like we’ve got to do this! I hit Emily up and said I really want to do this. Emily explained how many packets, etc. and…I used to play in a band, I thought, we’d do a run and we’ll do more when we need them. (laughter) I talked to my stylists and my stylists put in a little bit of money and we had a pool and we went through the process and it was about 4-6 months. My dear friend did all the graphic design, and Emily said we wanted to do the cacti!

Emily: Yeah, you sent us your logo. Knowing you, we were like, we’ve definitely got to have cacti’s on there and some kind of desert colour! It just so happened that our manufacturer was so awesome that they were able typo produce this gorgeous colour! (showing foils)

Evan: Yeah, you showed us different schemes of colour and we were like, let’s be extra, and let’s go gold! We thought it was kind of silly, we’re going full gold; desert. I remember us solidifying that and then you told me how many were coming….I thought cartons were boxes…like packets. (laughter) I remember calling you and thinking, oh my gosh, a carton has all these packets! We were so pumped on it and were like, let’s do it. We loved our relationship with you and so we thought we’ll make it work and we had some spare to share with the public. We thought we were just doing something fun for the salon, and it turned out to be this fun collaboration! We were blown away by how many people were stoked to want them!

Em: Yeah after our post [featuring The Desert Lounge Salon custom foil] the engagement was amazing! We asked you if we could sell the 20 extra and they sold within 2 minutes…so I was like, okay Evan, how about we make these a permanent thing. I have very fond memories of that collaboration!

Evan: I called 2 of my stylists, I remember getting off the phone with you, and one of them said, ‘oh my gosh, can we send them back?’ And I was like NO! And then the other one was like, ‘hell yeah, we’ve got so many foils!!!’ (laughter) We were so stoked! We’ve used them all and now we’re getting more!

Em: I’m a big believer in they were meant to happen! It’s the first and only time our manufacturer has made 20 spare packets! …so Evan, I know it’s getting late, I did want to ask you about your Dad/work life, because I know you’ve got 4 kids. Do you have any tips for working hairdressers with kids?

Evan: Marry an amazing wife! My wife is incredible, she’s the most patient and chill person. She’s next level chill. We’ve been really blessed to have some amazing kids. I’m a talker, and my wife will know that when I say ‘I’m on my way’ I might be a little longer. The biggest thing for me in this pandemic has been learning to chill out a little. I love to work - I was there at the salon today. I love being where I am. I would say, try to figure out where you need to be with your balance and then work towards that. As hairdressers, we can always take one more client. I had this friend that was in law school. There is a curve in Law school grading, and they said ‘did I [my friend] want to be an A student or an A- student, and I’ve chosen to be an A- student who spends more time with my family.’ I need to see my children. Without giving you any advice, just figure out how much you need to make, and what is the risk of the relationship with your family. For Christmas, we took 1 and a ½ weeks off and you know you have an addiction when you are struggling to do a puzzle, and that’s a present to take that step back. In the grand scheme of things, what’s the most important thing? You’re just going to grow up, and you’re not going to be able to go back from that.

 Em: That’s great advice, I’ve got kids and being an owner of a company, you do work your ass off and you have to reminder yourself life is always going to go on, and you have to remember what do you want your kids to remember you as.

Evan: No one does it right, per say. There is all these stressors in life and you’ll know when you need to draw back and when you want to accelerate. It takes time, you figure it out as you go.

Em: Does it just come to you or are you constantly thinking of ways to grow, etc?

Evan: There is some interesting things that come with the reality of becoming bigger…..You have to pull yourself out of being bigger sometimes, because some of those things are totally out of your control. They are just stressors. Sometimes you’ve got to have faith that things will be provided to you in the right way, and not necessarily in the way you want them to. If we don’t believe that we can receive what we need, not in abundance, but being like, all I need is just a couple of bedrooms, I don’t need a mansion. If you can accept what you need, it helps destress you a little bit. Easier said than done. I struggle with that. I want to be a homeowner so my wife can do projects and my kids can run wild….I don’t know if my time frame is in sync with the universes time frame. We’re able to take care of our families with what we have now. One of my main goal when I was going to college is I wanted to become a professor and communicate through a secretary…I didn’t want to own a cell phone! My wife said ‘how will I get a hold of you’, and I said you’ll email my secretary. (laughter) That was a goal in one point of my life! I just wanted to live life different to the scope I am in. You ended up in places you don’t expect, and you have to be grateful and fortunate and run with it.

Em: Yeah definitely, I didn’t see myself being here 6 years ago. Honestly Evan, every time we get together we could just talk and talk. I really want to thank you for giving us a glimpse into your life and what makes you tick. Thank you so much for sacrificing your time and for sharing what people may not know about you.

Evan: Thank you. Thank you for letting me be a part of your family and team. Anybody feel free to reach out to me, I’m an open book.

Em: For those of you who don't already follow Evan, hit him up at @evanstowers and @thedesertloungesalon.