Meet Kate Roberts | Hair Stylist and Colorist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kate Roberts and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kate, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk; taking a chance and hoping you succeed. That’s pretty much been the motto of my adult life, both personally and professionally. My first big risk was buying a home as a single 26 year old. At the time I was managing a med spa all while working behind the chair pursuing my true passion as a hair stylist.

Four years later I took my next big risk by selling my house, following my heart and moving from Pittsburgh, PA to Dallas, TX and completely starting over. I then had a big decision to make, do I get a secure and stable job in the medical field again where my pay is known and consistent with good benefits or do I continue to follow my dreams and start over as a stylist where pay is always an unknown and benefits are typically not offered? Well the risk taker in me decided to follow my dreams. I took a position at a high end salon as the assistant manager and part time stylist. By managing I knew that would give me some consistent pay all while rebuilding my clientele. After a year I stepped down from management and decided to focus solely on myself, both in and out of the salon. I married the boyfriend that brought me to Texas and started a family, all while trying to stay on top of the latest hair trends and having to learn to use and navigate social media. Business was steady and slowly growing. Perfect for a part time stylist and full time parent of 2.

Then the pandemic hit and everything changed! Salons were shut down for weeks, lots of stylists moved on from doing hair, some retired early, and several salons ended up closing their doors for good. My salon was one of them. I had a 2 week notice from my employer to figure out what I was going to do next. Do I take the safe road and move on to another commission based salon where I have to work specific days and hours and continue to answer to someone overseeing me and my work? Or do I take a huge risk and finally take my business into my own hands where I can work when I want, charge what I want and have the exact flexibility I need in order to still be a constant parental figure in my children’s lives? For me, it was a no brainer. And that’s when I created Kate Roberts Hair Studio. In the matter of 2 weeks I found a salon suite, moved in, contacted all of my clients, and began this new entrepreneurial adventure. Thankfully with the amount of clients looking for new stylists and all of my hard social media work, my risk was paying off! I am making more money than I ever have and I am more present and available to my family than ever before.

Without all of these risks that I’ve taken throughout my life I wouldn’t be where I am today. And without risk, there’s no reward. I am very grateful and blessed to be where I’m at in life right now and wouldn’t change a thing.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Being in the beauty industry you always need to be up to date with the latest trends and styles. That alone keeps me pretty busy. I take multiple online courses throughout the year and try to attend at least one hair show a year as well. Then there’s social media. That in itself is almost a full time job. Whether I’m watching and learning from others in my industry or creating my own content to post. Besides all of that, at the end of the day I am running my own business. Keeping track of my expenses and earnings and making sure my shelves are stocked with retail is a daily task. Most importantly is keeping my schedule full. So looking ahead a few weeks and contacting clients that I haven’t seen recently or are overdue for their next appointment is very important. I’m only in the salon part time, but running my business is definitely a full time job.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

I love the rich history that Texas has, especially Dallas. When I moved here I wanted to immerse myself in the culture and learn everything I could about this ginormous state. So when friends and family come to visit I love showing them all the cool and unique things Dallas has to offer. The year I came to Dallas was the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination. I loved that I could get in my car and go to the very site where it happened. When anyone comes to visit I always take them downtown and show them Kennedy’s route, along with the Sixth Floor Museum, the corner where Officer Tippet was shot and killed, the Texas Theater where Oswald was apprehended and even Oswald’s house and boarding house where he was staying during the time of the President’s visit.

Besides the history, I love Texas for its warm weather and the amount of outdoor activities it offers. We spend a lot of time at White Rock Lake riding our bikes and just taking in the scenery. So we love taking people there as well as The Dallas Arboretum to see all of the beautiful flowers and landscaping.

But my all-time favorite thing about Dallas are the margaritas! Especially while sitting on a patio during a hot summer day. The Smoky Rose in E. Dallas checks both of those boxes. They have a great big patio, delicious bbq and strong drinks. HG Supply, El Vecino, Standard Service and Bar None also have really good margaritas, as well as food and are all places we love to take our out of town guests to.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband and partner, Nathan, of the last 10+ years has been my biggest supporter. He has always encouraged me to follow my dreams and pursue my passion. He has seen my growth behind the chair, and although at times it was slow and quite a long process to get me to where I am now, he never wavered on his support.

My other shout out goes to one of my closet friends and colleagues, James Pressly. James and I worked together for years. We helped each other, encouraged one another, taught each other things the other one didn’t know, went to hair shows, took multiple classes and even had a dream of opening our own salon together. Right before the pandemic we were looking at places together and working on a plan. After the pandemic hit and everything started to change we really needed to figure out what would be best for us moving forward. Unfortunately before anything could happen, James unexpectedly passed away. But it if wasn’t for him I may not have had the courage to go out on my own and open my salon suite. Everything I do, I think of him and how he would handle it. I owe a lot to him, more than he’ll ever know.

Website: www.katerobertshairstudio.com

Instagram: @katerobertshair

Facebook: @katerobertshair