5 years ago, Brandon was in a toxic salon environment. He came from a really small town and moved to the bigger metropolis where he went to school. After school, he immediately went into working in a salon with a toxic employer.

And I’ll be honest with you, that stung. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, at my core, one of my deepest desires is just to have people like me. And when someone says something like “I’ve lost all respect for you”, it makes me want to have a kneejerk reaction of trying to make everything better.

I’m at that point where I really just wanna throw my hands up and scream for it to stop. I just wanna coast! I’ve had enough of these moments!! C’mon universe, can’t I get a break??

You know what I’m talking about, right?

Her response: “But what about my hair?” I was shocked. Really?? That was the most important thing at that moment?

Even though I was shaking, I was so proud of myself. In the past, I would have apologized and owned this as my fault. But at that moment, I realized they didn’t ask and I was under the assumption that I’m the client, I’m the one paying and I gave you what you needed (the transparent file for the logo).

And as I was reflecting on this the other day, I realized that I’ve really struggled with my self-respect. I don’t know if it happened before or after that moment. But I look back on that situation with a lot of pride on how I handled it at the time.