Kell Grace is an updo specialist, educator, platform artist, and owner of the Kell Grace Makeup & Hair Studio in Winter Park, FL.
She’s built a thriving salon business, sidelines as an educator and platform artist, and has created physical and digital products, all from updos — a service she started doing when none of her salon co-workers would take them.
Along the way, Grace has learned some invaluable lessons: some from mentors, some “the hard way,” she laughs. Here are her top 10!
1. You Can Make Money & Build a Whole Business on Updos
After I got licensed at 19, I got my first job in a nice salon. I would take on all the updos, although I really didn’t know what I was doing. None of the other stylists wanted to do them, so I would take them all.
At one point a light bulb went off in my head: Why is this not profitable? There's no permanent change. I can put the hair up quickly; they take it down that night. This should be more profitable.
I started developing little techniques and tricks. I started going to updo classes. I started going to hair shows. I started really learning.
I was doing really fast updos and they were good. They were wearable. Clients were loving them. I developed my own braiding and updo class and began teaching in salons and at shows.
Then I opened my own salon. I was 27 and I didn't have a lot of clients behind the chair.
My team and I did bridal shows where we got clients for weddings, and that’s how we built up our salon business. Clients loved our work and they would come to us after the wedding for color and cut as well.
So it was really cool, because our weddings turned out to be the best way to get long-term clientele behind the chairs.
We laugh because it's been 12 years now and I've already done some of their second weddings, you know? Clients will tell me, I've been with you longer than I was with my first spouse!
2. There Really is a Secret to Fast, Fabulous Updos
In my class, people learn how to create three to four updos in an hour versus one — and at a very professional level. The biggest pro tip they're going to learn is how to create the foundation.
Basically, they're going to learn the base of an updo. If you don't know the base and where to start, then it'll take forever.
Everyone who takes my class leaves wondering how was I spending this long on an updo? I show them how to start and how to increase their speed and still achieve a very high-quality finish.
And not only how to do faster techniques so you can create a lot more in the time you have, but how to market this. I teach so that stylists can go back and really make some money. I only teach what I can sell behind the chair.
4. Don't Overthink or Overtouch
You’re doing hair for very high-stakes moments for your clients, and that can be nerve-wracking.
Some of the best updo artists taught me to not overthink. To know the client is coming to me because I'm an expert. This was really drilled into me: Remember you were trained for this. you're the one they're coming to for this job. You can do it. Don't overthink it.
And another big one: Don’t overtouch the hair! Learn how to step away.
4. Your Kit Can Make or Break You
We have a pack-up list for both hair and makeup. Before we leave, we check off each thing and make sure it’s there. So it's very rare we'll forget something.
Our kits are pre-packed with their own tools and supplies, so we don’t have to take things from our salon stations.
We have backups for the big things, like hair dryers and curling irons, in case something breaks. It’s happened, and we run out to the car and grab the backup and keep on going.
5. It’s Possible to Get Away From the Salon
I am in the same boat as other salon owners where it’s difficult to be away from the business and keep it running.
I work behind the chair as well, so I have a full book of clients. I'm trying to balance being a mother, being a wife, being a stylist, being a salon owner, being an educator, and being a platform artist.
If you want to cross over into the hair show world, or the education world, or anything that will take you out of the salon, the key is to have an excellent management team. I have two amazing managers.
Finding someone who can help you organize and schedule it all is crucial. Invest in what it takes to hire and develop great managers.
6. The Faster You Recognize Your Worth, The Better
In the past, I let people take advantage of me. Many of my friends who are educators have said the same.
I have since learned to understand and communicate my value and to be open and honest about it. Once I started doing that, I realized people really respect it.
Knowing your worth is huge, while also staying humble and working well with others.
7. People Are Willing to Pay for Your Knowledge.
Packaging and selling what you specialize in can create a nice income stream.
I have something called lookbooks. There are photos of about 15 updos in each book, and every one has a QR code that goes straight to a full-length training video, hosted on my website, with me teaching it from start to finish.
What's cool about these books is that stylists use them to give to their clients to choose a style.
The lookbooks have done so well. I’ve launched three, and I’m releasing a new one this year. I sell them on my website and at hair shows as well, and at all of my seminars.
8. Only Do It if You’re Enjoying It.
All my mentors have told me this: You have got to enjoy what you’re doing. You have to have fun. If you're not, you need to figure out how you can change direction.
Because clients will know if you're not enjoying it. They're going to feel it in the chair. And it'll come out in the hair.
9. Loyalty is Never Guaranteed
Twelve years ago when I opened the salon, I thought everyone would be loyal. I was only 27 and I just thought everyone was going to be loyal and trustworthy. And then I quickly found out that that is just not the case.
That’s a big thing I learned the hard way.
For a while I felt almost jaded about it, but now I have come around to seeing it differently.
Like, I'm giving some people opportunities to work with me. If it doesn't work out, it's okay. You hire people, you give them a chance, but they might not be with you forever. And that's fine.
I will say that the good part of this is finding out who the loyal people are. I've had some clients that have stuck with our salon through everything, and it's so cool.
I've learned that when owning a salon, you open up a space, a community for people. Building that community is something I didn't know I was going to do 12 years ago. And I love it.
10. If It Were Easy, Everyone Would Do It
Sometimes I have amazing days where everything’s going right. And then there are days where … oh my gosh.
There are times when I want to quit, when I'm tired, or I'm doubting myself thinking I don't know if I can do all this.
But this is a big thing: If it were easy, everyone would do it. When it's hard, I have to say that to myself over and over.
Because in the end when I see the results, it's so worth it.
I believe God's given me this gift to teach. When I see stylists take what I taught them and generate more revenue for their salon and their families and their homes, I know this is what I am called to do.
Kell Grace will be teaching "Boost Your Profits With Time-Saving Updos," "5 Minute Updos with Kell Grace," "Updo Business-Building," and "Fast Updo Techniques for Instructors and Students" at the International Beauty Show-New York from March 23-25, 2025. Register here.