Today we’d like to introduce you to Derrick Brooks.
Hi Derrick, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I always had a feeling I would end up in the beauty industry. I grew up surrounded by hairstylists and paralegals, lawyers. so my family always joked that I would either end up in law or somewhere in the beauty world. My aunt did hair, and when I would visit my grandma at her law office, I somehow always found my way downstairs to spend time with the women at the beauty salon. I was also constantly playing with hair growing up.
For a while, though, I thought my path would look completely different. I wanted to be a teacher when I was younger, and once I got to high school, I fell in love with culinary. (Grew up in the kitchen with my grandma also). I spent my first few years taking culinary arts and planned on going to culinary school to become a chef. Eventually, I started losing some of that passion. It is funny looking back now, because I actually started skipping culinary class to hang out in the cosmetology classroom, and I was not even enrolled in the program yet.
I finally decided to give cosmetology a chance during my junior year. I heard plenty of people tell me how difficult the licensing process was, that I would never pass, and I was also the only guy in my class. If anything, that made me want it more. In 2019, I graduated high school as one of seven students from my class to become licensed.
The years after graduation were definitely not a straight path. I worked in several salons, started traveling to clients during COVID, returned to salons, went back to school for a period of time, and eventually became a store manager with Sally Beauty, where I had actually started working during my senior year of high school. I stayed with Sally Beauty until June of 2026 while continuing to build my career behind the chair.
By 2023, I had started quietly planning what would eventually become my own business. In June of 2024, an unexpected change at the salon where I had been working for nearly three years left me questioning whether I even wanted to continue doing hair. I stepped away for a couple of months and seriously considered leaving the industry altogether.
Then the opportunity that changed everything came along. The women who own the space where I currently rent my suite reached out to me. I was hesitant, but I went to see it, took the chance, and launched Charmed Hair Studio in late August of 2024.
Since then, it has been one of the biggest learning experiences of my life, but also one of the most rewarding. The relationships I have built, the education I have received, and even seeing people discover my work through social media and travel to sit in my chair have reminded me why I started. Charmed continues to grow, and being able to look back at all the times I questioned whether this industry was meant for me makes me even more proud of what it has become.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely has not been a smooth road, but I think that has been one of the most important parts of the experience. Owning a business is a constant learning process, and I honestly expect it to stay that way for as long as I have Charmed. There is always more to learn, more education to pursue, and something I can improve on.
One of my biggest challenges in the beginning was finances. I was not nearly as financially organized as I needed to be when I first opened the studio. I had to learn how to manage the expenses of running a business while still paying myself and planning ahead. Looking back now, I can confidently say I am in a much better position and have a much better understanding of the financial side of my business than I did when I started.
Rebuilding my clientele was another huge obstacle. After leaving my previous salon, there was a lot of uncertainty about whether I would have enough clients to support having a studio of my own. Becoming a first time booth renter was scary too. Suddenly, everything was my responsibility. I had to provide everything I needed, make my own decisions, and learn how to trust myself without always having someone there to turn to.
Probably the biggest leap came in June of 2026 when I decided to leave my other job and go full time behind the chair. I had been praying about that decision for months, but actually doing it was terrifying. I was giving up the security of a steady paycheck and trusting that what I had built could support me. That decision has pushed me to take myself and Charmed more seriously than ever, and it has shown me just how much the business has grown since those first few uncertain months.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Charmed hair studio ?
I think what people should know about Charmed Hair Studio is that it is a space built around creativity, individuality, and making people feel confident in themselves. I offer most hair services, but I specialize in customized color, vivid transformations, and hand tied extensions. I have definitely become known for my vivid work and extensions, especially transformations that allow me to really be creative and customize the end result to the person sitting in my chair.
One thing that is extremely important to me is continuing my education. This industry is constantly changing, so I am always working to expand my knowledge, learn new techniques, and stay current with new products and trends. I never want to become so comfortable in what I know that I stop learning.
I also take a lot of pride in being precise and meticulous with my work. For me, it is not about getting someone in and out of my chair or simply making the money from an appointment. I genuinely care about the end result and how that person feels when they leave. Hair can have such a huge impact on someone’s confidence, and being able to help someone feel beautiful or feel like themselves again is one of my favorite parts of what I do.
What does success mean to you?
I think my definition of success has changed a lot over time. I used to think success was reaching a certain point where everything finally felt figured out, but owning a business has taught me that there really is no finish line.
For me right now, success is being able to make a living doing something I genuinely love while continuing to grow as a person, stylist, and business owner. It is having clients who trust me, come back to me, recommend me to other people, and sometimes even travel hours to sit in my chair. It is being able to look at something I built from the ground up and know that people choose to support it.
Of course I want Charmed Hair Studio to continue growing and become financially successful, but I do not think money alone will ever be how I measure success. If I can continue creating a career that gives me independence, allows me to be creative, and gives me the opportunity to make someone feel more confident when they leave my chair than when they walked in, I consider that successful.
Truly, being able to go full time with Charmed in June was probably one of the first moments where I stopped and thought, “Wow, I actually built something that can support me.” That was a huge definition of success for me personally.
Contact Info:
- Website: Https://charmedhairstudio.glossgenius.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_charmed.hair.studio_?stkn=NzlrMnNvY3MxNWZ5&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1MV2atRend/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@0derrick.brooks0?_r=1&_t=ZT-99osridUd93
