1.4 million hashtags and nearly 660k followers, Behind The Chair has become a staple of the online community in the hair world. To be “featured” means you get to have your work displayed in front of hundreds of thousands of hairdressers hungry for knowledge and inspiration. To be featured once is definitely an accomplishment in your professional life, and Jonathan’s work has been featured 3 times since the beginning of 2016.
The question we are dying to know; how do you get noticed in such a competitive industry through a social platform?
I have to start by saying how incredibly humble of a human being Jonathan is. Every time he has been featured on a popular Instagram, he is nothing but grateful & gracious that the work he pours his everything into is recognized by such a huge entity. After a busy Wednesday, I asked some need to know questions.
Why do you feel like you keep getting featured?
“I feel like I keep being featured because I genuinely love what I do. I never feel like I work because I have so much fun connecting with my clients and establishing that relationship. I feel like if my love and passion shows in my work, and entities like @ModernSalon or @BehindTheChair_Com can see that, THAT’S whats capturing the attention.”
What are your tips for Instagram?
“There is no rulebook or guideline that I could set, because I don’t feel like my account is any better or any more special than anyone else’s. If you have your own Instagram account, run it that way you want. If you are happy with it & branding yourself the way you want to be branded, wether its simple and minimalistic photos or if you like pops of color and attention grabbing pics, do what you want to do. Because I’m doing me and I feel like it’s helped me get to where I am and is getting me get to where I’m going. I am staying true to who I am as a stylist.
But if I have to get technical, I make sure my pictures:
- are crisp & clean
- have even lighting with no shadows
- are taken on a plain wall.
Thats the style, the vibe, & the mood that I want my page to have. I like everything to be cohesive. Keeping that look as a whole on an account is important. I think thats where your professionalism shows and I feel like brands like @ModernSalon & @BehindTheChair_com can see & pick up on that.”
Why do you do what you do?
“This is actually a very hard question. It is a feeling of gratification that I get from this craft that I was blessed enough to be able to do with my own two hands. I get to bring out the inner beauty in others that I see in them and help them feel better about themselves. When I am allowed to sit down with someone and bring out what I feel is the best part of them on the inside and show it on the outside, theres no better, more gratifying feeling than that. Just like everyone, I have my own insecurities, but when I get to be the medium that helps someone get rid of some of their insecurities about their appearance, I feel like it helps mine go away too. This is exactly why God put on this earth.”
Last words of advice?
“Don’t measure your success by how many features you get, don’t measure your success on how many clients you have, OR how many followers/likes you get, but measure your success based on how happy YOU are doing what you’re doing and how happy you make your clients. At the end of the day if you go home and wake up the next morning & all you can do is think about doing hair again, then I think you’ll be successful.” -@JAndrewSerna
“They buy the stylist BEFORE they buy the service.”
Before even a comb goes through the hair, before any color is mixed, and before the shears are even out of their case; They buy the stylist before they buy the service. How do you stand out in an online crowd? Live your passion. If you are living your passion, it WILL be noticed. We are all put on this earth for a specific purpose, some find that purpose at an early age & for others, it takes a little longer to find. Whatever the case may be, finding that niche and being completely passionate about it will always make you stand out among the rest.
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Behind the Sessions 