Today we’d like to introduce you to Sydney Wieland.
Hi Sydney, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I knew I wanted to do hair ever since being a little girl going to hair appointments with my mom. Sitting there, watching and listening while soaking up the atmosphere and ambiance of each and every salon and stylist she had seen over the years. Hair color was most intriguing to me, and I knew one day I was going to do hair color on a level that I hadn’t seen before on a person. Only my My Little Ponies and Troll Dolls being a ’90s kid. Fast forward to high school, moving from San Diego to Colorado Springs; I graduated high school and hair school at the same time in 2009. Back to SD, and my career began.
I’m currently 10 years in. I’ve paid my dues but also accomplished so many amazing opportunities that, as a young stylist, I only dreamed of. I’ve enjoyed learning how to be a well-rounded stylist over my career, taking every opportunity that came my way, including being 1 of 100 employees chosen companywide for a color certification program through Ulta and Redken. Once I was certified, I immediately wanted to grow more and to see how far I could go with hair color. Specifically, color corrections, specialty bleach work, and fantasy colors. After leaving my first salon home at Ulta in San Marcos after 6 years, I opened my first salon inside Sola Salons Carlsbad. I was there for 2 years and enjoyed leaning to grow my own business. From there, I decided to booth rent a chair from a friend Casey Brookshire, owner of Mod Hair Salon in Vista. While being there, I was able to shift focus to my home life more, which included building a tiny home with my fiancé, Caleb Smith. His passion is woodworking and upcycling using recycled skateboards and materials. Over the last year, Caleb built our home while I continued to do hair and research on tiny homes. I also did all the DIY projects I could help with. We started building in June 2021 and moved in February 2022. From that moment on, my brain shifted back to wanting to create my dream space to do what I love and feel inspired in! September of this year, I made the moves and opened Color Quest inside Sola Salons San Marcos, collaborating with my close friend and coworker Alyssa Lenhof, owner of Dying to Live.
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?
You know, I honestly feel if the road is too smooth, it’s a sign you’re not challenging yourself enough. One of the biggest challenges I’ve had was getting my cosmetology license. I should have been licensed in 2009 when I graduated hair school in Colorado Springs. I moved back to San Diego immediately after graduating without testing in Colorado and began the process to test in California. It took 1 year to get approval of my hours transferred, but I was then required to go back to school before testing. At the time, California required more hours in school than Colorado. I officially got my license in January 2012, over 2 years later. At the same time, I had to support myself being 18 living on my own in San Diego, so I pursued a makeup career. I went to school at the Napoleon Perdis Makeup Academy in Hollywood and took amazing opportunities in LA on weekends. I also worked for Ulta as a makeup consultant for my day job while in night school for hair. The moral of the story is don’t let your struggles get in the way of pursuing your dreams; find a side road and learn everything you can on the way!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in and am most proud of my skills within blending hair colors, creating beautiful unique color pallets often inspired by nature, and adding fullness and color pop with extensions. I want everyone to feel they can have any color hair they want no matter their age or profession. There is always a way to use color to express your personality but still remain tasteful, professional, or whatever vibe you want to be. It’s within finding the right tones and application of colors it takes to create the desired result.
I also love the chemistry behind hair color. Formulating for a color correction or helping a coworker with a hair color challenge is one of my favorite things about what I do. Brainstorming up a pattern or color pallet based on a client’s inspiration photo fuels my fire to creating a beautiful result. I love the process of “talking color” and allowing the client to be part of the process of creating their dream hair with my pallet of rainbow paints. I’m huge on a mindful tonal fade as the vibrancy washes away. I believe that your hair on the day of your refresh appointment should still be getting compliments if I’ve been doing your hair. The feeling of how happy my clients are from an experience in my chair is the best part of what I do.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
The biggest change I am expecting over the next few years is a shift in industry standards. Covid put a heavy impact on schooling and licensing requirements. As I shared earlier, requirements to get your cosmetology license were very strict when I was going through it. Standards consisted of 1600 hours in school along with a test created for the purpose of safety in the work place. The practical exam was so rigorous that it forced you to have impeccable safety and sanitation habits. If you didn’t display that for your exam, you were sure to fail. Everyone who has taken a practical exam knows, certain things just stick with you better when your demonstrating in person and being tested. I’m sharing this with you from the prospective of someone who took this test, and is still grateful for the experience that came from it.
This test is no longer a requirement to get a cosmetology license in California. You now only take a written exam with a pass or fail status. Hours in school requirements have also been reduced.
Students graduating beauty school today have many challenges ahead of them starting a career. Now, there is the added challenge of one of the most important and simple parts of the job, safety and sanitation. I feel that without that practical exam, the test is a display of memorization. It is important now more than ever to keep the standards of our industry high and be mentors to the new beauty school graduates.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://color-quest.square.site/
- Instagram: @colorquesthair
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colorquestbysyd/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/color-quest-san-marcos?osq=color+quest
