Check Out Rosalie Silva ’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rosalie Silva.

Hi Rosalie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My Journey with hair started in 2008, at the time I was fresh out of high school working at Starbucks Coffee in my small hometown of Barstow Ca, (yes that stops on your way to Vegas, people do live there LOL !) I expressed my wants and desires to my manager at the time that I wanted to do hair but also work part-time. I never forget her response “ you will never make any money in that, you should become a manager here instead”. Since a little girl, I loved the idea of getting dressed like a movie star. I used to play with my grandmother’s Flora’s clothes and wear her jewelry, with her 1950s dresses, heels & make-up. Then as I grew older and so did my grandma, I would come over just to spend time with her to curl her hair, paint her fingernails, (Red or Pink those were her favorite colors) & do her make-up for the day. These are memories I’ll never forget. So being very young & being told I won’t make any money doing hair, I listened to my current manager and I stayed with Starbucks with 11 years, I moved up the ladder and became a store manager for 6 years. That job taught me so much, and I’m very grateful for all of it. At the end of it all I wasn’t fulfilled in my career. I felt as if I was just a number not an actual person. Doing hair was always on my mind of what if. In the year of 2018, I decided to walked away from that job and take a chance on myself. Not listening to anyone else on how I was crazy for walking away, no manager about numbers or how I needed to present myself. Just what Ro wanted. So I attended a small local barber school in my hometown, It wasn’t what I expected, this grand dream of mine wasnt working out. I was very disappointed.

Sometimes in life we have plans and not all plans go as we liked them to, with that I didn’t finish my program at that particular school. In 2018 I moved from my small town and came to San Diego, I found love partner here and we decided to take the next level and no more long-distance relationship. ( this San Diego native girl was not going to my small town of Barstow with me LOL ) being that her career was a hairstylist Living her passion for making people feel beautiful for 10 years, I was like woah!! I expressed my desires of becoming a barber early in our relationship thinking the goal is so far but she told me if you really want it you will do what it takes, so she really pushed me and became a support system mentally I never thought was possible.

So one day I made the decision to follow my dreams & I did I quit my full-time job here that I found in San Diego and went to one of the best schools of hair, Paul Mitchell The School San Diego. I was so excited this was it, I found myself again. I’m actually doing what I wanted for so many years with a huge plus I had such amazing support system in such a beautiful city. This next chapter was definitely not easy, I had the passion, motivation & want to really achieve this goal that I had been wanting for so long. Attending school during the pandemic made it incredibly difficult but I was not going to quit or let anything stop me from achieving this goal again. I was not going to give up this time, I graduated from Paul Mitchell in August of 2021. The set back’s I had in the past and during the pandemic was hard but I didn’t give up. I found myself doing charity events , free haircuts for the homeless in downtown also events like free haircuts for kids for back school. I really wanted to find a way to give back & connect with people from this city, with that I met so many people along my journey. I knew what hard work was from my past career I just needed to fine-tune it in a different setting. I honestly believe if you the patience with yourself you can achieve anything. With that being said I found myself in La Jolla Ca at Young Attitudes Aveda. A well-respected family-owned salon in the area for 40 years! I knew from the beginning I didn’t want to just become any barber, I wanted to set myself aside from the rest and create an elevated experience for my guest. Doing my research on Aveda history this was exactly where I wanted to be. So if you have a goal, make plans to achieve it. Don’t listen to anyone else on what you need to do with your life, there will be setbacks it’s life; but you have to stay focused on your goal Just do what’s best for you.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely doubt, fear and failure played a huge factor. I doubted myself was this really for me maybe I’m too old now that I’m 30( which isn’t even old) or being scared I’ll fail and then my dream was actually not what I expected.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I also create content for salons with photography, I specifically do in salon/barbershop setting portrait photography along with social media posting and interactions with growing the shops followers and engagement.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Most definitely my Leaders at Paul Mitchell, my super supportive girlfriend Marilyn, and my new friends at the school I made. Marilyn helped me re-paint my dream again, her love and support still through this journey of mine is irreplaceable. Three instructors that really played a huge role were Joe, Iris and Joni. Joe was like a big brother the one who kept it real but always pushed you to be better. Iris to me was like a big sister I could vent to her and she always knew exactly what to say to make me feel better. Joni, well Joni was like your mom you were too scared to come home to after curfew. She was stern straight to the point but so sweet and caring at the same time. Without Joni teaching us the rules of stateboard literally no one would have their licenses LOL
Also my new friends I made through the school, you guys are everything.

Contact Info:

• Email: Ro.ritualblends@gmail.com
• Instagram: Ro.thebarber