She's No Beauty School Dropout

It’s amazing what a company can do to help better the lives of others. MATRIX, the leading professional hair-care and hair color company in the U.S. and part of USA’s L’Oreal Professional Products Division, is doing just that.

And it actually is hitting home for and University of Arizona graduate, Natalie Fox. Natalie, who worked at the Mario Tricoci Salon in Vernon Hills throughout high school, sort of fell in love with the salon life. Her parents wanted her to continue the path she had in motion and go to U of A, so she did, and graduated with a journalism degree. But upon graduating, Natalie enrolled herself in Kohler Beauty Academy in Scottsdale, Arizona, and recently completed the program.

So how does this all wrap together? MATRIX offers a program called Spread the Love for six recent beauty school grads in which these "newbies" have the opportunity to travel across the country, city to city, to connect and learn from experienced stylists, attend industry events, do related charity work and learn the pros and cons of working and/or owning a salon.

Natalie says, “This is the perfect opportunity for me because I really want to combine my journalism degree and cosmetology license to become a beauty expert, possibly for a TV station, magazine and/or blogging.” All the winners do have to blog about their experience throughout the six months of travel.

Natalie explains her journey of entering this contest. “In order to enter, I had to have a blog and make a 90 second video about myself. It was a little cheesy, as I dressed as a reporter and interviewed myself. Then I made it to the next round, where I had to write a blog entry answering 10 questions, make a two-minute video answering four of the 10 questions, make another two-minute video showcasing a salon I think is special, and get two letters of recommendation. After that, I got a phone call saying I made it to the final round and MATRIX was flying me and 17 other finalists to NYC for a final interview. While I was in New York, they had a series of events that allowed the judges and MATRIX employees to get to know the finalists better. There were individual interviews, hair styling competitions, a cocktail party and some other projects. The winners from last year announced the six winners this year and it was very exciting.” 

Attached is one of video spots Natalie made. It’s quite cute.

As Natalie prepares to leave on January 12, she incredibly excited. She told me the only thing she was nervous about was how to pack one bag that will take her from New Orleans to Michigan to LA, where there are major weather differences! Good luck Natalie, not only with your adventure but also with the packing! 

As always, email me with any news, topics or ideas that you want to read about. Remember, I’d like to be the first to know! I can be reached at laurenbgpatch@aol.com.