Today we’d like to introduce you to Wendy Cisneros.
Wendy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born and raised in Habana, Cuba . I had a wonderful childhood, with a great education, great friends and the most special family. When I was 17 years old, i started cutting hair, for my friends and family. I just knew how to recreate a shape from looking at an image and i loved it, it felt like sculpting.
I crossed the Mexican border ten years ago, after working a couple of odd jobs while getting my feet on the ground in Miami, I met Franck Izquierdo and started working at IGK. I started as an assistant, then became a manager and now I’m a hairstylist.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I came to United States when I was 24 years old. Even though I knew enough English to have a basic conversation, every day I learned a new word, every day I’d ask how to pronounce something. It was funny for others, but I didn’t take it personally. I like to learn and I am very stubborn! haha! Things are very different from Habana, I had to learn the idiosyncrasy of the city of Miami. It was a lot every single day. I worked for five years before I took my first vacation! 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, on my phone on my days off! I was living on my own for the first time, I had to take care of myself, bills, food, transportation, my apartment! Suddenly I had so many responsibilities in my life!
Please tell us more about your work. What do you do? What do you specialize in? What sets you apart from competition?
IGK came as a fresh touch in the hair industry, founded by the two brothers Franck and Leo Izquierdo (MIA), Aaron Grenia (NYC) and Chase Kusero (LA). We wanted to be seen different but not apart from hairstyling, we wanted to create a “lifestyle” brand where clients would feel part of a family, more like a gang. We encourage self-expression to the max! We’re a big team with hair salons in MIA and NYC. I specialize in haircutting and I’m mostly known these days for drastic transformations, like from very long to very short hair. I think what sets me apart is how I learned to cut hair, by creating a unique shape for the individual, focusing on the understanding of the client’s need/vision, for me, it’s very important that the person feels very comfortable with their hair. With my haircuts, the client finds the person they imagine they are when they look in the mirror. I am always honest and I think they appreciate that.
Working at IGK most of my dreams came true, I’ve worked at NYFW, I’ve traveled around the US promoting IGK products, I did most of the editorial work for IGK Campaign in the first two years, as well as working for other brands.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I wouldn’t change anything, today I feel it was worth the sacrifice.
Contact Info:
- Address: IGK SALON MIAMI
3930 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33137 - Website: http://www.igkhair.com
- Phone: 3055735520
- Email: hello@igkhair.com
- Instagram: @wendy.cisneros @igksalons @igkhair
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