In the midst of getting a tattoo, Sess Lee Cannon had a revelation: she was in the wrong career. As the tattoo artist added the final touches to her son Elijah’s name on her shoulder, he struck up a conversation with Cannon and her friend. Admiring the haircut Cannon had given her friend with kitchen scissors, the artist asked where her salon was.
“I told him I didn’t work in a salon and just did hair for fun,” recalls Lee, who uses her middle name professionally. “He said, ‘You might want to reconsider what you’re doing for a living. It’s clear you have a gift.’”
That unexpected advice resonated with Lee, then 20. Though she enjoyed styling her friends’ hair and experimenting with her own curly locks, she had always seen it as a hobby rather than a career.
In 2007, Lee was two years out of high school and one year removed from dropping out of Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, after discovering she was pregnant. As she prepared for her son Elijah’s arrival, she moved into a small apartment in Peoria, Illinois, and secured a customer service job at Maui Jim, a sunglasses company. Her proficiency with numbers led to a promotion to accounting clerk within a year.
“Math always came easy to me,” Lee says. “I thought working in finance would keep me from ever being poor again.”
Yet, despite the success in her corporate role, Lee felt unfulfilled. “I missed the creative freedom I had with hair,” she adds. “I guess I needed that push from a stranger to pursue it.”
Determined to make a change, Lee decided to switch careers on her drive home. “I had no idea if it would work out, but I knew I’d regret not trying,” she says.
The gamble paid off. Today, Lee owns Flourish Curls Salon in Arlington, Texas, which earned $1.1 million in revenue last year, according to CNBC Make It’s review of financial documents. After business expenses and taxes, Lee’s annual take-home pay is between $100,000 and $150,000, though she chose not to disclose her exact earnings.
Here’s how Lee transformed her passion for hair into a lucrative career.
Becoming a Hairstylist
The day after her tattoo, Lee visited Regency Beauty Institute, a cosmetology school in Peoria she had frequently driven past. She enrolled in classes and quit her job at Maui Jim after making her first deposit. The cosmetology program, costing $22,000, required Lee to attend classes five days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for about 18 months.
To cover her tuition and living expenses, Lee, a single parent, worked as a waitress at a local steakhouse while her grandparents cared for Elijah.
Becoming a licensed hairstylist typically involves completing a cosmetology program at an accredited school and passing a state exam, which includes both written and practical components. Many states also require a period of apprenticeship or salon assistant work.
After finishing her licensing requirements in 2009, Lee began taking clients at home and worked part-time at a salon specializing in natural hair in Peoria.