The Evolution of HMF

A wise man put things into perspective for me so perfectly in such a simple scenario that everything suddenly became clear. He told me exactly what I needed to hear without even realizing it, or maybe he did, and that makes it even more beautiful.

I am so beyond blessed to be in this place in my life right now. Never could I have imagined I would be able to realize not one dream, but one of many. Things have come so full circle for me, that it is almost scary.

When I was a kid writing was always “my thing.” I just loved it, which might be an odd thing for a 10-year-old, but I can vividly remember every Monday afternoon sitting in the computer lab at my elementary school in 5th grade, and my computer partner and I made up our own stories and newspapers. We would work together and type out these fictional tales while all the other kids were playing games.

I am not even going to lie, my persuasive writing got me out of trouble or a reduced sentence on my grounding as a teenager because I could so eloquently convey my emotions and my true remorse for the situation in question. I always could just express myself better and with more clarity through the written word.

When I was in middle school, I was a proud member of not only the yearbook staff but also the school newspaper. I got to write about things going on and have them published, I was living the pre-teen dream (or at least my own)!  When it came time to go to high school, I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up, a News Anchor! Originally though, but not for any of the right reasons… I heard you got a budget for clothes, and I was immediately sold. Basically, I would get to wear a cute outfit, have my hair and makeup done and talk on tv! This career had my name all over it!

I considered a few schools and magnet programs when it came to choosing a high school. One was an arts-based school with a communications program. I remember for my audition I made a cassette tape (hello children who grew up in the ’90s) where I impersonated a radio personality. It was so much fun! However, I ended up going to a more academically enriched magnet program with a liberal arts focus. I still was on the yearbook staff becoming an editor my junior and senior year, and my most favorite elective was being the anchor on the school news as an upperclassman. DREAM REALIZED! I knew this was what I wanted to do; I loved everything about it!

Fast forward to my first broadcast journalism class freshman year of college. I am sure you can imagine my disappointment when the professor tells the class that you do not actually need a degree in broadcast journalism to be on camera…mind blown. But I continued to explore various areas of journalism, eventually earning a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus in Communications Journalism. Try saying that 10 times fast!

Then of course life happens while you are busy making plans. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would meet the love of my life, my husband, the father of my children at 19 years old, but I did. As our relationship grew and changed so did my priorities and dreams. While I still loved all things communications and journalism, I did not want a job where I would be working nights, weekends, holidays, hurricanes, etc. I did not want to have the possibility of the next promotion being in another city, state, or country.

I decided that teaching was what I was passionate about, I have always loved kids and they too have always been drawn to me. I love school and learning. It gave me a reason to get dressed in a cute outfit, do my hair and makeup, and stand in front of people (be them young) and have all eyes on me listening to what I had to say, sort of like being a reporter or a news anchor. Plus, I was helping and making a difference, which is something that anything I did in life had to do. I had a psychic tell me years ago, you will never be successful at anything unless it is helping other people and making a difference. It is who you are, she told me. Whether she actually “knew or saw” that I do not know, but she was correct. Helping others is who I am.

Fast forward through a few years and my first baby. I tried to go back to teaching because I was afraid, I was going to lose who I was outside of being a mom.  Postpartum is really hard time, whether you have depression or not, it is confusing for everyone who goes through it especially the first time. I was trying to figure out, “who I am now”, that I am a mom to this tiny little human who depends on me for everything.

So, I left my teaching career, I went to school for makeup artistry, and I started my first blog. I realized I love makeup and the creative portion of it, I love writing, but what I loved the most is my son and being his mom, so everything else fell away. Plus, I am a total germaphobe and I am not sure what made me think I would ever enjoy touching strangers’ faces!

A few more years go by and my firstborn starts school very part-time, and we are blessed again with another sweet, healthy baby, and I slip blissfully back into mom mode doing all the Gymboree, music, and other classes with my youngest. But then, he also started school part-time.

If you have read my blog before you probably know how I ended up in the hair extension business, but if not, the reader’s digest version is this: I started deep diving into all things hair extension when I decided I wanted them for myself for my 10-year wedding anniversary (truth be told, I became obsessed). What followed was some unfortunate damage, a lot of money spent and finding a hole in the hair extension market for quality affordable hair that did not need to be replaced 4ish times a year. Long story short I have become an expert on all things hair extensions and have even educated some professional stylist on them.

Now I will go back to where this post started, I spent the last 2 years creating HMF Hair Extensions and Beauty. What started as just hair extensions evolved into eyelash extension aftercare products, and makeup kits, and other beauty items. Everything was handpicked, researched, sourced, and painstakingly tested by me. I would never take anyone’s money for anything that was not high quality and totally worthwhile. What I realized though was that I hate sales! I am not a salesperson in the traditional sense, it feels bad to me. How can you own and run a sales-based business when “selling” feels like it goes against every fiber of your being and who you are?

So, I sat with this very wise man I discussed earlier and expressed my disappointment in the realization that I had just “wasted the last 2 years of my life.” He explained to me that none of it was a waste because I learned and I grew, I accomplished things I never thought I could possibly do and proved to myself not only could I figure it out and do anything I want, and from that I had proved to myself that I was successful! At the end of the day, it does not matter what anyone else thinks because I am proud of myself, I proved to myself that I can do anything I put my mind to, and that is worth all the time, effort, and money spend over the last 2 years.  The question was posed, “Do you want to look back when you are in your 80’s saying I’m glad I spent those two years enjoying what I did and learning from them, or do I want to look back at the last 50 years and think I spent my time doing something I didn’t love and no longer made me happy because I didn’t want to let go of what I had done the first 2 years?’

At that moment I realized it was time to stop and re-evaluate and see what I did not like about my business and what I did like about it. What parts were the “have to’s” and what parts were the “want to’s.”