Welcome back to the first episode of 2025 - we have a lot in store for our community this year! First up, if you're interested in becoming a guest or want to recommend a stylist that you know, complete this form. It takes 3 minutes 💬 Become or recommend a guest Meet Dior Sovoa
Dior is a celebrity stylist who specialises in wig and weaves, and personal hair stylist to the one and only Mariah Carey.
Besides being a hairstylist for shows like Love & Hip-Hop, The View and Good Morning America, Dior has worked with the likes of Cecily Tyson, Patti Labelle, and currently spends his time supporting Mariah Carey day to day.
In this week’s episode, we talk to Dior about his journey through the hair industry, get an insight into what it really means to work behind the scenes in TV and film.
Where to find Dior: Instagram
The interview
Here are all the questions we asked Darnell so you can fast-forward to the best parts.
[01:30] How did your career in the hair industry start?
[03:02] How did watching your Mom in the salon influence your career?
[06:22] What advice do you have for stylists who aspire to open their own salon one day?
[08:25] What was your experience of finding other stylists who had the skill to work at your salon?
[12:04] How did you land Mariah Carey as a client?
[16:13] What kind of challenges did you experience as you were building your career and how did you overcome them?
[19:00] When the pandemic hit, how did your work and routine change?
[20:10] Now that the world has changed again, how has your work changed?
[20:34] Is there anything about your pre-pandemic life that you'd like to bring back?
[22:15] How do you go about prepping for a tour?
[25:43] Is there anything that you really want to do in the future?
[27:13] What made you decide to specialise in wigs and weaves?
[31:19] What are some of the issues you see in the textured hair community and how can we start to fix them?
[34:22] What advice do you have for customers who need to reconsider what products they're buying?
[41:02] Now that a lot of stylists are becoming independent from the get-go instead of working their way up through salons?
[47:44] What's the most important lesson you've learned through your career?
[53:00] What is next for you?
Who has Dior styled?
Some takeaways
For stylists 💇🏾♀️
If you're planning to open up a salon, make sure you're the kind of person who naturally gives back as, Dior says, you’ll find a way to make it work. Opening up a space is hard work - you'll lose stylists, money and sleep, but understanding the challenges ahead of time will put you in a better position to power through when the storms arise.
Dior's salon had four stations and every stylist had a 90 day probation to make sure they were able to maintain his standards. While hiring and firing people isn't the most glamorous side of the business, Dior mentions that you need to have thick skin to do what's best in the end.
Before the pandemic, Dior was working at Good Morning America, Facebook, managing clients, and then Mariah Carey in the evening. But everything quickly changed during COVID, when he and Ms Carey went to Atlanta. While it’s not quite been the same since, it provided him with the time to think about the future and prepare for other projects. There are many stylists who have experienced similar changes over the years and Dior’s advice is look for other avenues that can add value to your career as well.
To get ready for a tour, Dior starts by reaching out to potential brands to sponsor to get high quality products for his clients. When you're thinking about multiple outfit and hair style changes, heat application and trial runs, it pays to think about the products well ahead of time.
There is a lot of judgement in the hair and beauty space which puts a huge amount of pressure on stylists, celebrities and every day people. When champions like Serena Williams and Simone Biles are being unnecessarily criticised for their hair (while competing and taking home more medals than any other athlete in history), it's harder for people to feel comfortable with making mistakes. Dior makes a point of saying that we need to stop being so hard on each other and on ourselves. Especially if we’re to keep the hair space creative.
For any stylist who wants to break into TV and film, keep track of the hours you’re working on sets to get into a union. Dior sadly experienced people gatekeeping union information, which meant he spent five years working on sets without getting a place until he dug deeper for the right contact.
For customers, Dior recommends, if you have long hair and want to wear it straight, go for a silk press. It's a temporary style that you can wear when you want to vs. the permeance of a relaxer.
Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Overcast, and YouTube.
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🗣️ Become or recommend a guest
See you in the next episode!
From,
The Mane Hook-Up team
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