Happy International Women’s Day! The 8th of March 2018 marks a day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women all around the world. We couldn’t think of a more fitting date to introduce you to our first #Girlboss, Jess Davies.
Jess is both a model and entrepreneur and confesses that she always has something different on the go, between social media managing and influencer outreach, to television work. Jess is also currently working on a swimwear line so watch this space! Summer (hopefully, Welsh weather can have a mind of its own after all) is just around the corner! For now, Jess plans to throw herself into multiple projects and see what sticks. We sat down with Jess to find out exactly what makes her tick.
Inspired by her own imagination and a lust to design a life she wants to live Jess recalls seeing a meme online, “so 21st century!” that said ‘If you don’t build your own dreams, someone else will hire you to build their’s’ and it’s stuck with her ever since. “I think it’s great to work as a team when you’re all in it together, but I want to be working to achieve my goals and carry out my dreams, not get paid to fulfil someone else’s”.
Jess has always been focussed on what she would like to achieve. “I’m obsessed with the book The Secret and it’s my go-to whenever I need some inspiration to clear out any negative thoughts in my mind.” Jess also lists another of her inspirations as Sophia Amoruso, the author of Girlboss, “that book totally shifted my view and inspired me to chase my dreams”.
Jess’ own aspirations and goals keep her driven. She explains that once you succumb to failure or defeat, then you start to lose motivation. “I know from my modelling days, that people like to pre-judge me and what I’m capable of. It’s breaking out that box and proving people wrong that motivates me to achieve big.” Jess couldn’t single out what her greatest achievement is, she states that there’s been many times that she’s wanted to give herself “a little pat on the back”. This isn’t surprising given that she has already achieved so much. “Graduating university felt great. My first photoshoot felt great. Getting booked for a big job felt great. Getting up for spin class on a hangover also feels great!” Amen! We’ve all been there! Most recently Jess took a leap of faith and left the job she was working behind without any set plans because she’d stopped enjoying it. “That was a huge achievement for me to feel that relief.”
Living in the social media obsessed society that we do, we asked Jess how important a tool she felt it is when building your own brand, “Social media is crucial these days when it comes to getting your brand out there. I’ve been working as a social media manager for two brands for the last year and I’ve learnt so much! It’s the easiest way to get your brand known to thousands of people. Although I do think there’s going to be a crash at some point… I think social marketing has got a little out of hand and I’m not sure where it’s going to go next!”
We asked Jess when looking back if there was anything she may have done differently, “I think there’s a huge number of things I wouldn’t have done if I knew the outcome, knew what they meant, knew the consequences and knew how I would be feeling after. But I would never want to say I would change something, because every mishap and mistake has moulded me into who I am today, and every door closed has opened up another amazing opportunity.” Wise words indeed.
And now for the hair! When Jess arrived, she had pre-lightened ash blonde hair. When taking hair from a light blonde to a darker or warmer tone it’s important to prepare the hair for the final colour. This involves replacing some of the stripped-out tone. In this case we used Wella Perfecton in gold and copper tones (/3 and /43). This added tone to the hair without adding any depth. The final colour was a mid-blonde copper which we achieved using Sassoon Cremagel with equal parts 6/3 and 8/3. The whole service took approximately three hours with Jess although with colour corrections times can vary. For styling we’ve used a ghd wand to create gorgeous beachy waves. We’ve then added texture by using a firm salon favourite, Wella’s EIMI Dry Me. It is the perfect dry shampoo! And it smells great, bonus! Jess loves her new tousled copper locks and we think you’ll agree it looks amazing (if we do say so ourselves!). Pop in for a consultation with one of our highly qualified colour technicians if you’re ready for a change. Be brave, you’re in very safe hands!
