We know! We are late ⏰ again! For a very important date again! ONESHOT NOMINATIONS! However….we’ve got some VERY big news for those of you who make it to the TOP 100 of the @oneshothairawards next week! REALLY BIG NEWS! ARE YOU REAAAAADY? Ya, we know ya are! So are we……cause our eyes are f’n bleeding! It truly is, THE BEST WORK EVER! Who will be in the Class of 2022? Should we leak a few? Hmmmm…..make some weekends?
My hero. My dad.
Since I’ve moved back to small town USA from the big city(s), I’ve seen my dad more in the last two years than I have in the last 25. He’s stays at my house almost every weekend. He’s become my Saturday night “war movie” date (we take turns picking!) and he’s been my teacher of how to do “guy” stuff like changing headlights and operating power washers! But he’s also been my helper in rescuing baby birds back to their nests, offering love to my cats and giving me sage advice about how to run my company and how to always do everything with the utmost integrity.
The thing about family is they give you something to hold onto when everything feels like it’s moving out from under you. With the world in such disarray, it’s something I think we all desperately need right now….something to hold on to. My dad is my rock. Having just turned 76, he tells me I’ve got 9 years and 11 months left with him (watch the last video) so I’m going to cherish them! Happy Father’s Day Dad! I love you! Mary xo
This beautiful daughter of mine will be making her way to Fulton County, IL to see her mama today! Many of you know my daughters @quingable & @haleygable! This is my oldest who spent seven years with BTC building our show department! About 18 months ago, during the pandemic, @quingable said “Mom, I think I want to take a sabbatical and live in a van with my 2 cats and travel around the west coast living my adventure lifestyle!” Our shows were on hiatus due to COVID and so of course I blessed her decision, knowing full well this would be probably be longer than just a few months! A year later, Quin has had the journey of a lifetime. She and her two cats have become a phenomenon on social media, and in just a short year, she has amassed over a million combined followers on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. To say I am proud of her is a major understatement! She’s probably working harder than she ever has creating incredible content teaching women how to travel alone in a van and how to travel with cat babies! But for the next 3 days, she’s coming to small town America to hang out with her mama in my neck of the woods! We’re gonna go for long walks, swim in my lakes and enjoy campfires at night! I haven’t seen her since Christmas so I can’t wait to give her a big hug and tell her I love her! This picture was the two of us in Utah last October where I spent a week with her in her van! We had so much fun!!! See you soon babe! Xoxo
Life is full of mystery. I shot this leaf magically dancing while on a walk and sat down for an hour just to watch it move. Magic is all around us. We just have to trick our minds to stop being on autopilot long enough to see the magic and mystery that surround us.
This picture and video warmed my heart. It brought a tear to my eye to see how @hairbylima team celebrated her when they all found out she would be taking the BTC SHOW stage for the first time! It’s a truly great achievement!
Everyone deserves a team who supports them when they level up and make their dreams happen. But this is not always the case.
Over 400 hairdressers came alone last year to @thebtcshow. They came alone because they couldn’t find their people inside their own salon so they took a chance to see if they could find others who had big dreams….and they did. They found lifelong friends who inspire them 365 days a year and root them on when they don’t get that support in their salon or at home.
There are so many of you that sit inside the four walls of your own salons and don’t have this support. Many of you have told us you’ve never felt more alone inside those walls. You try to level up and take better pictures to improve your Instagram. You bring in models at night to take your shot for @oneshothairawards. No matter what you do to improve yourself, you see the other girls chuckling and rolling their eyes when you take out your backdrop to shoot your pictures. You feel so alone when they don’t understand or support your growth.
“PARTY OF ONE” Saturday Party
You deserve to find others just like you! And you will find them at @thebtcshow. But we also understand it can be scary to come alone. We are super excited to announce we have created a Saturday late afternoon party just for you called PARTY OF ONE so you can meet others who came alone! We also have a FB group just for roommates so you can connect if you want a Roomie who is coming alone as well!
We all deserve a support system. Let @thebtcshow be yours! Because while you may come alone, you definitely won’t leave alone! Join us for 3 1/2 days of a life changing experience. You will leave a completely difference person and see the world in a whole new way. You deserve this. You need this! For those of you who know what I’m talking about, TAG THE LIFELONG FRIENDS YOU MADE AT THE SHOW! AND @hairbylima 🍾🥂🍾@thebtcshow#behindthechair#thebtcshow
8 days no alcohol. It’s crazy to think that is the longest I’ve gone in probably 20 years. I love drinking. But lately, I feel like it’s become a bit of a crutch. Sort of a reward on the good days and a soother on the bad days. It all started on the 75 hard. I knew the HARDest part would be the “no alcohol” rule. But here I am. 8 days in and still going. My skin is better. My sleep is better. My focus is better. Not easy to do it in the summer— so we will see how long it will last- but for now, 8 days feels pretty good! Hope you all are having a great Friday behind the chair! TOP 100 is coming soon! And we announce artists and companies on Monday for @thebtcshow. YOU CAN’T MISS THIS ONE!
Outside of my meetings, I have spent the last two years in silence. I haven’t listened to music or watched TV. Why? Because I needed to reset myself entirely. Music always transfers us to the past, and has the ability to manipulate our feelings at any moment. I needed my own voice to be the loudest one in my head.
I wanted to go back to my young self- the curious 7 year old who loved to play in the woods, swim in lakes, rescue baby birds and search for arrowheads for hours on end.
I have forced my mind to stay entirely focused on only the present with no distractions other than the sounds of nature. This sense of being entirely at one with only myself and nature has been a godsend. I have been able to slow down and listen to this little girl’s feelings. Her hopes and dreams. I spent decades slamming the door on her when she would come calling. And this time, I went looking for her. She has woken up and I am forever grateful to meet her once again.
There hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I haven’t been incredibly grateful for having been born in this country- no matter how many flaws it has and no matter how much I had to bust my ass to get somewhere within it.
This country didn’t hand me anything. But it gave me the greatest gift of all- OPPORTUNITY. This country allowed a girl who came from nowhere and had nothing to get somewhere in her life and create something through grit and hard work. Blood has been spilled to create this nation of “opportunity.” Blood has been spilled to keep this the greatest country in the world where immigrants come from every country in the world for the American dream.
As I’ve gotten older, I have chosen to focus on being grateful for what’s right in the world, instead of placing my personal judgment on what’s wrong with it. I never forget to have gratitude and thanks for the many gifts this country has given me, while trying to improve it at the same time. As I’ve gotten older, I give thanks for those who came before me and struggled and sacrificed more than me. As I’ve gotten older, I remember to FIRST be grateful for what I have so that I acknowledge and pay due respect to those who sacrificed so much to make this a free country.
On this Memorial Day, I give thanks for this country and for those who came before me. No matter how hard any of us think we have it (or had it), those who came before us had it harder. It is with their sacrifice and love of country and independence and democracy, that a kid from nowhere, with nothing, could create something called behindthechair.com that could change so many other lives.
I LOVE THIS COUNTRY. 🇺🇸I am so PROUD and GRATEFUL to live in this country. 🇺🇸FOR EVERY VETERAN and your families who have sacrificed so much, know that I will never let our flag touch the ground. I will fold it with the respect it deserves, just as I was taught by an 80 year old veteran when I was only 7 years old. May G*D Bless America and our service men and women and their families. I will NEVER take your sacrifice for granted! 🇺🇸 #proud#American