Meet Casaundra Kirchner (she/they)

We had the good fortune of connecting with Casaundra Kirchner (she/they) and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Casaundra, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I had been doing hair professionally off and on for 8 years and never really found that place that really fit and felt like me.

At higher end salons it was people who loved to dress up super nice and always have perfect hair and makeup. I am a much more casual person and don’t really enjoy doing my own hair and makeup, I wear makeup maybe twice a year. So it felt like forcing myself to be someone I’m not to try and work at nicer salons. My closest friends and family also felt very uncomfortable in that type of salon due to the larger number of people and the more “high end vibe”.

Barber shops were more casual and come as you are, but limited my ability to do color which is my true passion. I loved being able to show up in shorts and a t-shirt with a hat on, especially during covid when you couldn’t touch your face or hair without having to wash your hands for the hundredth time that day. My friends and family could feel a little more comfortable in the laid back atmosphere, but there were also more strong “dude” vibes in barber shops which could make some of my queer friends feel less safe.

After being in a couple different places where the fit just wasn’t quite right, not feeling at home at the various places I worked, and some toxic ownership at the place I was at during covid I started thinking about how nice it would be to just work for myself. It would allow me to really focus on the parts of doing hair I was passionate about, and it would also allow me to focus on creating a space that my friends and family in the LGBTQIA+ community could feel not just safe, but celebrated and loved for who they are.

I started looking into different options because I hadn’t been in Colorado very long so I didn’t have a terribly large clientele and covid had depleted my savings so I didn’t have a ton of excess funds to put into upfront costs.

That’s when I found Indie Salons and met with Kandice, she was so knowledgeable about how to transition from working for others to working for yourself and helped me plan my transition. It was honestly the best choice I have ever made for myself and I never would have had the confidence to take the leap without my wonderful husband cheering me on and supporting me. Now I’ve been running my own business for almost four years and I’m still learning more every day.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I absolutely adore Vivid Color services. If I had to choose one service to provide for the rest of my career, it would be that. My journey with vivid colors started when I was just a weird little 13 year old who wanted funky hair but lived in a small town.

For my birthday my parents took me to the one salon in town that even offered vivids. She had three colors. Pink, lavender, and royal blue. So I got 6 foils of lavender throughout my hair, and from then on I was hooked.

I started doing my own hair and my friends’ hair because we weren’t satisfied with getting The Rachel (if you know you know) and six lavender highlights. It was the height of the emo craze and we wanted wild haircuts and funky colored hair like our favorite bands. There is a pretty good chance that I became the local Sally Beauty Supply’s best customer. Every couple months my friends and I would take all of our saved up spending money and hit them up before going back to my house and doing each other’s hair.

We did just about every color imaginable and then we started to get more creative with it. My friend Gabe had a mohawk and started coming to me with concepts instead of specific colors he wanted. Flames, sunsets, and my favorite a Blue jay. We did the sides cream with black speckles and the longer hair was deep blue at the base, then jay blue, with black at the tips so when the mohawk was spiked up it looked like a Blue Jay in flight. To this day it is one of the vivids I have done that I am the most proud of.

My senior year of high school I abandoned college plans and signed up to go to Cosmetology school instead. I loved learning all the professional techniques and was even allowed to share my techniques I had been using at home with my classmates!

Upon graduating I was disappointed to learn that you still couldn’t really make a career out of doing vivid colors. At the time Pravana was the only professional brand that even made vivid colors and it was still taboo for adults to have vivid colored hair. My only clientele would have been high school kids who don’t necessarily have the discretionary income to get their hair colored professionally. So I settled for what I could get in the industry and continued to do vivids at home for my friends and family in the meantime.

Not being able to focus on my passion really started taking a toll on me, and that combined with a very unhealthy salon experience I actually quit doing hair and got an office job. It was hard working ten hour days not getting to do the things I enjoyed and not really getting along with the people I was surrounded by at the time. I also tore a muscle in my back which made continuing in the industry very painful for me.

After moving to Denver to get a fresh start I started focusing on my healthy and got better medical intervention and physical therapy for my back. When I was no longer in pain all the time I started to feel the call to get back into hair. I started on just the few friends I had already made here out of my tiny apartment (thanks to my husband for being my guinea pig and tolerating the mess of hair services in the kitchen!) but soon I wanted to get back into it full time again.

I found a barber shop close to home that didn’t mind that I had been out of the industry for a while as long as I could still cut efficiently, and thanks to my first couple years as a licensed professional being at a Great Clips I could definitely deliver efficiency. Being back in the hair industry felt so right, but I still missed doing color and it was a very “manly” experience and that didn’t sit well with my friends and clients in the LGBTQIA+ community whom I always wanted to feel safe in my chair. After things started to go back to normal after covid I was ready to spread my wings and made the leap to start my own business.

In the process I lost 3/4 of my clients and it was terrifying. I did odd jobs for my mentor to make extra cash on the side to get through that first year. Slowly but surely I’ve been finding my people. My friend from the barber shop and I were able to get a salon suite together to save money and I was able to start attracting the kinds of people that fit my style of doing hair and that wanted that laid back come as you are space where they could be their true selves and not feel self conscious or judged by the other people in the room. I also registered to become a part of the Strands for Trans movement registry where people can find beauty industry professionals that are knowledgeable in gender affirming services.

As of last week I am so excited to finally be in my own space, but my friend is still close by in a suite down the hall! I’m so excited and proud of making this next step and achieving my goals of being able to have my own space where I can make sure that it reflects who I am and feels safe and welcoming to all. I have spent the last few months designing the space and making sure everything would be absolutely perfect. Now I am able to give my clients my best work and the most exciting vivids in a space where they are free to be their true selves. No crowded waiting areas, no rows of stylist chairs next to each other, just myself and my clients making art in their hair together. It is such a relief to be able to give all of my focus to my art and my clients.

Along the way I have learned that the best way to succeed is just to be true to yourself and keep seeking out what you need to feel comfortable and fulfilled. The more I have been authentic and shown that to others the more I have found likeminded people who are looking for places where they can have that same authenticity and it has meant so much to me to be able to share my art with others who feel the same.

My studio is, and always will be, a place that celebrates others for exactly who they are and where they are in their journey. Nat20Hair by Cas is a place for the nerds, the folks who are neurodivergent, my chaotic queer community, the weirdos, and anyone else who has ever felt like they aren’t seen and celebrated by mainstream society. Tell me about your current hyperfocus or gender presentation goals while I create art to give you the rainbow hair of your dreams.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am a bit of a hermit outside of work and I always joke that my job is my social life, but I have a few favorites when people come to town.

For my people who can’t handle a full hike at altitude we’ll hit Red Rocks to hike the trails around the venue and enjoy the views of the city. For more adventurous visitors we hit Golden Gate Canyon State Park or one of the gorgeous areas around Estes.

Sexy Pizza is a must, they have my favorite New York style pizza in town and flavor options for just about everyone.

You can’t miss ice cream at Lik’s over by Cheesman Park.

Nerdy friends get taken to The Wizard’s Chest to check out the cool costuming and gaming supplies.

For a quiet night in we’ll order Chinese takeout from Peter’s Chinese Cafe, a great little hole in the wall place with the best Chinese delivery in Denver.

I’m also a huge conservation buff so I may take friends and family to Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance or Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to brag about their achievements in conservation in the last few years.

For the most part though I like to ask people what they are interested in and find cool new spots to check out together!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have two people that I need to shoutout to!

First my incredible husband who has cheered me on, supported me, cried with me, and celebrated with me through the whole process of starting and running my own business. I would never have had the confidence in myself to make the leap into owning my own business without him at my side and encouraging me. He’s always right there for me to vent or bounce ideas off of and make dinner for us both when I come home from a ten hour day of standing on my feet all day exhausted and ready to fall into bed.

And secondly, my mentor and Fairy Godmomma Noelle. She is such a beautiful magical human who found me and my little baby business and gave me a space to work out of and guidance on how to be a new business owner in this ever changing industry. To this day I still call and talk to her during periods of transition for her insight and advice. I would definitely never have gotten this far this fast without her over my shoulder providing her own special kind of magic and love.

Website: nat20hair.glossgenius.com

Instagram: @nat20hairbycas

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075675649093 

Image Credits
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