Meet L.A. Zwicky | Hairstylist/DJ/Artist/Director of Scorpio Palace

We had the good fortune of connecting with L.A. Zwicky and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi L.A., is there something you believe many others might not?
The capitalist driven idea that hard work pays off. Yes it takes a lot of drive and dedication to create success in business but there needs to be balance. Hard work stops paying off when you work yourself to the bone and burn out. I believe rest is just as valuable as “hard work.”

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Artistic expression has been a driving force in my life for as long as I can remember. Each chapter of my life centers around a different or multiple mediums of art – dance, music, hair, fashion, installation work, costumery, curatorial, you name it. In my early twenties I began stepping into my queer identity through my creative endeavors by curating pansexual dance parties in underground DIY venues. This led to my life long love affair with DJing and dance music. When I started doing hair in 2013, it became another extension of my self expression and connecting to the queer community through identity affirming, gender free haircuts.
Twelve years (and a lot of blood, sweat tears) later, I am now the purveyor of Scorpio Palace (fka Rhinoceropolis), a warehouse space in the Rino arts district where I am able to house all of my creative endeavors under one roof. I have my hair studio in front and we have an event space for private gatherings in the back *insert mullet joke here.” This opportunity is deeply meaningful to me as it feels like the culmination of what twelve years of tough work looks like; failures and successes, experimentation and exploration, vulnerability, community building and celebration all brought me to this moment. Every day I wake up excited to see what new and wonderful ideas my friends and clients will bring to me and now I have a space to make it all happen!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I LOVE when I get to share all my favorite spots with people! In another life I would have been a travel blogger. Ok so for breakfast we’re going to hit up Stowaway for their Colorful Colorado breakfast bowl then we’re going to take a walk around to see all the amazing murals. We’ll grab a cup of delish coffee at Crema while we’re there. If we feel like shopping we’re going to stop in to Steadbrook or Recital for some majorly fashionable duds.
Of course we’ll spend an afternoon exploring Meow Wolf probs grab lunch at City O’ City. One of the days we’ll take a jaunt up the canyon to Idaho Springs for a soak in the hot springs and a stroll on the main drag, maybe snag a hike through Red Rocks beforehand.
It would definitely need to be a week long stay because we also need to check the art up at Ila Gallery, grab cocktails at Middleman or Fort Green, get a fancy meal at To the Wind, snag a pastry at Good Break or Third Culture, and listen to a vinyl DJ set at E.S.P Hifi. It’s gonna be a fun week haha

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Oh goodness I am fortunate to have so many wonderful people in my life and an incredibly supportive community that I’ve curated over the years. Two groups in particular stand out, my (now dormant) art collective Secret Love and the business development cohort Kite + Dart. The art collective was a crew of Denver artists that organically grew out of a desire to see more queer representation in the art community. We started off infiltrating pride as the only non-corporate entity to walk in the parade and then began creating wild floor-to-ceiling art installations and photo booths around town. Being a part of this group allowed me to explore and express my queer identity through art while creating a safe space for others to do the same. Hands down funnest dance parties with the best costumes ever!
Kite+Dart is the absolute best thing to ever happen to my career. Year two of becoming independent as a hairdresser I hit a wall. I couldn’t find solid mentorship and I was increasingly frustrated with the existing business models that were all profit driven. A mutual friend from my DJ community is one of the directors of K+D and he explained their approach to business development as entrepreneurial activism and I thought, yes YES this is it! These folks are speaking my language! Through their workshops I was able to create a unique road map specific to my core driving principles and ethics. I found my voice and got out of my own damn way. Since then I have made huge strides in my business and am currently living out my wildest entrepreneurial dreams in the form of having all of my creative endeavors under one roof.

Website: www.lazwicky.com

Instagram: @lazwicky @scorpio.palace

Image Credits
All taken by Lauren Zwicky