Meet Sonia Camacho | Beauty Industry

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sonia Camacho and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sonia, how does your business help the community?
I am a female entrepreneur who built my business from nothing. I’ve always hoped I could help women with a positive self image. I see such beauty in people, and to be able to to interpret it through hair for them to see, its so satisfying.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I had my kids at a pretty young age so I knew there was really no space for error.
With my children being the toughest audience, I knew I had to keep on going. I swore I’d show them that a rough start just meant it was more fuel.

I knew I could only thrive doing exactly what I was born to do, so I was going to specialize in hair color. I wanted to unapologetically be able to decide for myself where the reds go, the blues go, the yellows go etc… what a DREAM!! The thought of changing someone’s life with hair color, I knew that I wanted this for my soul, it was my calling and I could feel it.

I started talking about it and had some friends that could feel this with me, but sadly had some try and hold me back. I wanted this, I wasn’t going to stop.
Back then there weren’t very many people who compartmentalized or specialized just in the hair world, but it would be my life’s journey to make this happen.
Hair color is my obsession and has been since I was 5 years old.
So I did my research and heard that hair colorists could take a specialized test to become American board certified, I was IN.
My husband and I didn’t have much as we had 2 young kids, we were new to the area, and he was finishing up college himself. So, we saved 700 dollars (which was a million dollars to us at the time) and signed me up. The hair color study bible arrived and all the other items, I was so excited!
So for the next four months I basically ate drank and slept hair color, and it was glorious. There were only 4 testing sites each year, and Colorado didn’t even have one. We found one in Washington state, saved another (million dollars) and booked my flight. As I was saying my goodbyes to the family, and boarding the plane my husband said to me “You have one chance to pass this, we can’t afford for you have to take this test again, but good luck!” If only he knew that statement ended me up in the bathroom vomiting for hours before the test I was so nervous.
I knew the statistics, I knew there was unit a 40% success rate on passing the first time. So I made sure to take every single minute very seriously, I had a lot on the line. It was one of the longest days of my life.
A couple weeks later I got a letter in the mail saying I passed. I could not believe I passed the first time, I was so proud of myself. I was an American board certified hair colorist, what an amazing gift!!!
To this day most know that if you ever want to find me, I’m probably slaying hair color behind the chair somewhere. I love this industry and the people I have met along the way. I am living my dream and I don’t take for granted that I’ve been able to do this for so many years.
I’ll never forget what one of my many mentors said and it has been fuel for me for my entire career. It’s about moving forward even when you feel you can’t, and pushing yourself to go after your dreams.
“Don’t look at the fence, look over it, look passed it. Just throw your heart over it first, and then jump after it!”

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?
Colorado as a state is gorgeous and the views are breath taking. From camping to hiking to skiing to shopping, we truly have it all.

There is excellent food everywhere, downtown Denver and Boulder have so many hidden bakeries and other fantastic restaurants.

I am simple though. I love food trucks, people, and live music. The great thing about living in Colorado is that you can find all of that downtown Denver, in most of the small towns and the mountain tops.

Colorado is a gem!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I started on this journey over 20 years ago and I I know without my family, mentors, and even some friendships, I would not be where I’m at today. I’d like to especially thank my clients who have been with me for the better part of my career. The ones who believed in me, even when I didn’t think I could do it.

Instagram: @Sonia.Colorado_haircolorist

Facebook: Painted soul salon.

Image Credits
@cassandrasuttonimages