As women, it’s difficult to navigate our way in our careers, and it may seem as though men have the upper hand: their iron-grip hold on particular industries always seems to hold us back, afraid of entering just to be 'that woman'. However, if you just take a glance into these industries, you will see powerful, strong women achieving greatness and standing up for the young girls behind them to succeed; it is a journey that we must all take together to close the wage gap and the sexism that so many of us fall victim to. This series, titled, 'Paving the Way' is about raising awareness and showcasing the amazing women in various local communities that are taking hold of their careers and pushing their way towards greatness: by interviewing these women I hope to not only provide a space to exhibit what they have accomplished (and plan on accomplishing) thus far, but to also provide other young women, with similar ambitions, a chance to see that their dreams are possible and these women are paving the way for them to follow.

The first woman I had the pleasure of interviewing was Lindzie Geroni, a Toronto based hair stylist and influencer; her passion and enthusiasm for her craft is something unlike I have seen before. If we are talking about powerful successful women, she hits the nail on every mark. Not only is she a very well accomplished hair stylist at Loft Toronto, she has also gained quite a large following on Instagram and now works with some of the largest hair dye brands in the game. We talked about balancing work and personal life (a challenge many young women face), her accomplishments thus far, and how she found success in her industry.  

Sierra Madison: Could you tell me your name and your profession?

Lindzie Geroni: I’m Lindzie Geroni, I’ve done hair for 7 years and I also do the social media thing, kind of as my side hustle. 

S: Would you call yourself an influencer? 

L: I hate the word, but I guess so. I feel like because my job, I’m constantly changing people to make them feel better about themselves, and online I’m influencing people to be better about themselves, with hair and more. So yeah, I guess so. 

S: Do you spend around the same amount of time on social media as you do during your main job? 

L: Yeah, definitely. 

S: How did you get where you are today, who/what helped you achieve your success? 

L: I remember when I graduated from high school I wanted to do fashion photography, and I remember when I went to the orientation at Ryerson something just didn’t click with me, I didn’t feel it in my soul that it was something I wanted to do. I’ve always been obsessed with Hayley Williams, which everyone is aware of. I was just intrigued by her constant hair changes, all the time. And in high school, art and science were my core subjects, so given her, and watching her hair journey, and the science and art aspects, I just put them together and was like, I should be doing hair. This is what I’m into, and I went to an orientation at a hair school, and after a week, I knew that was were I needed to be and what I needed to be doing. But I got where I am on my own, just figuring out as I went. I just sort of ended up here, and it was the best decision I ever made, and now I can’t imagine myself not doing what I do because I’m so happy.

S: That’s interesting, because you really weren’t sure after high school but you sort of ended up in your dream job. 

L: Yeah, for-sure, plus with the art aspect, people need photographers, but everyone needs to get their hair done. I wanted to do something artsy, but also something where I knew I would have a job.

S: Do you feel like your industry is inclusive for women? Do you think there’s an advantage or disadvantage for women? 

L: I feel like the industry is alot of both women and men! I think it used to be mostly populated with women but over the years I have seen alot of amazing men hairstylists and that does make me happy to see it be diverse! Talent for hair doesn’t have anything to do with gender. I think people think there is more of an advantage for women’s hair but I like to try to show off that men can literally do anything women can do to their hair as well! I have client and he gets 8 fun fashion colours and rocks it so well! 

S: So you like giving men the ability to show their creative spark? 

L: Yes, 100%. When I do the Good Dye Young stuff, all those fun colours, there’s many times I’ve done it on men and many times they say I don’t want my picture taken, I don’t want to be posted online, it’s more of a feminine thing, and I’m just like no, it’s not, it’s for you as well, and you rock it. 

S: Do you have a good work life balance, or do you feel like you’re sort of working 24/7? 

L: I feel like I’m always working. I feel like the balance is really hard, especially when it comes to social media stuff, because you are always on your phone and its hard, you know, when people DM to just put that on silent, because I want to be there and want people to know they can contact me and I’ll be there for them. But I think this year, my 7th year of doing hair, I finally said like I need to separate the both of them, so lately I’ve been doing it so that I’m only on from 9-5, so after 5pm, no more DM. I feel like that’s a good way to find that balance, because it is really hard, and before I found that balance, my brain was in overdrive and its hard to shut down because your always on it and you see all them coming through, but since doing that my life has been a lot easier.

S: What would you say has been the most significant barrier/obstacle that you’ve had to overcome in your career?

L: I feel like, this is always going to be a thing for hair stylists, but trying to make everything perfect. And not everything is going to be perfect, you’re gonna make mistakes, everybody’s hair is different, you can’t predict what its gonna be like, and I’m such a perfectionist and it eats my soul and I take it home with me at night. So I learned, and I’m getting better at it, but just to leave it at work and understand its not always going to be exact and going to be perfect, in my eye, but it could be totally different in the clients eye. 

S: Who inspires you and why?

L: Well obviously Haley Williams, and I was going over this on Facebook the other day. It’s crazy because I started out last decade loving her so much, and being so influenced by her, listening to her music, going to every show they would play here and in the states, and dreaming of meeting her, and then literally at the end of 2019 I now work for her hair company, I’m travelling to go see her to do her hair, and we have conversations all the time. It’s really insane, but she is really what drove me to do hair. It blows my mind. 

S: How you ever felt intimidated in your industry, either by other women, or in general? Has it ever impacted you or caused you any problems?

L: I feel like in the beginning, when you first start, you’re new, you’re slower, you don’t know many things, you have so many questions, and everyone around you has been doing this for so much longer, and they’re so fast and good at what they do without thinking, and you’re sitting there thinking, it’s taken me 3 hours to do these highlights. It’s intimidating to be around someone who is already established, but other than that, I think I would in such a good environment, everyone is on the same page and they help each other out, I don’t have a reason to feel intimidated. They say in hair it takes 5 years to not feel intimidated and to grow your clientele and literally once I hit my 5th year I was like I’m good, I’ve got this, and you have certain mentors that help you along the way. 

S: Regarding your career and personal life, what would you say has been your best decision and your worst decision?

L: So many good ones, I think one of my best ones would be deciding to work with Good Dye Young, that was the highlight, because that’s what my huge goal was, to work with them. 

S: Did working with them bring your following?

L: It was definitely part of it, but also posting a lot, the hashtags I was using, collaborating with people, that was getting attention, and I now collab with the person I’m dating. Teaming up with him made a huge difference, and I feel like when you’re a couple with someone it gives you more attention online, like a power couple.  

S: And the worst decision? Or something you would have done differently?

L: I feel like, I don’t have anything I would change, because everything I did led me to where I am. Maybe the only thing I could say was that in the beginning I could have had more patience, and be more accepting of the fact things can go wrong. But these things all happen for a reason to lead you where your suppose to be. 

S: Do you feel like your social media presence has helped you in your life of work?

L: Yes. It’s changed my life, 100%. Back in the day you would have to go hand out cards and try and wheel people in through that way, but online is my portfolio. So Instagram has changed my life. 

S: Even from when we met, which was less than a year ago, your presence online has grown so much.

L: It’s boomed, and I have people coming up to me, even at Blue Mountain, a girl came up to me saying, I follow you and Branden online, I love watching what you guys do. I sit there and I’m like, I only do hair, I don’t think of myself of anything crazy, but to have people freak out like that, its amazing because you see all the hard work I’ve put into it and you appreciate it and love it. I just do hair, that’s it. I still think of myself as regular. 

S: Well I think you’re one of the more prominent hair stylists in Toronto because not a lot of them have a large following. 

L: That’s crazy. 

S: Do you think in terms of social media it’s always been positive?

L: I feel like the only negative side effect is when your out with people and you want to have your down time and alone time and people come up to you and freak out over you a bit, and as much as its amazing and great its also a time and place situation when I’m out, because I feel like when I’m out I’m shut off from it. But social media has brought me so many great things, that I’m forever appreciative of it.

S: Do you feel like there’s a pressure to keep up with it all?

L: Yeah for sure, there’s a lot of pressure. You gotta have a post every other day to be relevant, and you need to do stories and questions and you have to be so interactive with everyone on there that I feel like most time I’m glued to my phone. Theres always something going on that I can’t walk away from. It’s a full time job away from my full time job.

S: Do you feel like the choices you make in your personal life effect your professional life or you’re able to have a good separation?

L: I feel like I have a good separation, but you know my following ranges from 12 years old to 45, and if I’m out drinking, you know I have clients that come in and go “Oh I saw you out drinking, I didn’t know you drank”, and I just have to be like “Yeah sometimes I go out and have a couple drinks” and that’s okay you know. But because you portray this person online and they see you in person, and you’re not being that online person, they can feel a bit weird, but I feel like I can switch and be lalalindzie and then just Lindzie. So I think I have that good separation. 

S: Where do you see yourself professionally in 5 years down the line?

L: I actually want to start my own hair colour line, and it is actually in the works. I don’t know if I want to have my own salon, I like working here [at Loft]. Social media wise I want to do more social media stuff and eventually do it part time and do hair part time so I can do both. I want to work with different brands, like Overtone and Good Dye Young, all that stuff. I want to keep the balance, travel, be inspired by other people who do hair. I’m more of a live in the moment type of person, so this question is a harder one. 

Follow Lindzie and stay up to date with her on instagram: @lalalindzie