From Hairdresser to Tech Founder: Building Wellness, Community, and The Vitality Project | Elizabeth Faye | Hairdresser & Founder of The Vitality Project & Hair Love University | Industry Wellness Thought Leader + Global Speaker

In this episode, Elizabeth Faye, shares how she went from finding her way into the beauty industry as a teenager to building community, education, and wellness platforms for beauty professionals.

Elizabeth talks about the experiences that shaped her career, from working behind the chair and owning a salon to building Hair Love retreats, serving schools and salons through The Vitality Project, and developing wellness technology for the industry.

For beauty pros, educators, salon owners, and entrepreneurs who care about mental health, community, innovation, and the future of the industry, this conversation explores what it takes to build something meaningful without losing the heart behind it.

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Key Takeaways:

🔅Build from lived experience - Elizabeth’s work is rooted in the fact that hairdressing changed her own life. Her story is not about randomly choosing wellness as a business category. It came from understanding how powerful this industry can be when people feel seen, supported, and connected.

🔅Turn community into a business model - Hair Love started through workshops, retreats, education, and real relationships. Over time, those experiences became the foundation for The Vitality Project. The takeaway is to pay attention to what people keep asking for, then build structure around what is already working.

🔅Relationships are part of the strategy - Elizabeth said that if her success were a math equation, it would be all relationships. For beauty pros and entrepreneurs, that means showing up, collaborating, supporting people, and building real connections can open more doors than trying to grow alone.

🔅Start where you are with mentorship - Elizabeth has invested heavily in mentors, but she also started by trading hair for business coaching. The lesson is that mentorship does not always have to start with a huge budget. It can start with a trade, a meetup, a course, a book, a conversation, or finding someone who can help you see the next step.

🔅Wellness is business infrastructure - Elizabeth does not treat mental health, emotional resilience, nervous system regulation, and community as extra. She sees them as part of what helps beauty pros, educators, owners, and teams function better. Wellness is not separate from success when people are the business.

🔅Use tech to support the human side of the industry - The Vitality Project uses courses, coa