What It Takes: Making the cut

I was just a baby when I first met Josolyn Collier of Shear Delight Salon in New Rockford. She was the first person and is among the few to ever cut my hair. I had long, brown wavy hair, and my mom loved it. It was my dad who took me in to get my first haircut. He was lucky that Josolyn knew just the right amount of hair to cut in order to keep everyone happy.

Hair is funny. It's always growing. This summer, I talked to my mom into letting me sport my first buzz cut. I think it was hard for her to see my hair so short, because rather than tell me how nice my hair looked, she told me that I have a nice shaped head. Now that my hair is growing out, I thought it was time to explore what it takes to be a hairdresser.

Josolyn spent 48 years in the profession and she says, "The hair industry and all the new techniques have grown by leaps and bounds and continue to do so." She would know, because has seen nearly a half a century of styles come and go: pixie cuts, mullets, shags, 80s bangs, bobs, buzzes, curly perms, asymmetrical haircuts and more. Being a child of the 21st century, I didn't know what most of these were, so I looked them up on the internet. What I found was a lot of haircuts that startled and scared me. There was one though, the fade cut, that I think would be great for my nicely shaped head.

One of the things that hairdressers are known for is talking with their clients about all sorts of topics. Joslyn says, "You get to know your clients' families and hear about their trips. I enjoy visiting with everyone, but the kids share some of the funniest stories. Plus sometimes they have cut their own hair! It's a great time."

Josolyn graduated from New Rockford High School in 1970 and went to Town and Country Beauty College in Jamestown. She received her license in 1971 and began working as a hairdresser at Adeline's in Devils Lake. In 1972 her mother passed away and Josolyn decided to go in a different direction and became a nanny. The next three years took her to Minneapolis and Chicago where she worked caring for children.

In time she got married and moved to Dickenson, where her first four children were born. There she owned Shear Magic Hair Salon with seven employees. In 1982, she returned home to New Rockford where she worked with many other stylists including Vicki Brown, Lavonne Myhre, Becky Engels and Savannah Nystrom. She still works with Glenda Collier to this day, and in the past couple years they welcomed "the new kid" Kortney Roscoe. Josolyn, Glenda and Kortney all have master cosmetologist license.

Even with all the changes in style, the tools seem to have remained mostly the same. She says every hairdresser needs sharp shears, razors, curling irons, blow dryers, perm rods, combs and brushes. Hairdressers should always have products like hair spray, mousse and pomade on hand. Many hairdressers also offer a variety of colors and dyes. Josolyn says, "we have everything under the rainbow and then some!" She also says the most important thing is a smile.