People come to the beauty field in a variety of ways. For some people, like Maddie Neely, their family has been involved in the beauty industry for as long as she can remember. This means that becoming a beauty expert was a natural part of life for Maddie, and Ogle School was just able to give her the push she needed to become an expert. Read more about how Maddie fulfilled her love of beauty with Ogle School.

Maddie Neely’s Journey

What made you interested in cosmetology?

When I was growing up, I grew up in a salon. And my family’s always been in the industry. I have my aunts, my cousins, and my grandmas. So, I mean, I just figured it was my turn to get into it.

Why Ogle?

I looked around at different schools. My mom and I have been coming to Ogle for years, getting our hair done. I started when I was 9 or 10, getting highlights. It’s always just kind of felt like a family. You could go to anybody at any time if you needed anything. There’s a sense of comfort and a sense of belonging, I guess. And that was something that stuck out about Ogle, to me, from other places.

What are your biggest obstacles?

I was working full time and I was used to getting bigger paychecks than I am now working the two days a week that I can. I think the biggest problem was trying to balance working a good amount and school. It’s been kind of hard but it comes down to school being the priority, so I’m going to do whatever I need to do to be here. But it’s just hard not having the same schedule, I guess, and the same availability that I used to. Having a social life is hard too, but I mean, okay. I have the rest of my life to turn up.

Who is in your support network?

It’s really my family—my mom, my sister, and my grandma. They are the ones that hear me either talk about how great my day was or if it was not the best day. They’re there to listen to all the details, no matter what they are. And then here, I have amazing instructors. I have the student services and admissions. It seems like everybody’s here no matter what and no matter when you need them. It’s really cool to be able to talk to everybody about anything, whether it’s I woke up in a bad mood or I’m dealing with something way deeper than that. And it’s really cool that I cover the whole spectrum for the people that are here.

What do you love the most about cosmetology?

I don’t think it’s anything specific that I do. I don’t think it’s cuts or colors, or anything like that. I like seeing the reaction whenever I’m done. I like seeing how the people walk out with all new confidence, I guess.

The best feeling is knowing that you’re helping somebody feel beautiful and feel comfortable in their own skin. And you did something for it, you contributed to it. That’s the best feeling and that’s what drives me to keep going. This is definitely something that I see myself doing for the rest of my life. I’m really glad that I finally found it and finally got to it.

Discover Your Own Beautiful Story

Whether the beauty field is something that you’ve been interested in for years or something you just recently discovered a love for, there are many ways to experience the beauty industry. Whether you decide to do the cosmetology program or the esthetics program, you can request more information from Ogle School today to learn about how Ogle can support your journey.