Sometimes, you need a really big life change to make you consider pursuing your passion as a career. For Joey Chacon, it was an unfortunate time in his life, when he was laid off from work, that he discovered how much he wanted to do haircutting and hairstyling for good. Keep reading to find out more about how Joey’s plan became a reality.

Joey Chacon’s New Path

What were your first steps into cosmetology?

While I was a student, I would give men’s haircuts. And to me, I’ve done that since I was 16,15. And it’s just been easy to talk about it. When I would give men’s haircuts, people would gather around, and I would teach them a little bit. And the director saw that, and she liked that. I had a really good way of talking to people and showing them. I didn’t want to be an instructor, but I just really wanted to work. It fell on my plate, and I jumped at the opportunity.

Why did you decide to go into cosmetology?

I got laid off from my job. I was at a job for a year and one day. And on that one day, after my year anniversary, they called me in and said that the department that I organized and built, they were going to give it to another company. So, they didn’t need my department anymore. The people that I hired and stuff, they let them go and let me go, so I had nothing to do. I didn’t want to go back to the university because the economy at that time was bad. I just thought about what I could do.

Unemployment offered me to go back to school. I started looking around at what I wanted to do, and I was already cutting hair. I had a chair at home. I was like, “Why don’t I just do this?” I didn’t want to be a barber. I just didn’t want to limit myself. So, I looked into Ogle, and that was the only school that I really looked at. And before you know it, I was in, enrolled. On my birthday, I did orientation. And then, the next Monday, I started school.

What were your biggest obstacles during school?

Well, while I was in school, my unemployment almost ended. I wasn’t going to have any means for school. By Phase 2, I was about to withdraw because I didn’t have any way to continue without working. This was the only option because I had two little girls to support, a house, and everything else. And unemployment was sort of taking care of that. And if it wasn’t going to happen after Phase 2, then I was going to have to quit. Also, my father died about a month into school. And that was a really hard transition for me just because I grew up really, really close to my family. I took a week to go and do all the funeral preparations and everything. But coming back, it was hard.

But to me, my overall look of everything was my daughters and making sure that they were taken care of. I never wanted to quit just because every morning, I would wake up. I’d see their faces. They didn’t understand that there was anything bad going on, and I never wanted them to see that. So instead, I just kept pushing myself and pushing myself.

What advice would you give other students facing those same obstacles?

To not give up just because your kids are looking up to you, whether you believe it or not. You’re really their role model from the get-go. For instance, for me, my dad worked for a company for over 40 years. Day in and day out, from eight to five, he was there 40 years nonstop. He finally retired when I graduated high school because he knew that I was already taken care of up to that point. And that’s when he finally said, “I’m going to go ahead and relax a little bit.” And I saw that drive in him. I saw that motivation in him. I want to present that to my daughters and that motivation.

Anything that you do is always a reflection of the way you’ve lived your life and stuff. You don’t want your kids to not have that motivation, that drive. Plus, I don’t want to see my kids living without. I want to do whatever I have to do to make sure that they are with.

What did you learn about the beauty industry while in school?

Just the possibilities that it has. There are so many avenues that this company can take or this industry; there are just so many things. I mean, you can work from being one of the inspectors, to being behind the chair, to being that platform artist, to an educator for a specific company. Just the avenues and the abilities that you can take your craft into are awesome.

Discover Your Own Beautiful Story

Not everyone discovers their Beautiful Story in the same way, but everyone has one. That’s where Ogle School steps in. With the cosmetology program or the esthetics program, there’s an opportunity available for any beauty lover. If this sounds interesting to you, then consider requesting more information to find out how Ogle School can help.