Well hello there!

My name is Zhenya. I am most commonly known as Z or Queen Z or Queen Blush. I will also respond to the many other pronunciations such as Zeenia, Zana, Chemya and sometimes even Jeff. I am a proud American citizen and the first generation descendant of a Ukrainian family. My family moved to the States to provide their children a better opportunity in life. My father had hopes that I would pursue a medical degree to help heal people. I attempted the medical field but my interests were in the fashion industry. I now proudly cure people’s hair. I am, in some sorts, a hair doctor.

All jokes aside, I love my career path. I love being challenged artistically. I love the people I meet and am grateful they are not in hospital beds but instead in a salon chair. My career is constantly changing and on the cutting edge. I am eager to learn new techniques and methods; therefore, I am traveling often to classes, and I am watching many videos online via professional hairstylists subscriptions.

I know the story of a child cutting their baby dolls hair is cliché and over told but my story continues into my tweens and teens. Luckily for me, my sister had a mass amount of friends that for some odd reason trusted me to cut their hair! I took advantage of the opportunity to learn how hair lays after a specific cut. At times, I was fortunate to have not butchered the girls hair styles but there were times I was scolded and afterwards not trusted to continue my experiments.

Later on, after cosmetology school, I was working at Belks Carmen Carmen salon in the Asheville mall. I continued my education through Aveda and many other talented stylists. I remember one class in particular; we had to incorporate our new learned skills onto a voluntary model, which would be photographed for our portfolio. While I was prepping my sister’s long time friend for the camera, she reminisced on how she hoped I would never become a hairdresser after I cut her bangs during my experimental phase. I get a kick out of that story realizing how far I have come because of people having hope in me and allowing me to experiment on their hair. So, thank you to all my friends who never gave up on me and continued their everlasting faith in my hidden skill! Because of you, I have pursued my passion and have found my calling!

In pursuit of advancing my career further, I decided to start this blog. I have realized many of my clients have questions about hair and the various gigs I do. Instead of repeating myself and annoying my coworkers and attempting to share my story in one appointment, I will type it out. I will share what I learn in classes, my experiences in the fashion world and answer any hair questions one might have for me. I hope you will challenge me to better myself through educational research and pursue more advanced classes and I hope I will challenge you to care for your hair in ways you have not done so before.

Lets begin?

Yours truly,

Zhenya