Justine Marjan Is the Stylist Behind Your Favorite Celebs' Best Hair Moments

“Hair can be a vehicle to find yourself until you feel internal validation,” says Justine Marjan, a celebrity hairstylist and a global stylist for Tresemmé. Working with big-name clients such as Ashley Graham (she did her insane hair for the Met Gala!), Dove Cameron, Olivia Culpo, and the Kardashians (last month, she gave North West the most incredible rainbow braids for her sixth birthday party), Justine sees hair as a vehicle for self-expression and a fun way to experiment with your style since after all, it’s not permanent.

When she was growing up in a small town outside of Santa Barbara, Justine always looked forward to getting haircuts (unlike most kids), bringing in 50 photos to every appointment, and as a teenager she started doing her friends’ hair for fun. Despite her natural affinity for all things hair, Justine’s career definitely didn’t happen overnight. In fact, she started at a salon as a receptionist, tirelessly working her way up the ladder for many years before going out on her own.

Now living in Los Angeles, Justine spends her days helping clients figure out the best hairstyles to match their wardrobe, doing hair for various fashion weeks, and creating a range of trendy hair accessories in collaboration with Kitsch, which will soon be carried by Sephora. Did we mention she’s also the lead hairstylist for 2019’s Project Runway?! On top of all of this, Justine has made a point to use her platform to advocate for women, most recently speaking on a panel at GirlBoss Rally in Los Angeles about why she makes a point to mentor her assistant and how she’s navigated sexism in the industry.

Teen Vogue sat down with the stylist to talk about her earliest hair memories, the trajectory of her career, and why she is vulnerable online about every twist and turn of her journey.

Teen Vogue: What are some of your earliest hair memories?

Justine Marjan: When I was a little kid, I would chase my sister around the house and beg her to let me braid her hair, but she was a tomboy, so she hated it. I’ve also stayed in touch with our family’s babysitter, and she still always tells me, "I can't believe you're doing what you're doing. I remember you as a little girl coloring in your coloring books. You'd be making outfits and doing fashion stuff, and it's so cool that that's still who you are and what you're doing now."

I grew up in the ’90s/early 2000s, when everyone was crimping their hair and wearing butterfly clips, and I loved doing all of that stuff. I always tried to style everyone's hair, and it's so funny because one of my high school friends was like, "I still remember you did my hair just like the wet dreadlocks from Bring It On." And I didn’t even remember that. Then in high school I did everyone's hair for the school dances. I did track and cross country, and I’d braid hair on the bus, and it was just something that always came naturally to me.

And back when I went to get my haircut as a kid, I'd bring in 50 photos, and I was so specific, and the hairstylist would always be like, "You're going to be a hairstylist." But I never knew that it could be a career. I didn't realize there's someone doing the hair for a magazine cover and that there's someone doing hair for red carpet and that there's all these other opportunities.... Working in a salon didn't really interest me.

TV: How did you end up becoming a hairstylist?

JM: I finished high school a year early, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I always wanted to do something creative, like fashion or beauty. And then I was waiting for a bus one day to go to the city college, and there was a hair salon across the street. So I just walked into the salon and asked if I could work for free to see if I liked it, and they called me back later and said, "We need a receptionist." I ended up really loving it. They would hold classes every Monday, and I would go to the classes, and then I decided to go to beauty school from there. I ended up working in that salon for eight years, but I realized I had grown as much as I could grow there, and the next step for me, since I didn't want to be in a salon, would be to move to a big city like Los Angeles or New York to start over.

So I moved to L.A., and I just was reaching out to people I admired to see if any assistant opportunities were available. Every single week I’d go to salons and turn in my résumé, show up again the next week and be like, "Are you hiring now?" I was just really persistent. And then I ended up assisting Kristin Ess and Jen Atkin for a summer. Jen was just starting Mane Addicts, her online hair magazine, and the Ouai, and she needed someone full-time. So I worked for her, and that's what really pushed my career because in addition to being a hair assistant for her, I was writing the education manuals for the Ouai and teaching classes on how to use her products. I was editorial director of Mane Addicts. So I would be interviewing people, writing stories, picking up the dry cleaning, going with her to a client. It was nonstop, probably 14-hour days for two years. Then eventually she got so busy, and her clients knew and trusted me, so she would refer people to me when she wasn't available.

TV: In terms of your relationship with a client, whether that's a celebrity or a designer, how do you decide on the style and where do you find your inspiration?

JM: It's different for every single person. I really have to cater to who I'm working with. So if it's celebrities, if they're really inspired by fashion, we let the wardrobe inspire what we're going to do with the hair. If it's for runway, every designer is different. Sometimes they have a very specific vision, and they’re like, "This is what we want." Sometimes they're like, "What do you think?"

Sometimes if I'm doing a photo shoot, I make mood boards in advance. But I'm really inspired by influencers. I think that influencers and bloggers take more risks with their fashion and style, and they're at the forefront of trends now. So I love seeing what they're doing all the time. I love flipping through vintage magazines and looking to old films. I think trends always repeat themselves. It helps to be educated about the art, fashion, and history of different time periods. That way if you show up to set and someone's like, "I want Veronica Lake waves," you know what that looks like.

TV: What do you think is the connection between hair and self-confidence?

JM: I think that hair is an amazing way to express who you are. When I was growing up and I didn’t know who I was, I dyed my hair every color of the rainbow. I shaved my head, I had it short, did everything you can imagine because I didn't know who I was, and I wanted to find out. Hair is not permanent, and you can play around with it and see who you are. I think hair can transform you. You can get a certain hairstyle and carry yourself differently or you can have a certain hairstyle that you don't feel good about and you feel bad about yourself.

That's really the amazing transformative part about what I do. Sometimes we'll do a client and they sit in the chair and they're not feeling so good and then by the end they feel really great and confident and they can walk out in the world and present themselves that way.

TV: You’ve talked about how you try to educate yourself about the gender disparity and sexism in the hair and beauty industry so you always try to hire and support women. What other business decisions do you make as a hairstylist to support change in that arena?

JM: I think it’s really important that the team who supports you sees your value in your work so that you see that in yourself. Also, always asking for more and don’t be afraid to negotiate.

TV: Why do you think it's important to share your journey, including the highs and lows? What was lacking from the media when you were younger that led you to be more open and more vulnerable?

JM: I really relate to teens. I want to do whatever I can to help teens growing up now because it's a really hard time in your life when you just don't know who you are. You're not an adult; you're not a child. It's hard to navigate your way and know what's right and wrong. When I grew up social media was just becoming a thing. But I've always felt like there's a really positive impact of social media to be able to connect with people that are going through what you're going through, or something similar, even if you can’t connect with people that are at your school or in your hometown. So I think that as I've continued to grow my platform, I really just want to share my message so that people who are feeling depressed or suicidal or have trauma or been sexually assaulted or bullied — they know someone that got through it and that they can get through it too.

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue