Why I love being a Chameleon!
Buckle up buttercup because I could talk about this for daysssssss!
Let me start by taking you back, wayyyyyy back. High school. Ugh puke I know, I’ll make it quick. High School was awful! I H-A-T-E-D it. I hated the “clique” vibe. You couldn’t pay me a million fucking dollars to go back (not even sorry for swearing). I wanted to find my people, I wanted to have a community. It felt like every time I “made it” into a friend group I wasn’t really “in” with those people. I just felt on the “outside” (omg I have to chill with these air quotes, wait if you’re writing should it be “air quotes”? Shit. I devolve) Anyways, I was constantly tortured for being fat, it was miserable (if you know me you know I would never put up with that shit these days). I went out of my way for people thinking we were friends but they proved time and time again that wasn’t actually the case.
God bless young naive baby me. She had a rough little journey there for the start. She had no idea that after a bunch of b-u-l-l-s-h-i-t she was finally going to make the best friend in the entire world and go on to create a safe space for the most amazing collective of humans to come together in Portland. She would finally build that community her little heart craved. (There was obvi a lot that happened in between but that’s a story for a different day).
(Okkkkkkkkk. Back to it.) When someone asks me why I love being a Chameleon I say “Wellllllllll, how long do you have?!”. So I will give you the abbreviated version for now! (Look for future followups to “Why I love being a Chameleon”).
I believe K-Ci & JoJo said it best when they sang:
“All my life
I prayed for someone like you
And I thank God
That I. That I finally Found you.”
It’s true! All my life I wanted somewhere to fit. Somewhere I was free to be completely myself without any hidden agendas or ill will. Life has been a journey man. I mean that shit kicks you right in the balls and tests every last ounce of patience you didn’t even know you have.
I prayed for someone like you, or someones as I lucked out! This collective is a community of humans I am thankful for every single day of my life. I couldn’t be more proud to be on a team filled with these amazing humans. And no, I’m not just talking about that dope ass hair walking out those pink doors. I’m talking about these salt of the earth sincere, honest, communicative humans. I feel safe, seen and heard here.
And I thank God. Well I don’t know that it’s God that I’m thanking but I am sure as shit thanking Madelyn. She’s the reason That I. That I finally found you. Thanks for poaching me and bringing me to my ultimate hair home. The love that you have poured into chameleon over the years has made it the ultimate hair home it is today. I couldn’t ask for a better business partner and best friend as you. I never knew the day I came to Chameleon was going to be the first day of a new life for me.
I will forever cherish this salon and the collective of humans that it is home to . It has provided me with community and family that I never saw coming. But damn, I couldn’t picture my life without this perfect group of weirdos. So at the end of the day why do I love being a Chameleon? Because it’s fucking dope thats why! What chameleon do you want to hear from next?!
