In this episode, Brooke LeMasters, 2026 NAHA Haircolor Winner, hair colorist, educator, and salon owner of Bombshell Hair Studio, joins us to talk about intentional artistry, brand-building, competition work, and creating color with a stronger point of view.
Brooke talks about building a name through intentional work, client experience, competitions, education, and creative risk. She shares that her brand isn't just a logo or social media presence, but how she approaches consultation, custom formulation, color placement, client care, and the artistic decisions behind the work.
Presented by GlossGenius
Earn more and get your time back with GlossGenius. Use code STRONG at glossgenius.com/hairdresserstrong for 50% off your first two months of a premium plan.
Follow/subscribe to be the first to know when new episodes are released. Like what you hear? Leave us a review!
Key Takeaways:
🔅Your brand is more than your logo - Brooke talks about brand as the way people experience your work. For her, that includes intention, consultation, custom formulas, color placement, scalp massage, hot towels, and making the client feel cared for. The brand is not just what people see online. It is what they feel in the chair.
🔅Intentional work builds trust - Brooke’s approach starts with understanding the client’s life, hair, likes, dislikes, and goals before creating a roadmap with them. That level of intention helps clients feel included, comfortable, and confident in the process.
🔅Custom work can become part of your signature - Brooke shares that she likes working with color lines that allow her to mix from scratch using neutrals and pure pigments. That customization becomes part of the value because clients know the formula and placement were created specifically for them.
🔅Competitions require more than talent - Brooke breaks down how competition work involves planning, practice, models, wigs, wefts, photography, makeup, wardrobe, studio time, equipment, and investment. Winning is not just about having a good idea. It is about understanding the full production behind the image.
🔅Start before it looks perfect - Brooke’s first competition submission was not a major production. She shot it in her salon, did a lot of it herself, and used it to get a feel for the process. The lesson is to start, learn, and build from there instead of waiting until every piece is perfect.
🔅Find people who are better than you - One of Brooke’s strongest pieces of advice is to find someone doing what you want to do at a higher level, then ask to learn from them. Her competition path changed when she reached out, assisted, shadowed, asked questions, and built relationships with people already doing the work.
🔅Purpose gives technique direction - Brooke’s class, Color With Purpose, focuses on the relationships between formulation, placement, contrast, tone, and theory. The point is not just knowing the color wheel. It is understanding why something works so stylists can make stronger decisions behind the chair.
🎤 Brooke LeMasters will be taking the stage at the TAPIstry Unveiled Hair Show & Art Expo on October 26th in Hagerstown, MD, where she’ll teach Color With Purpose, a class focused on the relationships between formulation, placement, contrast, tone, and technique so beauty professionals can create color that feels more intentional, customized, and refined.
🎟️Tickets + event details: www.theartistspaletteinvolved.org/hair-show-2026
The Hairdresser Strong Show is all about Salon Owners, Rising Stylists, and Seasoned Stylists sharing their experiences, successes, failures, and advice to inform, educate, and empower their Fellow Hairdresser. We won’t stop until we are all: Hairdresser Strong.
CONNECT WITH US
📬 Subscribe to our free newsletter
📸 Connect on Instagram
🎵 Connect on TikTok
📺 Watch on YouTube
📝 Check out our Blog
The views and opinions of our guests are theirs and important to hear. Each guest's views and opinions are their own and we aim to bring you diverse perspectives, career paths and thoughts about the craft and industry so you can become Hairdresser Strong! They do not necessarily reflect the positions of HairdresserStrong.com
