Welcome to L’Atelier Salon, a Santa Cruz hub for beauty, creativity and community spirit.

A little bit of my background:

I was raised in the Bay Area in the 60’s and 70’s when long hair parted in the middle was a primary “style” (for women and men).  Then one day, during my senior year in high school, I visited the career center and watched a panel of hair stylists from the local junior college. I was amazed to learn that designing hair was a perfect combination of psychology and art.  My passions were met! I went on to cosmetology school at College of San Mateo and attained cosmetology licenses for both California and Washington State. For 6 years I cut hair full and part-time in Washington at a great salon owned by a master stylist for Gene Juarez.  There, I fine-tuned my skills and developed a wonderful clientele base.  

I continued on to college and received degrees in psychology, dance, and education, and for many years worked as a multicultural educator and consultant.  During that time I still cut and styled for family and friends, and I was eager to get back into a salon for inspiration and on-going education.  Now I am thrilled to be re-entering the field and working at L’Atelier.

The foundation for my design work includes precision cuts and Vidal Sassoon methods. I love the intuitive and artistic blend that takes into account your needs and desires while working with the unique qualities of your hair and bone structure.  It’s a joy to create haircuts and styles that bring about confidence, ease, and beauty.  I love working with women and men of all ages. My specialties include curly hair and “Boomer beauty.”Outside of work, I call the redwoods above Soquel my home where my husband, Mig, and I love to hang out, have friends over (lots of musicians), and take on a variety of projects around our place. My son Julian is an aspiring guitarist studying jazz at Cabrillo College. Someday, you might hear him playing in the lobby at L’Atelier.  Come visit!