Did you know the American Dream resides in a Denver hair salon? At least a version of it. If you pull back the curtain (bangs) and dramatic draping layers (of hair extensions), there’s an artist so skilled at life you could say she’s already won, and all before her first midlife crisis. Hallie Kastanek might be the most unlikely hair professional you’ve ever met, mostly because she’s got her s*@! together.
It’s only fair to start with your first impression of the masterful Hallie, but before you shrink back and floor it to Sally’s for some disastrous DIY solution, there’s a lamb buried under that wolf’s disguise. She’s aware of her intimidating presence, which she suspects comes from years of toughening up on basketball courts and outdoor fields. “I have a hard shell and a soft center; I know I’m intimidating, but I’m a softie. I cry watching rom-coms,” she jokes.
Admittedly, that stoicism lingers when she meets new people, making sure she doesn’t get too comfortable “because if it’s a revolving door, I don’t want to waste my time, but I like to observe. I’m very into new dynamics and mixing up the ecosystem.” She didn’t build the wall, but rather than knock it down, she’s set up shop in the watch tower, ensuring new relationships last. Isn’t that the kind of devotion you want from someone chemically altering your hair?
What else demonstrates someone’s dedication better than a four-year commitment? If you can think of something, let Hallie know. Otherwise, consider her Bachelor’s in Business proof that she’s taking her work seriously. Every hair artist has a different approach: Hallie started with a practical degree to support her entrepreneurial choices and then unleashed an artistic volcano. It’s clear when watching her work, she balances left and right brain ideas effortlessly. “That [left] side of my brain keeps me on task and on time. I try to put systems into those color projects, but getting lost in it is also secretly enjoyable.”
If balanced and methodical is your jam, then Hallie has the Mason jars ready for canning. She borrows her professional capacity to balance her strengths in other areas of life, like parenting. Applying a little creative business savvy to raising two youngsters sounds like Hallie might add author of the next child-rearing bestseller to her to-do list. Then there’s the footy. That’s Australian rules football, similar to soccer, and it’s “a big game of keep-away with goals…to stop play, you tackle the person with the ball.” Easy and safe, and exactly the sport you’d expect a mother of two with a career that depends on healthy hands and wrists to play.
Hallie surprises you around every turn. She’s all these things, but where do they stem from? “I’m a leader.” She doesn’t falter when she says it, she has no doubts. Like most people, Hallie needed college to kick her in the butt before realizing her leadership potential, but anyone at Starling Salon will quickly agree that she fits perfectly into the mentor role. In fact, her nickname while playing on the National Footy team was Captain America. The similarities are there, but she’d prefer an edgier superhero, like Ant-Man. It’s not easy to picture Hallie under house arrest, but it is easy to picture her rocking out to Guitar Hero while learning origami and resurfacing her kitchen countertops all at once if she were under house arrest.
She’s got life all figured out. Despite everything, “I think there’s a tendency to never feel satisfied.” So, what’s a superhero to do? This one maps out the future with her family. “Lindsey and I have plans for our kids to be well-traveled. Exposing them to other cultures is important to us.” One day, when the kids grow up, she’ll travel internationally with her wife. They’ll learn tennis and pickleball. They’ll be annoying parents nudging their kids for grandchildren. In the far distant future, they’ll find peace together in whatever awaits them in the afterlife. That’s the future, though. Hallie’s focus on the present brings two realizations: “Overall, I do feel pretty content with life. I’m really happy doing hair behind the chair.”
View Hallie’s rates here.
Visit Hallie’s Instagram here.
Check out Ti Cafe here, where we shot the photos.
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