BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — It’s hard to do anything consistently for a few years and still love it as much as the first day you ever tried it. Let alone 40.
Jocelyn Winston is the embodiment of doing something you’ve always loved. She currently styles hair at Simply Hair Salon on Main Street, but her love of hair began at only 7-years-old
“It’s just me, I loved it… I started practicing with yarn, and then I started practicing on my little sister, and then my big sister. That was in the early 70’s. Then I started doing my brothers because boys started wearing braids,” Winston said.
Born and raised in Buffalo, and a graduate of Bennett High School, she started styling her classmates’ hair for five dollars each. She would cut, style, shampoo, and braid. It was a hit.
She made her first $100 in 7th grade, and that’s when she knew she could do it for a living.
“It always made me proud to see people walk away with something that I did on their hair,” Winston said.
Winston’s career has taken her to the highest of highs. She was right at the forefront of what you could argue as peak Buffalo Bills football, all because she styled the hair of the wives of former Bills players.
“My favorite thing was going to the SuperBowl on a private jet during the Bills 90’s time. Most fantastic trip I’ve ever taken in my life. Watching my clients reach their goals in their respective fields, it’s amazing. We still have that same relationship, it never changed,” Winston said.
And this Women’s History Month, Winston wants young women to know that it’s important to pursue your passions, but it’s also important to be a good person. She holds her younger clients accountable for what they do outside the salon chair. She said it’s deeper than hair at that point because she wants to be a good role model for these young women.
“Money and fame are wonderful, they make life easier. But to be a good human, a good person, and to have the respect of the community, that’s priceless,” Winston said.
