FIREFIGHTER to HAIR STYLIST

““Anything I could get my hands on, I would just do it. I was soaking everything up. It was all brand new to me.””

Ashley Rubell: Did you know you wanted to be a firefighter when you were growing up?
Marcos Diaz: Well, when I was a freshman in high school my cousin and my aunt both worked for the LA County Sheriff’s Department. They [each] had a variety of experiences. My cousin would talk to me about doing undercover narcotics work, and then he’d talk about his time on the SWAT team; My aunt would talk about times when she was a detective or a watch commander. I just found it so interesting to hear that they had so many different types of jobs, but all within the same career umbrella.
At the age of 14, I decided to become a police cadet at the Laguna County Police Department, which entails going to a police cadet academy and riding along with the police officers, basically shadowing them.

AR: How long was the cadet program?
MD: It’s as long as you want it to be. I was a police cadet from 14 to 18.
AR: I had no idea you could start that young.
MD: Yeah, 14 is the youngest you can do that at; I did it for four years. I started taking all these pre-requisite classes at community college for negotiating; I started training swat team tactics. Anything I could get my hands on, I would just do it. I was soaking everything up. It was all brand new to me.

Going into my sophomore year of high school I was noticing that my personality wasn’t necessarily that of a police officer. I loved everything about police work, but it didn’t suit me. I’m not a tough guy. I don’t want to be fighting with people all the time. There were a lot of things that I just didn’t care enough about, that I didn’t want to be busting people for. We would always go on the same calls as the fire department so I started seeing them frequently; I started to see the way they worked. I thought it looked more like my vibe. They worked together as a team. They were always in a good mood, always chill… I thought it looked really cool. So then I started working as a fire cadet with the Orange County Fire Authority when I was 15 or 16. I was doing both at the same time; I was a police cadet and a fire cadet. I started riding along with the fire department and going to weekly training at the Fire Cadet Academy --

AR: Wait -- when did you have the time to do all of this?
MD: I would do this after school and on the weekends. It was two days a week minimum. Once I became a cadet I was working with both the fire department and the police academy because I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I was still enjoying doing both and it didn’t hurt anything so I just kept it up and made a lot of good contacts.

MD: Once I became a senior in high school I really started to feel like fire fighting was going to be the job for me. I had taken a trip to Chicago the summer before my senior year of high school started. My aunt was the Health Director for the City of Chicago. To make a long story short, I ended up meeting the Deputy Fire Commissioner there and he took me around to a bunch of different fire houses. I just remember thinking ‘this would be amazing if I worked here!’ It still gives me goosebumps to think about. I was so close to moving to Chicago after that but when I graduated I just didn’t feel like I was ready to leave Orange County. All my friends and family were there. So instead I went to the local academy when I graduated and was fighting my first fire at 18 years old.

My first fire was in North Laguna. Fires start for a bunch of different reasons - humans, lightning, arson, whatever - and this one was started like a cartoon, I’m not kidding. A mountain lion climbed up a telephone pole, bit onto one of the telephone cables and got electrocuted, fell into the brush and started a fire. That was my first fire. It was the size of a football field. It was small.

AR: How long did you stay a firefighter? And what caused you to switch gears?
MD: I was a full time firefighter from 18 to 24 and between the ages of 24 to 25 was when I began to make the transition over into hairdressing.

What happened was, in California you only end up working ten days a month as a firefighter. That’s ten 24-hour shifts in a month. It comes out to a 56 hour work week, but you still have 20 days off a month. Most firemen would do something related to firefighting on the side, like teach CPR training or first aid, something like that, and I didn’t want to do all firefighting stuff all the time. I wanted something else.

There was this TV show on at the time on Bravo called BlowOut and it was with this guy named Jonathan who did hair for photoshoots and fashion shows and they would follow this guy around. This was a show we always had on at the fire station. It was my favorite show to watch. [Jonathan] was always working with tons of models and celebrities and I was drawn to that. I wanted to work with people like that, so I e-mailed [Jonathan’s] salon manager one day. I said, ‘I want to get into hair. How do I do it?’ Surprisingly enough, she e-mailed me back. She said, Why don’t you come by the salon sometime with your resume and we’ll talk. I was honestly surprised she even wrote me back.

““I didn’t want to do all firefighting stuff all the time. I wanted something else. ””

““I was just going to go for it and see what happens. ””

AR: How did you find her contact?
MD: I think it was listed on their website at the time. I showed up that next day with my resume and it was listed with all my firefighting experience and she looked at me, puzzled. And I asked her, how do I become a hairdresser? She said, ‘Look, Marcos, you have to go to a beauty school. Enroll somewhere and we’ll keep in touch and take it from there.’ So I enrolled into beauty school part-time while I was still working at the fire station.

AR: Where did you go to beauty school?
MD: Lake Forest Beauty College. It’s a basic, no-frills beauty school. All my firefighter friends gave me so much crap, in a loving way of course, but still. Then they saw all the girls I was going to school with and they’d be like, ‘Hey Marcos, can I come in for a haircut?’ I ended up giving everyone haircuts at the fire station. Those were some of my favorite cuts because everyone would gather ‘round and watch. I remember sometimes my hands would be shaking.

On the weekends, I’d work in [Jonathan’s] salon just sweeping hair so I could watch him work. I just wanted to see it all, see the vibe. My intentions were never for hair to be full-time. I thought it would just be something cool to do on the side. Something to mix up my life.

Then one day, [his manager] called me and said, ‘I remember you wanted me to let you know when a full-time position [with Jonathan] opened up and they’re about to start shooting season three of BlowOut. Jonathan wants you for the show. Are you available?’ I stood there silent on the other end of the phone because I didn’t know what to say. After a long pause, I told her I’d be there first thing tomorrow. I remember showing up and seeing the whole camera crew and the team. I felt like Forest Gump when he goes to the White House, like, what am I doing here?!

[Jonathan] took me under his wing, and I started assisting him with photo shoots and celebrity clients, and also assisting some other people in the salon. I did that for a year, bouncing back and forth between his salons in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Once I started to do that, the more indifferent the firefighter stuff started to feel. Then I decided, I’m going to really choose this. For me, that meant I was going to move to New York and work for Bumble and Bumble.

AR: I can’t imagine you were still a firefighter while you were also an assistant… How did you slowly phase out of firefighting and into this new position?
MD: When I started working for Jonathan I took a leave of absence from firefighting. During that year, I decided I wanted to make it something more permanent. At the time, I wasn’t too concerned with the idea of not being able to go back to firefighting. If something didn’t work out with hair, most of my certifications were good for life. If I went back to firefighting tomorrow, I’d just have to renew my EMT license. I figured I was just going to go for it and see what happens.

I had heard of Bumble and Bumble just from watching my girlfriend get ready. It was all she ever used. Then I began noticing in magazines that all the credits would say ‘X hairdresser for Bumble and Bumble’ and figured I needed to go there. I called Bumble a few times before I moved [to New York] and said, Hey I’m from California, I want to move to work for you guys, as if they actually cared. I went into their salon my first weekend after moving and introduced myself saying, I called a bunch of times, my name is Marcos I don’t know if you remember me. And they were like, Oh yeah! We remember. Do you have your NY state license? I said, No, but I can get it. I just want to work here. And they told me I had to get that situated before I could even interview.

MD: A week later, [despite what they told me] they called and asked me if I could come in for an interview. I had a very nerve wracking interview. I felt so uncomfortable, like she was just looking at me, so I kept talking even more. But I got the job. I started working at Bumble around Halloween 2007. That following February, I got asked to do fashion week. That was really bizarre for Bumble because they normally make you wait two years and you have to take a bunch of their classes in order to do fashion week. I remember them asking if I’d be interested in doing fashion week after only a month of being there and I thought to myself, hell yeah that’s the whole reason why I came here! But I played it cool and was like oh yeah, sure. Haha.

I started fashion week with them that year and it was amazing. All the people I used to read about and want to work with, I was suddenly working with. I remember I got to work with Ward and he basically reinvented the ponytail in front of me. In California it all felt so far away and then here I was, talking to Ward.

At the time, Bumble used to come out with something called Bb Stories on DVD and I remember they did a profile on Max Pinell. He came in one time and asked me to do a blow dry for him and it was so exciting. It was such a fun time in my career because everything was new. It was everything that I came to New York for; to be around all these people.

AR: How did you decide that Bumble was the next best thing? Going from Hollywood and being on television sets, what made you think moving to NY would have something better to offer?
MD: Those Bumble Bb Stories opened my eyes to what was going on backstage and it showed me the craft of these hard core hairdressers. They were the real deal. Being in LA, it was mostly salon work. We did some session stuff but it was all blow drys and haircuts. It wasn’t like we were wrapping hair around pipe cleaners and popsicle sticks. The people in New York were really doing something different. It was those Bb Stories that really showed me that. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known. And I wanted to be a part of that.

Coming from firefighting, the training was so intense. You needed to know everything about everything. It was very technical. You needed to become a guru. The firefighters that were involved in the LA riots, they were hardcore. That was a badge of honor. And with hairdressing, I wanted to learn from the hardcore hairdressers. That’s what intrigued me about Bumble. They were in every magazine. I forgot where I heard this statistic, but at the time, Bumble was doing 1 in every 3 fashion shows. So that was where I felt I needed to go.

I feel really blessed in my career because I had really amazing mentors who took the time to teach me and to correct me. Even Jonathan. He took a chance on me. Getting to do fashion week after three months of being at Bumble? I can’t take credit for that.

““All the people I used to read about and want to work with, I was suddenly working with.””

““When you do you, you attract like-minded people.””

AR: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned as a freelance artist?
MD: Definitely just do you. Just be yourself. The people that are drawn to you will hire you again.

AR: Was that something you struggled to find truth in?
MD: When I got started I was like an infant. I was looking up at what the adults were doing around me, what they were saying, how they were treating people. People had their different styles of working.

When I show up to work now, I show up to get the job done. I’m not loud, I’m not boisterous. I still have this firefighter mentality. You show up early. You do your job. Have a good attitude. Just be ready to work. Everything else comes second. Some people show up with such a loud personality and I used to wonder, Gosh do I have to be like that? But when you just do you, you attract like-minded people.

AR: I definitely relate to that and have second guessed myself numerous times on set. Should I be participating in what’s happening over there? Do I need to be more gossipy? But I just want to do the task at hand. Blow the wind, watch the hair, keep things organized, and leave with enough energy to be present at home.
MD: Yeah! I just want to work, you know? Something that really affirmed that for me was noticing that I actually have a lot of friends that work for SoulCycle, and they all have such different personalities. I’ve gotten to really see that there’s an instructor out there for everybody. Some people like this type of music, so they go to this instructor. You stick with the person who matches your style. It really proves how everyone can be successful just by doing their own thing.

AR: That’s a great analogy. I really like that. What do you think differentiates you in your field? Where did it come from and how did you learn it?
MD: Without a doubt, I’d say, being cool under pressure. As a freelancer, you go through a lot of focus points in your career. I did education for product companies for a while, then I spent a chunk of time in the salon. I’ve also spent a lot of time just being on set. For one period of time I was focused on leading my own shows and finding sponsors and while directing these shows everyone was always so surprised by how calm and cool and collected my team always was, and how chill I was. It was something that carried with me from the fire department. When you’re an expert at your job, you should be able to just chill. You’ll never show up to a scene and see a firefighter going, oh my god there’s a fire, hurry! Ahh! They act like they’ve done it before! The one thing I never understood about my industry was assisting these expert hairdressers backstage and wondering why they would all be freaking out. You’ve been doing this for twenty years and we’re just doing a freaking blow dry. I’ve never understood that. If you’re an expert at what you do and you’ve been doing it for as long as you say you have— be chill. This should be easy for you. No one would do that at the fire academy.

AR: What are some of the other parallels you’ve noticed between firefighting and hairdressing?
MD: Oh, there are so many. It’s funny because people always say, wow that’s so different to go from firefighting to hairdressing. For me, it’s very similar. First of all, I love working with my hands. I love engaging with people. I love meeting new people. I get energy from being around people all the time. With firefighting, I could be an arson investigator. I could be an academy instructor. I could be a fire captain, a paramedic, an engineer. I could be a public information officer. It’s the same with hairdressing. One month I could be working on a music video. I could do more red carpet, or be in the salon. There are so many facets to both fields. For me, I needed that. I need to constantly feel engaged. I don’t only want to be doing haircuts for the rest of my life, or only be working on set. I love having something different all the time. Even when I would show up to the fire station, I wouldn’t know if we were going to get traffic accidents or heart attacks, or a fire. With hairdressing, I don’t know what I’m going to get booked with next week. I love that. It’s so fun not knowing what each week or each month is going to look like.

AR: What’s been the biggest challenge of your professional life?
MD: Being able to trust that it’s all going to be good. Being able to hold tight and know that there are going to be dry spells. With firefighting, you get a paycheck every other week. You get paid no matter what and you’re going to have your job for the rest of your life. With freelancing, it’s not like that. You don’t necessarily know when you’re going to get your next paycheck. Sometimes you do have dry spells and you find yourself thinking, why is nobody e-mailing me or calling me? I always have to remind myself that this is what I chose. I chose to freelance and the dry spells are a part of that. I have to remind myself to chill out and trust that it’s going to be ok.

AR: What advice would you give to yourself ten years ago?
MD: Oh! Early is on-time. On-time is late.

I show up at least 15 minutes early, usually a half hour before call time, and I get set up and figure my way around for the day. It’s just such a nice, calm way to enter into each day. Plus, it just always takes longer to get wherever you’re going. We should all know that by now.

AR: What’s something about your professional journey that not many people know? Or perhaps, is something you feel that’s frequently misunderstood?
MD: This is a small thing, but, I think the comparison of how I used to work every day versus what my schedule looks like now. I think that’s often misconstrued.

I used to work a full day at Bumble and then sneak out at 6 to get to my night job of waiting tables at Hillstone. I did it five days a week. I’d leave my house uptown at 6:30 in the morning and sometimes wouldn’t get home until 1:00 in the morning. My work life looked that way for a while and it was a fun time that I love to look back on; I like to look back on it and know that’s why I have a more flexible schedule like the one I have today. Today, I get to go meet up with a friend at Chelsea Piers later and it’s a random Thursday and I love that. That’s what it took to get to where I’m at now.

AR: What’s a bit of advice that you’d give to other artists, or someone who’s looking to break into this industry as a freelancer?
MD: Work with as many people as possible. Learn every type of style, from every type of artist. Just learn as much as you can.

““If you’re an expert at what you do and you’ve been doing it for as long as you say you have —
be chill.””

““...I shouldn’t be shamed for having a distinctly different life outside of hairstyling.””

AR: Could you see yourself doing something else in life? Choosing a completely different career path, that’s not beauty related?
MD: Oh yeah, definitely. I’d still have to be working with my hands, and around other people. Maybe working on a fishing boat? I love being on the water, and that camaraderie. I have some friends that are fishermen. I don’t think I’d want to do it as a full-time job, but I could see myself doing that occasionally. I could also see myself being a white water rafting guide. I love being outdoors and am a natural leader.

I could totally see myself being a hairdresser till the day I die, too, and I’d be happy with that. When I have friends come to town, instead of meeting up for a coffee, I get to connect with them over a haircut. I just love that one-on-one exchange that we get with this job. I could do that forever. Even if it wasn’t my job anymore, I can see [hairdressing] remaining a part of my life for a long time.

AR: What are your feelings about the influence of social media and how that’s shaping our industry right now?
MD: I don’t like it. I don’t like what it’s become.
AR: What has it become?
MD: Look, you and I have been doing this for a long time. Ten years ago, you couldn’t be taking pictures backstage, let alone posting selfies with people from back there. Yeah right! You would never be asked to come back! We were taught to be chill and show up to do our jobs. Once people started breaking the rules, I was refusing to capitalize on that because it seemed so tactless, but in the end, I guess I probably should have been capitalizing on it too. I’ve had to give in and post more work stuff, but it takes me back to our conversation before about hairstyling defining you as a person. I don’t just do hair all the time and it’s not the most important thing in my life, even though I’m passionate about my job and I love what I do. I have other friends, and hobbies, and I shouldn’t be shamed for having a distinctly different life outside of hairstyling.

Social media is cool and it gets your work out there, but most of my work is still coming from my reputation. Now it seems to be more about the amount of followers you have and how extra your personality is, and I’m not about that. I come to work to do my job, not to post about everything I’m doing to Instagram. That’s something I’ve felt frustrated towards because it’s made me wonder, when I see other artists’ careers blowing up on social media, do I need to act that way to be successful? After all the hard work that I’ve done and all the talented people I’ve gotten to work with, to see things like that on social media can leave a sour taste in my mouth.

AR: What are you most excited about in our industry right now?
MD: Something that’s been exciting to me is doing more branded content. Instead of going to Pier 59 for a huge ad campaign, now there are opportunities to do branded content for sites and the work is more playful. They’re smaller shoots instead of huge productions and that’s been a lot of fun.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

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xo