Sensory Haircuts with Dee Foster | Season 8 Episode 9

In this episode, we speak with hairdresser Dee Foster about her passion for sensory-friendly haircuts. Dee shares insights on what makes a positive sensory friendly haircut, why she feels they are so important to support families and tips for families looking for a sensory-friendly haircut experience. Dee also shares helpful self-advocacy strategies for families and acknowledges how something as seemingly simple as a haircut can make a big difference in a child’s life. 

Dee Foster owns Miss Dee and Friends Magic Hair Bus in Houston, Texas. She has over 15 years of experience in the hair industry, with a true passion for working with children, specializing in caring for kids' unique hair needs. She has found her niche in creating positive, stress-free experiences. Over the past nine years, Dee has dedicated herself to growing her business by meeting children exactly where they are whether at home, in a therapy setting or at school. Her top priority is ensuring every child feels safe, comfortable and confident every step of the way. 

Links:

Miss Dee and Friends website

Miss Dee Instagram

The Parish School

Transcript

Stephanie Landis:

Welcome. We're so excited for today's episode of Unbabbled. We have Ms. Dee Foster here and she's going to talk to us about sensory friendly haircuts. So welcome. We're so excited to have you.

Dee Foster:

Hi, I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

Stephanie Landis:

Miss D as she's known. She has an amazing sensory friendly bus where she does haircuts and all sorts of fun things. And so we're really excited to dig into that.

Dee Foster:

Awesome. I'm excited to talk about it. I can talk about it all

Stephanie Landis:

Day. Before we started recording, I was talking about how I wish that I had this for my kids when they were younger, because both of them were very sensory defensive when it came to haircuts and noises and all of that. And it is so amazing that now sensory-friendly haircuts are becoming more popular, but even with the popularity, a lot of people are still really unfamiliar. So we get to spend the morning talking about it and hopefully we'll reach some parents and kids that can really benefit from it. So to start off, what is a sensory-friendly haircut?

Dee Foster:

It is meeting a child where they are at and not forcing them to conform to a certain worldly standard of doing this hard thing that they are not comfortable with. So if that answers your question, it is basically about where they're at to perform a basic service.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah, I love that. What do you find typically that is the biggest barrier for kids with getting their haircut?

Dee Foster:

Kids in general, I think we expect them. The biggest challenge is we just expect them to do it. You just have to know how to do this.

Stephanie Landis:

And

Dee Foster:

When you think about it, we were all taught how to do what we do. How do you expect me? I'm one years old. I'm 10 months old. You expect me just to sit here and do this. Or I just got diagnosed with autism and I'm learning myself. You just expect me to be okay with you coming at me with a sharp object.

Stephanie Landis:

To my head.

Dee Foster:

Yeah, to my head. There's already stuff going on up there and you're coming at me. Okay? So that's probably the hardest thing is you just expect them to do it. Just do it. Why can't you just do it? Yeah, so that's probably the hardest thing.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. For my son, it was so similar. It was things coming both at his head. He's never liked things coming at his head. And two, the loudness and the vibration of the clippers. I mean, I'm a girl, so I never really had the clippers, but I didn't really think about it until he was younger and the clippers would start coming toward him and they're vibrating and they're loud and he would freak.

Dee Foster:

Yeah. And then too, you got to think about kids, their teeth, all this stuff. If they've had surgery, if they've had cavities, everything is just so sensitive also. So if they've had that problem as well and you're coming at me with another added thing, that's also, it hurts them.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. What are one of some of the tricks and tips that you use to get kids comfortable and used to getting their haircut?

Dee Foster:

The main thing that if someone says, "Hey, I need a sensory-friendly haircut." I'm not just going to go at them with my tools. So the first tip or trick is just hanging out for a couple of minutes and just kind of filling them out. Most of the time parents are like, "Okay, hop in the chair." But if they said, "Okay, we need a sensory haircut," then I'm going to let them explore the space, whether it's in a traditional salon or their home or in my mobile hair sick one. That's probably the main tip and trick. And then another thing is these days in 2026, we have so many tools to help. They have the quietest clippers and they're not super $100 walls clippers. I call them my toys because they're just quiet and just kind of baby friendly. So that's probably my other tip is the quiet clippers.

Those are probably the two main ones.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. And I bet spending that time getting to know the kid, one builds trust, but two, it also gets you an opportunity to say, "Hey, if I'm going to meet this kid where they're at, I need to find out because every kid's different, what is going to help meet this kid's need?" What are some of the things that you're looking for when you're hanging out with the kids and getting to know them?

Dee Foster:

I'm seeing if they let me get close to them, seeing if they make that eye contact or interested in me. I like to wear these ginormous hats. And recently I found that some kids do not like these hats. And so I'm like, okay, if they're looking at me a little strange, maybe I take off the hat. So just different things that I notice. If they're backing up, then I'm like, okay, well then let them be close to mom. And then I try to befriend mom and go friend dad. So I'm just kind of watching their mannerisms and how they operate. If they want to play with my toys, then I try to engage them with that, things like that.

Stephanie Landis:

And it seems like part of meeting them where they're at, you mentioned having at a hair salon in the home, in the bus. You're kind of okay with doing a haircut wherever they need to be done, yeah?

Dee Foster:

Wherever they need to be done. Yeah. It's my favorite thing actually. I think back to when I first started, I've been a hairdresser, a children's hairdresser specifically for 14 years. And I think back to my first hair salon, I'll never forget, a child did not want to sit in the car and I'm like, well, he wanted to be at the train, not the train. Yeah, it was a train station table. And my manager got so upset with me that I wanted to do the haircut there, and this was years ago, so super strict and all the things pre- COVID, but that's where they wanted to be and that's where they were most comfortable. He got the haircut just fine at the train table, but I got in trouble for doing that. So wherever they want to be is where I want them to be.

Stephanie Landis:

You bring up such a great point. Sometimes we as adults need to be the flexible ones that we are expecting these kids, like you said, to just come in and get a haircut and we're expected to do it our way and our preconceived notion. And they're like, "I am not comfortable with this. " And so it sounds like you are flexible with your goal of being like, "Let's do what we need to do to get the kid comfortable and getting the haircut."

Dee Foster:

Exactly. Yeah. I take pride in that and listening to them.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah.

Dee Foster:

Even if they don't say it with words.

Stephanie Landis:

So without words, what would you be looking for?

Dee Foster:

Crying, trying to sit in the chair, fighting, kicking. I don't want to sit there. I just had a haircut recently and he was so happy. We tried sitting on dad's lap, which is their normal way. And then once we got out of dad's lap for a break, I take breaks. He stood and I finished the whole haircut while he was standing and he was just so happy there.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. Yeah.

Dee Foster:

Did I

Stephanie Landis:

Answer your question? Yes, that is, because I mean, that's you looking for the nonverbal cues because again, some of the kids don't have much language, especially a lot of our younger kids at our school that we work with, they don't have the language to be like, "I am scared," or, "I want to go over there," or, "Just let me stand here and play with bubbles." Things that we as adults could do.

Dee Foster:

Exactly. Yeah. Our job, and I take big pride in our job of protecting these babies and trying to meet their needs. That is what we are here to do. We can't just force them to do what we want them to do.

Stephanie Landis:

So what do you see as a successful haircut?

Dee Foster:

I don't know. That's a good question. A successful haircut would be a successful sensory-friendly haircut?

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah.

Dee Foster:

I guess it would be them getting it done the way that they want to get it done. So let's say it's no cake and no in shirt off, but standing, that's a successful haircut. Or even, okay, even if I've seen him, let's see, or her, a month ago and we cried, kicked and screamed that whole time, the next time maybe we whimpered, that's successful to me. And then the time after that, maybe we just said, "I don't like this, " or kind of just head down. That's also successful because it shows me that we are progressing. And so I think the successful is kind of broad to me and I don't really know how to answer that. I'm sorry.

Stephanie Landis:

No, that was a beautiful answer because it shows that a kid sitting there and having the most styled, perfect haircut isn't always the end goal.

Dee Foster:

No, it's not. It's really the steps for me, and I prefer the steps. I think to one of my kids who we did cry, and it took maybe a year or two, the crying, the screaming, and we did that, but we did it every three weeks, like clockwork. And eventually the last haircut, it was hopping up in the chair and ready to rock and roll. Okay, great. You done? Okay, buddy, I'm done. So yeah, that's success to me.

Stephanie Landis:

Oftentimes, parents can have a hard time themselves emotionally when they're watching their kids struggle in a place or have a hard time, and they can feel a lot of guilt and shame around that. So I think it's also helpful to know that there are hairdressers and people they can go to that understand that and are willing to work with them and meet them where they are.

Dee Foster:

Yes.

Stephanie Landis:

What's the kind of feedback that you get from families?

Dee Foster:

That is a big one. A lot of the times they're embarrassed or ashamed. They don't want to go to a big place because they feel guilty that their child is screaming or having a hard time. So it's a lot of parent pressure as well. And I try to be as understanding to them, just let them know, "Hey, first of all, nothing new is under the sun." So this is not new. She or he is not the only one to have this scare or this frustration. So I often try to reassure them. Most of the time I try to reassure them and just let them know it's okay. But a lot of the times it's exactly like you said, they are so confused, so hurt. A lot of the dads are just very strong personality about it. And then the moms are just their hearts. So that's a lot of the feedback I get.

It's like, I don't understand it. And the things that we don't understand, it's scary and it's frustrating. So I get it. And so I try to meet them where they're at as well.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. And oftentimes our kids can feel our anxiety too. So if we're worked up and we're worried about it, then the kids then are like, "Oh, this is something I should be worked up and worried about it too." So I'm sure that it's creating a safe place for the parents and the kids so that everybody can take that relaxing breath.

Dee Foster:

Yeah. That's exactly what I'm all about. It's a whole family affair. I like the saying it takes a village because it really does. It takes mom and dad being calm or whoever brings the baby and it takes us as the hairdressers to be relaxed and be understanding.

Stephanie Landis:

I love that. So you were affectionately referring to them as babies, but I'm assuming you find all age groups are your babies?

Dee Foster:

Yes. Yes. And it's so funny because they'll tell me, "I'm not a baby." I'm like, "Oh, are ... " You're my baby. They are. I often get asked, "How many babies do you have? " And I'm like, "Oh, you are my baby." All of my clients, oh, it's bad. Yes, all of them. And they're all my friends. I love them so much. It's funny that you caught onto that. Yeah, a lot of them are 10, 12. I'm like, "Hey, I love it.

Stephanie Landis:

Yep, but that's good to know that you work with all age ranges because again, it's some of those things where sometimes we expect younger kids to have a hard time, but we're also like, "You're this age, you should be able to do this. " And the kids are like, "Well, I still have a difficult time sitting for a long time, or I need a fidget." Or sometimes big kids need help too.

Dee Foster:

Big kids and adults, because often adults, older generations, they've masked their whole life or they've not had anybody understand them, and so they just kind of went with it. But I often go to day centers and things like that and meet adults where they're at because maybe they have anxiety. Last year in particular, I met with the young lady and she had beautiful ringlet hair past her bottom and she was so nervous to get it cut. But I came to her center and we hung out, we talked, it took an hour, but she was comfortable in the end and that's what I'm here to do. I don't want to pressure you to say, "Oh, chop it all off. It's all dead." She hadn't had a haircut in years. I'm there to help you get through this hurdle and so that hopefully you can go to a traditional space and feel confident.

Confidence is probably one of the biggest things for me too, is that because it's fine for you to get a sensory haircut until you are 82. However, I want you to feel confident to go to a salon and say, "This is what I want. This is what I don't want. Please don't use this. I would like this, " or sit there also. So anyway, yes, I say all ages, even up to adults who may need my services.

Stephanie Landis:

I love that because not only are you helping them and meeting them where they're at, but you're doing one of the things that is huge for us in our school is that teaching our kids, you won't always forever be with us, our school caps out at a certain age, let's teach you advocacy skills. And so if you move or you are somewhere else or you need a haircut at a different place, now you have the advocacy skills to say like, "Hey, this works better for me or this doesn't work better for me.

Dee Foster:

" Yes. And then they know, "Hey, if they don't listen, if they don't understand what I need, then I will find somebody who does understand." I like that you said that and I'm going to start using that and making sure they have the advocacy. I love speaking to therapy professionals because I'm like, I always learn something. I love going to center schools because there are just certain skills that I don't have as a hairdresser and somebody who didn't grow up in the community. So I learned from you. So thank you for sharing some nice words.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. And this is an area, like you said, is becoming so new that it's almost like you have to go through all of that trial by error and figuring it out. Are there classes that they're offering for people now to try and help with sensory haircuts or help people learn?

Dee Foster:

Yes. There's starting to be, I know of one or two for sure. One for sure is accredited. I know that they go to different hair shows and things like that, so you really just have to seek it out and then get under somebody. As a hairdresser, you usually you go through apprenticeships and things like that. You go be a shampoo girl. So if this is something that you are interested in, then you find somebody who is doing what you do. I often go to beauty schools and teach what I do just to kind of open their eyes because first of all, I had no idea there was a children's hair salon. We did not learn this in beauty school in 2009. What is that? So I just kind of got thrown in there. So to answer your question, yes, there are more people that you can learn from these days.

However, hands-on and seeing it is probably the best way.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. And I love that. I love that you're sharing your knowledge, not just with families, but going to teach and support the future hairdressers as well.

Dee Foster:

That is one of my hopes and dreams is just to help whoever needs help. And because I had good mentors and good people to teach me. And so one particular, I don't know if no, it is just for hairstyle, it's called Sensory Safe Solutions. They teach, but it's a basic training and it's just something else to have under your belt. I do believe strongly that people like you, RBTs, BCBAs, OTs, all of those people are the people that you want to learn from. So yes, you can learn how to give a sensory haircut, but being hands-on with somebody who is in it daily is important too.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. And that's fantastic because that also helps parents that are listening because we have people listen all over that won't be lucky enough to get a haircut from you here in Houston because they're a few states over, but that helps them figure out like, "Oh, these are questions I can ask." If you had advice for parents who are seeking out a hairstylist, what would you have them ask to see if this is a place where their kid could go get a haircut or they could feel comfortable going there?

Dee Foster:

First, I would ask them, do they have anybody that is comfortable working with somebody who, and they don't have to give diagnosis or anything like that, but somebody who is nervous about haircuts or who screams when they get their haircut. So small things like that to see if they are a welcoming space. I often tell them to look for, if they're younger, like a children's salon and then ask for maybe, "What are your quieter times? Are you willing to open up earlier, stay later?" Anything like that. And then Google is probably the best. Somebody who does sensory friendly haircuts, sensory friendly, and if you know, you know what that word means. And some people don't understand what sensory friendly means, but if they understand sensory needs, things like that, then looking up those sorts of words, sensory haircut, things like that. But probably the main questions I would tell them to ask is, do you have anybody patient enough to work with somebody who cries, somebody who screams, somebody who ... What are other things?

Stephanie Landis:

Might not sit still. Yeah.

Dee Foster:

Might not sit still who doesn't want to wear the cape. That cape. So a lot of hair salons-

Stephanie Landis:

It's itchy.

Dee Foster:

It's itchy. And it doesn't really ... I have a superpower of still getting hair on the child with the cape on. But in traditional hair salons, they may force the person to wear a cape. And that is somewhere you do not want to be because I cannot wear a cape. And same thing with back in the day with masks. I wore the mask too if my clients wanted me to, but if their child did not want to wear a mask, okay, because like you said, the itchiness. So things like that. So are they comfortable if a child X, Y, Z? So those are things to look out for, question. I would see if the salon is loud or noisy because that's a big one too. If they play music, a lot of trendy salons will play music, TVs, sports, places like that. But yeah, so things, small questions like that suited to their specific need.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah, that's very helpful. We had with my own kids who are older, two experiences with that because we went to a new hair salon that was specifically for kids that opened near us. And I was like, great, it's a kid place. We picked a time we thought wasn't super busy, but when we walked in, there were younger kids getting their haircut, two kids crying, three different TVs going with two different stations on music playing in the background. And my son just noped right on out and my daughter was like, "I'm not even walking in. " I love them. Who cried, calmed down and left. And I was able to get my son in and he was like, "Yeah, okay, the crying's done. They've got a TV that I can watch. I'll just go watch it. " And my daughter was like, "No, it is still too loud.

I am not doing that. " And I was like, "Fine." And instead I took her to the adult that cuts my hair in a single salon where it's quiet and could take your time. And we figured out what worked for her. But we walked in and both of my kids were like, "Not going to happen right out. " And I was like, "Okay." I

Dee Foster:

Love that.

Stephanie Landis:

Check off loud salons. Didn't know that that was something, but all right. Because for me, I was like, "Oh, I guess I'm just used to them being loud all day. I block it out.

Dee Foster:

" Yeah. No, I tune everything out. If a child is screaming, they're like, "Dee, it doesn't bother you. " I'm like, "Yeah, I don't hear it. " So I'm with you. But for children that ... And then like you said, before we got on the call, you were mentioning

Stephanie Landis:

We

Dee Foster:

Didn't even do anything for eight years. So yeah, you expect me to go into this foreign land. It's welcoming to kids, but not all kids- All kids. Even with my mobile salon, a lot of the kids love it. It's fun, but also some kids do not. Yesterday, I had a full day of no mobile salon because they didn't prefer it, so we didn't use it. And so that's okay too. It's just what works for your child specifically.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah, I like that. And you're right. I mean, my kids are older, so when they were really young, it wasn't much of a thing. And then they hit COVID where I was giving them bad at-home haircuts, and then I threw them back into these big loud salons again, and they were just like, "You got to be kidding me.

Dee Foster:

" No, mom. No, thank

Stephanie Landis:

You. And I'm like, you're getting to the age where the bad mom haircuts aren't going to be as adorable anymore.

Dee Foster:

Yep. Yeah. But to your point, you didn't know, but a lot of moms have been battling this the whole time. So I give them at six and we just can't ... So they wait. They wait years, and then that's a problem too, because then we're not exposing them. So a lot of them will know like, "Okay, we like this. We don't like this. " One thing that I do do, and I guess I was kind of thrown into the sensory friendly haircut world, that's a whole nother story, but it's a beautiful story, but it's another one. But I adopted probably around COVID, a sensory-friendly form to find out just a little bit more of the struggles that you may go through. And some parents are like, "I don't know, we were just diagnosed. I don't know if this is a problem or I don't know, he's two, I don't know.

" But It's nice to get an idea. And then there's also a part on there, share anything else that you can think of to help us prepare. And I think that that is a good point too. So when looking for a salon, making sure they know your needs. And back to that advocacy word, that's important. Advocate for yourself and for your baby. You're their protector.

Stephanie Landis:

I love that you mentioned that you have the families fill out a form ahead of time. What kind of things are on your form?

Dee Foster:

So the basic, what kind of haircut are you looking for? What kind of tools are used for haircuts? Sometimes it's no buzzer. Sometimes it's only buzzer, which is always funny to me because the buzzer is the loud one. I'm like, oh, okay. And then let's see, what else? Will they allow cape? Will they allow water? Something else that you can tell me about them. Do they like any particular thing? I do have a TV. I'm very bad at turning it on. But oftentimes everybody has their tablets these days. So maybe they like a particular song I can put on. So those are kind of questions that are on there.

Stephanie Landis:

That's fantastic. 

Dee Foster:

I do encourage parents to show them Instagram and I have videos on YouTube just to get familiar with my face. My hair changes often. I blame it on being a hairstylist, but the face is the same. So I do tell them, introduce them to my face on Instagram and the space where they could get their haircut. So yeah, that's also same with the form.

Stephanie Landis:

That's fantastic. Encouraging them to ... As an SLP, we call that front loading. You front load them. This is what they look like. This is what I look like. Here's the space you're going to be going in. And that drastically reduces their anxiety and it gets them familiar so that you are a familiar face and it's a familiar space before they get in there. And we often, when I was working with the itty bitties, if they were going to go to the doctor, a haircut, the dentist on a plane, I would encourage my parents to find books about getting your hair cut, about going to the dentist. Find a Daniel Tiger episode about it.

Dee Foster:

Yes.

Stephanie Landis:

Daniel Tiger will walk you through the steps slowly and with a song and there's something usually calming about it. And all of that is great front loading so that they can feel comfortable and that they know what to expect. Which goes back to your point at the beginning that we just kind of assume that kids will do well in these situations and we throw them in. So giving them that front loading experience of looking at your face, getting familiar with the space. I love that you just instinctively were like, "Yes, this is what I've noticed helps with my clients and continue to do it.

Dee Foster:

" Yes. Yeah. I believe in that. I believe in ... I mean, if it works, keep doing it. And then when it doesn't work, you pivot. Being flexible is one of my strong suits to adjust. That's important too.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. Yeah. Because honestly, haircuts are life changing. It doesn't seem like it. It seems like a small thing, but I mean, it's huge. So much of us have our identity in our hair, unless you're my husband who could care less. But I mean, a hair, it's a big part of yourself and your confidence and your style and feeling confident to go get your haircut is a big life-changing thing that, again, it seems so small, but it's huge.

Dee Foster:

Yeah. No, it is. And then imagine being three, never having your haircut. That is your personality. I just think even as adults with degrees and lives and families, we're not easily adjusting. So why in the world is a three-year-old supposed to do this? Like you said, that's who he is. They play with their hair, they twirl their hair, they sleep with their hair. Yeah, it's their persona, like you said. And then as they get older, the confidence kicks in and they're like, "And don't let them have beautiful hair." So then everyone's telling them how beautiful it is, so you want to cut it and take it from me? That's crazy.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. They're like, "I worked hard for this amazing hair. You don't get to cut it. "

Dee Foster:

Yeah. No.

Stephanie Landis:

And you mentioned something, it just popped in my head earlier about, because the same thing that happened with the COVID hitting with my children, is that I think my son got even more anxious with it because we had that period where we were just only able to do it at home. And so do you find that if parents, even if they know it's going to be a hard experience for their kid, if they can bring them in and start those steps sooner, that it works better than when they keep avoiding it and then hit a point where they have to do it later?

Dee Foster:

That is a great question. And to answer your question, it is super important to start those baby steps. Even if it's 20 minutes of me saying hello, I call it the sensory tolerance program and that's like, "I'm just going to sit with you for 20 minutes." And that works. I've tried it multiple occasions, so don't wait a year, don't wait three months, start those baby steps every three weeks, every four weeks, so that you can gradually get to the point of being comfortable. I just added another one to my schedule, a little girl, and you would think girls not as nervous, but they are too. And I love it. I got a high five yesterday.

The whole time I was there kind of avoiding and running with, "No haircut, no haircut." And we're like, "We're not cutting today." So them knowing it is not a haircut day, it's a play date. I call them on my calendar, it's a play date, so I'm just coming to hang out with you. And them being able to trust me at my word is important too. You see that I'm not cutting your hair today. I told you no haircut today. You can trust that I mean no haircut today. So then that builds up that trust and that security in our relationship, our friendship. So yes, answer your question, definitely do it as often as you can, even for 15 minutes, 20 minutes, but that is finding somebody who understands your needs and where you're going, the goal that you want to do.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah, I love that. And it is. It's a relationship. I mean, as you said, within adults, it's a relationship, but even more so with these kids because they're in even more of a dog shaking in the background. But these kids are even more vulnerable of a situation. They don't have as much of a voice. Maybe they don't know exactly what's going on, that they have to have that trust with you and you're coming at their head with sharp objects.

Dee Foster:

I mean, you're telling them to stay away from scissors, no using scissors. Why do you have them at my face? So yeah, building up that trust with somebody is so important. And then like you said, even if they have to move, I get so sad when customers have to move because we've built such a strong bond over the years. But even when you do have to go somewhere else, you have that know- how, that kind of thing in your head like, "Oh, I remember doing this with Ms. D or Ms. D told me I can tell them X, Y, Z." And mom and baby and child.

Stephanie Landis:

Well, anything else that you want people to know about what you do, how you do it, how you work your magic?

Dee Foster:

I think the main thing is to remember that it is, you don't have to do it. The question that you asked me earlier about a successful haircut, take it in a sense of what does success look like to you? Maybe success is getting out of the bed, different things like that. Put yourself in their shoes. And to me, it's like taking those baby steps. I think to answer that question, the main thing is take the steps, ask the questions, ask the hard questions, and be open to hearing and to relearning. We as adults are kind of stuck like, "Oh, I just know this. I'm stuck in my ways." I often apologize to my daughter. I'm like, "Oh, you know what? Mommy was wrong in that sense." So being open to relearning how we do things. And most of the parents that I've run across, I'm very blessed with very good clientele.

I am very spoiled, actually.

And they just find me and I'm like, "Oh, you guys are my people. " But most of the times they are already doing the OTs, doing the speech therapy, doing the ... So they know. They know that their child can overcome hard things. One of my clients a while back gave me a bracelet. I still wear it, and inside it said, "You can do hard things." And I often tell my kids that, because that is so true. This is hard. You're 10, you're 15, this is hard, but you can do it. I have a client right now I'm working on detangling. She cannot get her hair detangled. So we meet every couple of weeks and we just detangle. And when she tells me how, I said, "I know. I know. " All that to say, be open, be understanding, take the steps, the baby steps.

Yeah.

Stephanie Landis:

I love that because it's something that- Sorry,

Dee Foster:

I can ramble

Stephanie Landis:

On. No, that wasn't rambling. That was great. It's the same way when we're talking about seeing the kids in an educational setting. Sometimes I sit there and I'm like, why can't this kid stand to do his test or his therapy? Who cares if he's sitting or not? If they're engaged and they're getting it done, who cares? Like you said, who cares if they want to sit on the floor or if they want to sit in the race car or the train track? As adults, we get sometimes things stuck in our head and we're like, "Oh, why are we expecting children to be more flexible than we're willing to be? " And that's a hard pill to swallow as an adult because again, there are sometimes where I have to step back and be like, "Wait, why am I saying no to this to my own child or another kid and being like, is it a safety thing or is it me wanting to control things?" Not that my type A personality would ever want to control

Dee Foster:

Things. To you? No.

Stephanie Landis:

No, exactly. So sometimes it is hard to hear, but I love that. It's both for all of the adults around and the kids. We all have to be flexible together.

Dee Foster:

And as you said that, I think about also taking a look inward, what do you have a struggle with that you're expecting your kid just to do, whatever, but you also struggle with something too for type A people. I often wish I was more type A, but my type A parents are like, "No, you don't. This is a big thing." But we also have to look in where, that may be a controlling thing or that may be a me thing and not a real thing. But yeah, so I can go on and on. I love that it's more open and out there that it's okay. And during COVID, thankfully we were able to do our license kind of anywhere. I just need to be parked in front of a restroom. So if I'm at a house, okay, that's fine because they have a restroom there.

But I love that it's more open and more talked about in the industry, even kids' cuts and not just frowned upon, "Oh, they're screaming. Oh, what's wrong with it? Oh, get that child out of here." Or like, "Oh, that child is bad." So I love that there are different ways to do what I do to help them become a successful adult. So it's not going to be forever. And even if it is forever, you have the tools. Yeah.

Stephanie Landis:

I love that. The inclusivity has come a long, long way. And I think that that's fantastic for kids and families and it opens up your clientele too, right? Because instead of hiding at home, giving bad mom haircuts.

Dee Foster:

They're like, "We need help." And I'm here. I come with bells on.

Stephanie Landis:

And I know we've been talking a lot about the sensory side of it, but you also see regular clients and do more than just that. Yeah.

Dee Foster:

Yes. Oh, I honestly do more probably babies and kids and boy haircuts. My sensory haircuts, that is my specialty, but I'm just known for that, but I'm also known for baby and kid haircuts. So I often get asked, "Do I do adults?" I will if they need my help. Mainly it's the dads that don't get haircuts as often as their wives want. And they're like, "D's coming. You need a haircut." But I do all kids, all teens, just whoever needs my help under 20. But if you are over 20 and you have sensitivities, then you can go. Yeah,

Stephanie Landis:

You know your specialty in your group and your gang, and I'm not going to fit in the race car chairs.

Dee Foster:

I know, but I am hoping to broaden my, not just haircuts, but I have braid clients that maybe need me. It's another flexibility, something that I'm also teaching my daughter, I want to help all people. So if they need help with braids or things like that, I need to be flexible in my craft to do a sensory-friendly braid session. Not that I do them regularly or that I love to do them, but I need to learn that and I need to do that well. Another flexibility thing.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. There's a lot of tenderheaded babies out there that could use help.

Dee Foster:

Lots. Lots of tenderheadedness.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. Well, that is fantastic. I'm so glad we got to chat. I end every episode with the same question. What advice would you give to our listeners? It can be about haircuts or it can just be life advice in general. You've given us so many nuggets already, but there's one thing you want to leave us with, what would it be?

Dee Foster:

Oh, now that one, I should have had you email that I could give you.

Stephanie Landis:

No, I love putting people on the spot. This is the only time I enjoy putting people on the spot because then we hear their true thought instead of something rehearsed. I put you on the spot. It's okay.

Dee Foster:

Always be teachable at 50, at 60, at 80, remain teachable. And I say that because that is one thing I'm teaching my daughter currently. And one thing that I am also learning, again, with the haircuts and the braids and the different styles, I've been so stuck on one thing for so many years, I haven't been open to learning new things because I've mastered ... Yeah. So always be teachable, continue to learn.

Stephanie Landis:

I love that. That is fantastic. We're always learning. Life is so much more boring if you're not constantly learning something new.

Dee Foster:

I mean, I am fascinated by learning new things. I think I just learned ... Oh, the whole space thing going on. My kids are teaching me so much about it and I'm like, "Oh, really? I need to Google that. " Oh no. And they're much younger than me. I learn all about baseball all the time. So yeah, continue to learn.

Stephanie Landis:

Continue to learn. I love that. Well, thank you so much. I really enjoyed chatting with you today.

Dee Foster:

Thank you.