My hairstyling career started when I, through a hunch, realized that doing hair will open all the doors I needed in my life. It was just a hunch, that’s all.

Hair was never my passion. I never dreamt of doing hair as a kid — but I did cut my own hair because hairdressers would always chop and fry my hair and I never liked the way I looked when I left the hair salon.

In 2016, I went to school in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and graduated the first in my class in 2017. My brother had moved to Toronto and gotten married and urged me to go to the city.

I was contemplating moving back to Dubai, where I was born and raised, but that didn’t feel right for me. I decided to move to Toronto in 2017 and got a studio apartment right next to High Park.

Life was rough but also humbling. I was making minimum wage and surviving, in hopes of one day becoming an awesome hairdresser.

I worked at salons in Toronto to build my skills and I immediately knew I wanted to specialize in haircutting.

Luckily, salons in Toronto understood the need to separate cuts from color, and I was super happy to use my razor, texture shears and scissors to sculpt all kinds of hair.

After 5 years of cutting hair, a short stint at a blowdry bar, and being mentored by bosses who were more skilled than me, I went off on my own and rented a chair in a salon in Oakville.

That was when Covid happened.

I loved being on my own, but running a business in a pandemic and being closed for so many months was beyond hard.

I went to YouTube to help people manage their hair during the pandemic. My channel took off and fast forward to 2022 - I created “SKLPT’D” to bring all that I was doing (YouTube, education, podcast, and blog) under one roof.

Before I got into hair, I was a makeup artist. I left that world because I couldn’t tell women than I would contour their noses and “correct” their cheekbones to make a quick buck. I felt like a fraud.

Hair has allowed me to be creative, social and have my own business. It’s the only job that I’ve stuck with long-term and that has allowed me to fully support myself.

SKLPT’D Academy was born out of a need to pass on all that I’ve succeeded in to fellow hairstylists and makeup artists.

Yes, makeup artists are welcome, too. I used to be one! I know how hard it is to start out in hair when your skillset is painting and you know nothing about hair.

I held a few workshops before the pandemic that sold out both times. It felt amazing to watch artists “get it” and I wanted to do more!

As I became better at cutting, I was being asked by hairstylists how to use the razor, how to texturize and how to style. So I started recording classes and putting them up for sale!

Right now, as of fall 2023, I’m building out a membership site that will make education for hair and makeup artists accessible. I also started SKLPT’D Academy YouTube channel and Podcast so you can have access to free career + business advice when and how you want to listen to it.

I’m always filming and looking for educators to join us, so if you think you have what it takes to be an educator, get in touch with me!

I also offer one-on-one classes if you’re looking to brush up on your skills.