In this episode of Last Client of the Day, Chaie De Jesus, co-owner of Onyx on Madison, shares her experiences navigating gender gaps in the beauty industry and starting her own business. Known for her signature edgy, high-fashion cuts, Chaie discusses the challenges of working twice as hard to achieve recognition and her dedication to creating a supportive, inclusive space for both clients and fellow artists. Tune in for an inspiring conversation on resilience, representation, and making it in the beauty industry.
Chaie de Jesus: The American Asian community should be out there and be more seen. This is what I've been really still fighting for. I want to be the face, the voice of that, to inspire all the little Asian queer that want to be part of this dream because this is what I've created for me. I will not stop until I get there and I want to do more.
Jozlyn Miller: Hi, I'm Jozlyn Miller and this is Last Client of the Day presented by Boulevard. We are so excited to introduce our next guest, Chaie de Jesus. Chaie is renowned for her meticulous attention to detail and commitment to making every client feel sexy, confident, and thrilled with her work. Combining expertise in cutting, a passion for hair, and a unique sense of style, she's created a signature look that is edgy, high fashion, and tailored to every client's individual beauty. Chaie loves teaching clients how to maintain their haircut after they've left the salon, and she's trained under Shannon Raw at Shannon hair in Valencia, California and honed in on her craft at Sally Hershberger LA and Meche Salon in Beverly Hills. In 2020, Shai remained dedicated to providing excellent services despite challenges. This period inspired her to co-found Onyx on Madison with colorist Daniel M. Together, they created an intimate, beautiful space prioritizing the client's experience and offering fellow artists access to top professional education and a platform to pursue their dreams.
AD: This episode is brought to you by Boulevard the first and only client experience platform purpose-built for appointment based self care businesses. Built to relieve stress, not create it. Boulevard is designed to help you elevate your client experience and infuse simplicity and beauty into your day. To help you enjoy all the amazing features Boulevard offers, today's listeners can save 10 percent to claim your offer head over to join blvd.com/podcast.
Jozlyn Miller: Hi. Welcome, welcome. So for today, we have the lovely Chaie de Jesus. We are so excited to have you today. I have so many questions for you.
Chaie de Jesus: Thank you for inviting me. I'm very happy to be here—very nervous, but I am very happy to be here.
Jozlyn Miller: You are a dry cut specialist and co-owner of Onyx on Madison. So first tell me, who is Chaie?
Chaie de Jesus: First off, I'm a dry cutting specialist and a co-founder and owner of Onyx on Madison. I am a very proud queer Filipino businesswoman. I am very ambitious, resilient, and adventurous. I obviously love hair, fashion, and tattoos.
Jozlyn Miller: Absolutely. I mean, look at you, right? You're gorgeous.
Chaie de Jesus: But, underneath all the tattoos is a very sweet and sensitive Gemini that is constantly inventing herself, and is a little sparkle of stardust in the universe that loves love. That's me.
Jozlyn Miller: I love that. I love love also. I get it. So tell me a little bit about your journey. How did you go from being a stylist? I know we were talking a little bit earlier about your journey through different salons, but how did you go from that to being a co-owner of your own business?
Chaie de Jesus: So I've told you a little bit about the 7th and 8th salons untilI found my business partner and my best friend, Daniel. We obviously love hair and we created Onyx because we wanted artists like us to have a space that they can thrive in and have education. Our salon is in Pasadena and we really wanted Eastside people to have a very luxurious salon, feel very pampered, and very much taken care of.
Jozlyn Miller: I love that because when you become a owner and co-owner, you're able to pretty much create that from the ground up. You can hire the team that you want that's going to also exude that type of energy that you're looking to give to your clients. So, you have a hand in all of that. So how is that different from the experiences that you had when you were at the other salons?
Chaie de Jesus: I feel like I loved all the salons I worked at, but I always felt like I did not get more than I should be getting. So, we changed that at Onyx because we want everyone to just make a better living, be their own bosses, and have a space that they can be themselves. We're very inclusive and education is very, very big at Onyx. We definitely take care of our clients in a way that they have a beautiful space without feeling a certain type of way, if you know what I mean.
Jozlyn Miller: So Chaie, tell me a little bit about the challenges that you're facing within the industry. I would love for you to dive into exactly what that's looked like for you and maybe how you've overcome and persevered through them.
Chaie de Jesus: Oh, it's a tough question. I've really thought about this. To be honest, I have always worked really hard to get to where I am. But, as a queer Asian American woman, my hope is for us to be more seen and have more opportunities. We have so much to give. The hair industry is saturated with and our biggest clientele are women. The American Asian community should be out there and be more seen. This is what I've been really still fighting for. I want to be the face, the voice of that, to inspire all the little Asian queer that want to be part of this dream because this is what I've created for me. I will not stop until I get there and I want to do more.
Jozlyn Miller: I'm fascinated by that. I would love for you to tell me a little bit more about the things that you are doing. Of course, you are very big and a game-changer on social media and what you're doing within your business. Is there anything that you're doing outside of that, that is bringing that awareness where our listeners can actually tune into it?
Chaie de Jesus: Be yourself. I feel like the biggest thing for me—what inspires me is me, and being me is what I bring out to the world. Because, if I don't love me, then no one else will see that. So that's what I've always done. I stay in my lane, I work really hard. I've always taught [others] to do that. That's Chaie.
Jozlyn Miller: Absolutely, that's needed. That should be anybody. Everyone should be themselves.
Chaie de Jesus: I am my biggest cheerleader.
Jozlyn Miller: Yes, you have to be. You have to make sure you're taking care of yourself and you are your biggest cheerleader, because who else is going to do it for you? You gotta take care of it. I absolutely love that. Back to what we were talking about in regards to different challenges going on in the industry, how do you think gender plays a role within this industry? You mentioned there’s a lot of women within this industry, which is definitely known, but there's also another part to it. I would love to know what you think about gender within this industry and the beauty industry just in total.
Chaie de Jesus: So this is how I feel, and this is just me, and I'm hoping that this can be out there so people are more aware. I just feel like women support the hair industry very much, right? But, I feel like there are still a lot of women that don't get opportunities. That's how I feel. They don't get the same opportunities from brands [such as] being ambassadors.
And, I am really working hard on my socials. I don't have a lot. But I feel like social media plays a big part of you being chosen to be part of a certain brand or to be chosen to be an ambassador, because [it could be], ‘Oh, I am a woman and I have a small following.’ But if they get to know who I am and how I got to where I am now, I can get, and I am still working to be, where I want to be. I'm not even here yet. I'm just scratching the surface and I have so much to give. I want a lot of women to be seen, to be heard, because women are supporting this billion dollar industry. Why not put a woman that is going through the journey, right?
Jozlyn Miller: I think you sharing your journey is what is going to inspire other women to get in there so that we can show our faces because I do believe that as well. I have some data and data does not lie. Numbers don't lie! So according to 2020 Fortune 500, only 37 companies are actually led by women. So there's a big gap. What do you think is needed to help support women that are looking to grow, build and become, owners and badasses like you? I would love to know what you think is needed for that to make those numbers go up. 37 is wild, right? That needs to be more than 50. So what do you think is needed to support that to help with getting those numbers up?
Chaie de Jesus: I feel like we should definitely collaborate more as women. Show up more and uplift each other versus trying to see each other as competition. Everyone that's here in the universe comes from a woman. That alone is so powerful. So, if we don't think about each other as competitions and just really, really, really help each other, we're going to be unstoppable.
Jozlyn Miller: I live by that. I literally live by that. I think that competition is what knocks everyone down, any culture or any gender; it knocks you down. Being able to collaborate, learn from each other, understand what worked for someone else or did not work for someone else, where they failed, where they were able to grow—that's going to be what makes it so that you can learn from their mistakes and their wins. I teach that a lot. Is there anything else outside of that you think would elevate women to get into those levels?
Chaie de Jesus: I feel like also teaching each other, like constantly educating yourself, elevating yourself, so you don't just get comfortable. That's how I am. That's probably why I use fashion. I have a different look every time so you don't get stagnant. I add on to my tattoos. My tattoos are also my armor. You're never gonna see me without a red lip. As a woman you constantly fight every day to get to where you are, to do what you need to do, because we have so much that we need to. We cannot just be a mom. We need to work. We are a friend. I am also a business owner. So there's so many hats that I wear. That’s probably why I collect a lot of hats, right? (Thanks to my friend Nick Fouquet, just kidding). So it's like, just being very strong and just constantly–I don't know if that's making sense, but I feel like you're catching my drift.
Jozlyn Miller: It is. It's making sure you have different levels to yourself and not getting comfortable at one of those levels. It’s making it so that you're growing, whether that be on the outside or on the inside mentally, physically, and emotionally. It needs to be something that's elevating you so that you're not staying at one place. It’s like a therapy session.
Chaie de Jesus: Yeah, and people will see that. Oh my God. I'm very big on therapy.
Jozlyn Miller: No, I'm saying it's a therapy session for me because you're reminding me. No seriously, because you don't want to get stuck in one place. And then, when you take that and put it into the understanding of a career, if you want to continue to grow, you have to exercise your mind, you have to read, you have to learn, and you have to network, so that completely makes perfect sense.
Chaie de Jesus: I feel like we just have so much more to prove and that's why we constantly just need to evolve and educate ourselves and it speaks a lot of why I am who I am. I'm 44 and I feel like as soon as I hit 40, I was like, ‘I'm going to be the hottest 40-year-old out there. I'll take care of myself physically and mentally,’ because I'm not just a hairstylist. I am a mother. I have a toddler. She's five.
Jozlyn Miller: You have a five-year-old?
Chaie de Jesus: Yeah, and I am also a business owner now, and I still want to have fun. I still want to learn more. I want to have friends. I want to travel. I want to do all that.
Jozlyn Miller: I can't believe you have a five year old. That's beautiful.
Chaie de Jesus: Thank you. I mean, she did not make me sleep last night.
Jozlyn Miller: She didn't help.
Chaie de Jesus: No, she did not help, but it's all good. I love her to death. She's my inspiration.
Jozlyn Miller: That's why you keep going.
Chaie de Jesus: Oh, yeah.
Jozlyn Miller: So tell me a little bit more about your baby. Is it a baby girl or baby boy?
Chaie de Jesus: Baby girl.
Jozlyn Miller: What's her name?
Chaie de Jesus: Lennox Love.
Jozlyn Miller: Lennox Love is a dope name, actually.
Chaie de Jesus: Thank you.
Jozlyn Miller: I might steal that when I have a baby.
Chaie de Jesus: You can have it. You have my permission.
Jozlyn Miller: Thank you.
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Jozlyn Miller: Talk a little bit more about Lenox, how she's inspired you, what that feels like, and what that looks like.
Chaie de Jesus: So I'll give you a little something about Chaie. I've always been a hard worker and when I moved here to the United States, I never thought I'd be a business owner. As soon as I had this baby, I don't know what f-ing happened. Can I say f-ing?
Jozlyn Miller: Yes. You can say everything.
Chaie de Jesus: Oh, perfect. And honestly, it gave me the drive, the push, to do more. I felt like I will do whatever it f-ing takes to give her the universe. She was born in 2019. 2020 obviously was the pandemic and the world stopped. My ex wife is, well she's not really my ex wife because we're separated, is a colorist, and I thought, ‘I cannot stop working because the world is telling us to stop, because how am I going to feed this kid?’ It's not an option. So, I basically worked harder. I drove everywhere in LA and still went to San Francisco and New York because I had a higher purpose. It's not just about me anymore. I had 12-15 house calls a day and was driving all over Los Angeles during the pandemic. That gave me that drive. Knowing that I made someone, even for 30 minutes to an hour, feel good in the darkest times of humanity and knowing that I will be able to take care of my kid because I had the resources. No one will ever f-ing stop me from doing hair, and that's because of my daughter.
Jozlyn Miller: That was, it was because of her. She was literally the guiding force behind it.
Chaie de Jesus: Absolutely. Yeah.
Jozlyn Miller: Because I know, I don't have any children, but if I did, I would probably feel the same. It's not about us as individuals. We have to be no longer selfish but selfless. That's going to make me go harder as well because you got to make sure to bring them up better than you were brought up. Or, you want to do better. Everybody has their own poisons and all that good stuff, but you want to make sure that they're brought up and have a better life.
Chaie de Jesus: Yeah. Not only that, but the love that out of nowhere you feel after having a child, I can't even describe it. There are not enough words to. I don't even know, it's mind blowing.
Jozlyn Miller: Shanalie actually said the same thing. You can't describe it. It's just a feeling and I would love to have that one day. I feel it. I get what you guys are saying.
Chaie de Jesus: You're going to, you're going to have one. It's the best feeling in the world.
Jozlyn Miller: Question in regards to women that are maybe working as stylists and want to grow. Maybe they’re going through challenges, or wanting to get in the space where you are, or wanting to one day own their own business. We know that you've gone through a lot of challenges. I'm not sure if you could share any of those challenges, but if you can, I think it would give insight into how they can get through it. We were talking about networking and telling about the wins and the losses. What advice would you give to these women to get to that place and grow the same way that you did?
Chaie de Jesus: Just be resilient. Never stop. Keep on going no matter what and show up not just 100 percent, 200 percent all the time. I feel like what I always do, no matter how heavy the world gets on my side, I show up with a smile. I make everyone feel good, and that is my biggest thing. I give so much love to the hour or hour and a half that I have a client in my chair. I know for a fact that that is why I am where I am and I want to give more of me to the world.
Jozlyn Miller: That has to be hard also, showing up at 200. I also think the same, especially being a woman of color, I feel like I have to show up at a 200 percent because if I'm at, I don't know, 75, it's going to show and they're like, what is going on? Right?
Chaie de Jesus: That's what they're going to remember.
Jozlyn Miller: Exactly. It's hard to show up at 200 percent all the time. Do you have any advice on how to get there–to that 200 percent even if you are feeling at 50 percent that day? Are there certain things that you do to make that happen or anything that you could recommend to others on that?
Chaie de Jesus: First off, I have an amazing life coach. He is my lifesaver. He is my angel. I have a very strong support system. I work out. I keep myself very healthy. I used to be a party girl, you have no idea.
Jozlyn Miller: Tell me more.
Chaie de Jesus: No, seriously, and I feel like I'm already at that age that I've already finished that part of my life and now it's not just me, I have a daughter. Not only that, I have a salon that I am leading with my best friend and my business partner, and I want to show up and show them that, ‘hey, this is not just a whatever, I'm giving all of me to the space,’ because I want it to shine, so I definitely take care of myself. Everything starts with it. So if I take care of me, I can take care of everyone else.
Jozlyn Miller: You mentioned you used to be a party girl. I completely get that. And then you're like, now I need to be responsible. We can bring it back just a little bit. We want to know, and we're asking all of our guests this just because I feel like it's fun. We just want to make sure we're adding this in: the good, the bad, the ugly. We would love to know a story that you've experienced that you could share, and this could be anywhere from like an achievement, this could be where you've just had a crazy story about a client that you're like, ‘I cannot believe it's happening to me.’ Or, anything that you want to share in regards to good, bad, or ugly, within your career that you've experienced.
Chaie de Jesus: Okay. Yeah. So I'm going to tell you a little story. In the Philippines, there are no gender pronouns so to this day I mix he and she. So now that I’ve put myself out there, I have gotten a lot of children from my clients that are moms that are non binary, so they would have to tell me like, their pronouns are they/them. And honestly, it still to this day confuses me because I don't want to hurt them or they. But I've gotten those children, and their pronouns are they/them. When I get to do their hair from long to short, whatever it is, it is the absolute best feeling knowing that they're safe with me and they chose me to do their hair.
Jozlyn Miller: I love that. And you're with them during whatever that place is where they're in their lives to transition to wherever they're feeling, like where they want to be. I absolutely love that.
Chaie de Jesus: Because I know how that feels and knowing that I am a very big part of that because they love my energy, they're safe in my space, and they feel comfortable. That's a very different feeling for me.
Jozlyn Miller: That's so inspirational. That makes me emotional because there's so many things going on where babies aren't accepted for who they are and for them to be able to find someone that's going to help them feel more comfortable in their body, that's just such a beautiful thing.
Chaie de Jesus: I love it, although I'm like, ‘what's your pronouns again? Can you remind me?’
Jozlyn Miller: It's respect, you want to respect, absolutely. I 100 percent agree. Beautiful. Okay, now last question for you. How does Chaie define success?
Chaie de Jesus: Success to me is doing what I love every single day and that is being a hairstylist and knowing that I can make someone feel good and feel loved through my art of hair. That is success to me. Not everyone can say, ‘Oh, I love my job, right?’ I love my job. I am very passionate about it. Yeah, that's why I take care of myself so I can do this for as long as I can.
Jozlyn Miller: And you know what, there's so many people out there that are just working to get a paycheck. When you find your passion and you're able to get paid for it, it probably doesn't feel like a job to you, right?
Chaie de Jesus: I can cut like three days straight without eating. That's not good. That's what I'm trying to change. When you're passionate about what you do, money comes to you no matter where you go. I have had, what, seven salons that I've worked for and I had to open my own and that to me is success. And I want to have more Onyxes.
Jozlyn Miller: How many more locations are you looking to open up? Because I know you're, you're just going up, right?
Chaie de Jesus: We'll see. The universe is huge and I'm just scratching the surface.
Jozlyn Miller: I can't wait to see what you do. I'm so excited to watch your journey. I am a big fan.
Chaie de Jesus: Oh, thank you. Thank you.
Jozlyn Miller: We are so happy that you were able to join us today. Thank you so much.
Chaie de Jesus: Thank you for having me. Absolutely. If the listeners want to learn more about you, book an appointment with you, or just learn more about you in general, where can they find you?
Chaie de Jesus: So, please follow Chaie de Jesus on Instagram, C H A I E. My salon is Onyx on Madison. I actually have a class, a cut correction class. I don't know if a cut correction exists in the hair category. That is one that I'm really trying to have a breakthrough with because there's color correction, but why is there not cut correction? I added that to my list and I have a higher price point because it's a longer process, and I've been doing so many cut corrections. I want to teach people how to see that so they know what to recognize, they can add more value to their time, and it can be another category for the hair world, because I don't think it exists.
Jozlyn Miller: First time hearing it, but genius.
Chaie de Jesus: This cut correction, I will make it a series because this is me helping out the hair industry to have this category. It's for people to have more additional income for everyone's time. Once you learn how to do a cut correction, it's not just a one time thing. It doesn't mean, ‘Oh, I'm going to chop it short.’ No, there's a lot of things to it. It's a process, so I want to do this class that will become a series. So people will really learn not just how to do long layers, right? Like it will be one, two, three, four or five steps. People will have opened this new category in their industry.
Jozlyn Miller: Look at you changing the game!
Chaie de Jesus: Girl, I'm trying! This is where this brain of mine just runs.
Jozlyn Miller: I would love to know, do your ideas come up in the middle of the night? Mine are in the shower or when I wake up in the middle of the night, use the restroom and I'm like, ‘Oh, I should write this now.’
Chaie de Jesus: I actually wake up either four or five in the morning every day, wherever I am and that's when I have these ideas. I either write it down or I just use my voice notes and I'll be like, ‘Oh my god,’ and then I fall back asleep.
Jozlyn Miller: And then you listen to them when you wake up and you're like, ‘oh, yeah this is a good idea.’ Everybody write down your ideas.
Chaie de Jesus: I've been planning the cut correction for two and a half years, so now it's here.
Jozlyn Miller: And now it’s here. Literally this month. I love that for you. Keep it going. Alright, well thank you so much for joining us today and we're so excited to see where your journey takes you.
Chaie de Jesus: Thank you. Thank you. I will take you guys with me.
Jozlyn Miller: Please do. I'm involved!
