Despite not having a bachelor's degree, a 37-year-old woman's hair salon generates over $1 million annually.

Sess Lee Cannon had an epiphany while getting a tattoo that she was in the wrong career.

As Lee, a tattoo artist, put the finishing touches on her son's name, Elijah, scrawled across her left shoulder, she made small talk with her friend.

Hours after Lee gave her friend a haircut with kitchen scissors, the artist praised the style.

"Lee, 37, recalls the time when he said, "Where's your salon?" and he replied, "I didn't work at one, I just did hair for fun." The man then said, "Well, you might want to reconsider what you're doing for a living. It's clear you have a gift.""

The advice given to Lee, who was 20 at the time, caused her to pause. Although she enjoyed styling her friends' hair and trying out new hairstyles on her curly locks, she saw it more as a hobby than a career.

In 2007, two years after Lee graduated from high school and one year after she dropped out of Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, due to pregnancy.

In the months before Elijah's birth, Lee relocated to her hometown of Peoria, Illinois, and secured a customer service position at Maui Jim, a sunglasses company. She excelled in her role and was promoted to an accounting clerk within her first year at the company.

"I never struggled with math, so I believed that working in finance would ensure I'd never be financially challenged again," says Lee.

She felt a lack of fulfillment in her corporate career and yearned for the creative freedom she experienced while doing hair. "I needed a stranger's encouragement to pursue my passion," she admits.

"She knew she would regret not trying, but she had no idea if it would work out," she says.

According to CNBC Make It, financial documents reveal that Lee's Flourish Curls Salon in Arlington, Texas generated $1.1 million in revenue last year, indicating that the risk has been worth it.

Lee's annual take-home pay, after deducting business expenses and taxes, ranges from $100,000 to $150,000 (she declined to disclose her exact salary).

Here's how Lee spun her interest in hair into a six-figure career.

Becoming a hairstylist

After getting her tattoo, Lee visited Regency Beauty Institute, a cosmetology school in Peoria.

She enrolled in the cosmetology program and left her job at Maui Jim after paying the first deposit. The program, which took 18 months to complete, cost $22,000 and required her to attend classes five days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

To pay her tuition and other bills, Lee, a single parent, worked as a waitress at a local steakhouse when she wasn't in school. Her grandparents looked after Elijah.

To become a hairstylist, one must typically complete a cosmetology program at an accredited school and obtain a state-issued license through passing a written and practical exam.

In addition to obtaining a license, many states mandate that aspiring stylists complete an apprenticeship or work as an assistant in a salon prior to practicing.

In 2009, after completing her license requirements, Lee began working from home and part-time at a Peoria salon that specializes in natural hair.

For the first year of her career as a stylist, Lee earned nearly $30,000 annually. To supplement her income, she continued to work part-time as a waitress for the following two years.

To capitalize on Facebook's growing popularity, Lee utilized its free advertising opportunities by creating a business page, reaching out to potential clients through friend requests, and showcasing her work through photos and videos.

She gained a reputation for working with diverse curl patterns and biracial clients like herself.

"Growing up, my mom, who is white, had bone straight hair and didn't know how to style my curly hair, which I inherited from my Black dad," she says.

When she was a teenager, Lee began dyeing, highlighting, trimming, and straightening her hair, inspired by a childhood experience.

She says, "I wanted to learn how to make my hair look good, feel confident in my own skin, and inspire that same confidence in others."

Starting a business in a new state

For the next five years, Lee remained committed to her job at the salon and steadily grew her social media presence. She expresses her fondness for her colleagues and satisfaction with her professional path.

In 2015, Lee, who was pregnant with her fourth child, began experiencing the urge to relocate.

She yearned for a change from her life in Illinois, with its cold weather, and longed for warmer surroundings.

She received an invitation from a friend to spend a weekend in Austin and Dallas, two of Texas' largest cities.

Lee was immediately smitten with the southern hospitality and wide-open spaces, so she toured apartments for her and her four children that same weekend.

In January 2016, a family of five moved from their previous location to Arlington, a city situated between Dallas and Fort Worth.

Lee's desire to open a salon was strengthened when she relocated to a new state.

In 2017, Lee opened Flourish Curls Salon after spending 10 months and $50,000 of her savings.

'I've constructed a lucrative career while working part-time.'

Within months of opening, Lee's salon had a waitlist of customers.

Flourish Curls' popularity is due to the audience Lee built on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

In the early 2000s, she began sharing hair tutorials, client testimonials, style how-to's, and product recommendations online. Today, her YouTube channel boasts nearly 60,000 subscribers.

"Lee notes that having a strong social media community was very beneficial. Additionally, there are not many salons in our neighborhood that specialize in curly and natural hair, as many cosmetology schools and salons do not train their stylists to work with those textures."

Flourish Curls offers haircuts, twists, scalp exfoliation, and styling services that range from $150 to $375. In 2023, the company achieved its first million-dollar annual revenue.

There are 11 stylists at the salon, including Lee, who has a limited number of clients.

By increasing her staff and hiring two virtual assistants, she has managed to prevent burnout and avoid the temptation to constantly be available, a common issue for entrepreneurs.

Lee schedules her meetings and appointments for Monday through Wednesday to allow more time with her children, who are now aged 8 to 18.

"Lee believed that to achieve success, he needed to work over 50 hours a week in his 20s. However, he has since built a successful career by working only three days a week most weeks."

As a self-employed individual, Lee has relished the freedom and adaptability of setting her own work hours.

The most rewarding aspect of owning her own salon, she claims, has been the positive impact she's had on people's lives by teaching them how to embrace their natural hair, creating a community she yearns for as a "self-conscious and frustrated" teenager.

Adds Lee: "Nothing's better than helping people feel beautiful."

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