SEE HIS ART
Ken Marshall’s artwork is showing at Serendipity Bistro in downtown Dayton and Alley Art and Framing Gallery in Miamisburg. Also, see his art online at kenmarshalldesigns.com and
FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE
The Life section on Thursday features positive, inspiring news.
Ken Marshall recalls the exact moment that he wanted to lay down his construction tools in exchange for a good pair of hair-cutting shears.
The epiphany came the day after Christmas 2007. He and a co-worker were repairing a dry pendant sprinkler that sprung a leak in an attic at an Oxford retirement community, where they worked.
“I was freezing and I was sweating,” the 39-year-old Centerville man said. “I was full of insulation and getting all itchy, and I knew as soon as I got done doing the repair, I’d have to go out and shovel for eight more hours.
“And so I turned to my co-worker and said, ‘I think I’m going to go back to school and learn how to cut hair. I can’t do this anymore.’ He said, ‘Are you crazy?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I think I am.’ ”
Today, he’s a master designer at Mitchell’s Salon & Day Spa in West Chester, where he’s worked for four years. He’s also trying to create an art career as a sculptor, printmaker and artist.
Construction to hair styling didn’t seem like a huge leap to Marshall. “When I was in high school, I thought about becoming a hair stylist for about 20 seconds. It was the early ’90s in a small town, so I didn’t want to get made fun of.”
Instead, he attended the Columbus College of Art & Design for three years. After he married, he became a stay-at-home dad and worked part time as a picture-framer.
Marshall later did home and commercial remodeling, and commercial maintenance. In 2003, he took a maintenance job at The Knolls of Oxford retirement community.
Four years later, his wife, Karri, gave him a gift certificate on Thanksgiving Day 2007 to “to get my hair done properly. ” He had been through several incarnations of hair styles, from dreadlocks to growing his hair past his shoulders to shaving it all off to a Mohawk to Billy Idol white.
Marshall used the certificate at a salon in Hamilton, where they lived at that time. He complained about his day to the stylist, who suggested he would make a good hair stylist because of his art background.
So in March 2008, he enrolled at International Academy of Hair Design in Colerain Twp., a Cincinnati suburb. He logged 80 hours a week working at the retirement community and attending school — both full time.
His wife, branch manager for the West Carrollton Branch of the Dayton Metro Library, is his biggest fan. His now 14-year-old son, London, also supported his career change, as well. The reaction from his dad was priceless. “I’ve never seen an actual jaw drop to the floor, but he’s actually been very supportive,” Marshall said.
The transition couldn’t have come at a better time.
The retirement community reduced his hours in June 2008 because the recession was starting to hit. In February 2009, he was laid off. He graduated a month later and got the job in April 2009 at Mitchell’s, where he feels creative again.
Marshall’s boss, managing director Mindy Wilson, didn’t need to be convinced that he could make the transition. “He’s very passionate. He’s constantly wanting to be better and learn new things,” Wilson said. “He’s comfortable doing any type of hair, whether it’s conservative or edgy.”
Marshall doesn’t miss construction and maintenance work, which ranged from building decks to rebuilding kitchens, re-plumbing, working on boilers and chillers, unclogging toilets and changing light bulbs.
He misses some of his former co-workers and the camaraderie of getting the snowblowers fired up every fall, kind of a macho ritual.
“You hear this huge roar,” Marshall said. “Now, the sound of hairdryers is about as loud as it gets.”
Still, he’s glad he made the career change.
“I was hoping it would be a little bit more glamorous, but I’m warm in the winter and I’m cool in the summer, and beautiful women pay me to wash their hair.”
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