Linda Deason Founder, Master Colorist
Hair has been both my passion and my hobby for more than 51 years. I still love learning about it, talking about it, and figuring out why one approach works beautifully for one person and not for another.
I started my career in San Diego, where I owned The Hair Connection for nearly 20 years. In 1995, I moved to Jacksonville and opened West Coast Hair Design. Thirty-one years later, I’m still in the salon being a part of everything that leaves the door.
West Coast Hair Design has become known as Jacksonville’s Balayage and Color Experts, but that came from years of education and a real commitment to color. We were doing balayage before balayage had a name in this city, and we became the first salon in Jacksonville certified through The Business of Balayage. I’ve always believed real color expertise comes from chemistry and formulation, not from chasing whatever’s trending, and that’s the standard I’ve built this salon on.
Education has always been a big part of who I am and how I’ve built West Coast Hair Design. Some of the stylists I’ve worked alongside for years actually began here as assistants. Before any stylist works independently with guests, they train alongside our team and test out in each skill, moving forward only when their work meets the standards and expectations we’ve built our reputation on. expect them to know.
One of the things I’ve loved most about owning a salon is watching pour team build real careers in this industry. I’ve watched stylists grow, support their families, continue their education, travel, buy homes, and create lives they love. I’ve always wanted the people who work here to understand that hair can be a wonderful career, with real opportunity in it.
And then there are our guests.
Some have been coming to West Coast Hair Design since we opened in 1995. I’ve watched their children grow up, celebrated weddings and grandchildren with them, and done their hair through more changes than either of us could probably count.
After 31 years, you know a lot more about someone than their hair.
Great hair starts with a great consultation.
Throughout my career, I’ve spent as much time improving the way I consult with guests as I have improving my technical skills.
Most people know how they want their hair to look and how they want to feel when they leave, even if they don’t know the professional words to describe it. My job is to listen, ask the right questions, and turn what I hear into a plan we both understand before we ever touch your hair. I believe communication like this is one of the most valuable skills a person can build in business and in life.
That is also one of the first things every stylist at West Coast Hair Design learns.
Still learning after 51 years
I don’t believe you ever reach a point in this industry where you know everything.
After 51 years, I still take classes. Our team travels for education, we bring national educators into the salon, and we keep learning together. Hair changes. Techniques change. Products change. And sometimes something we learned 20 years ago simply isn’t the best way to do it anymore.
I never want to stop being curious.
When I’m not at the salon
I’m a mother and a grandmother, and outside of hair, I love plants, dogs, and food.
If you looked at my Instagram, that’s pretty much what you’d find: hair, plants, dogs, and recipes.
I love growing things, and our longtime guests know it. It’s not unusual for someone to bring me a struggling plant and ask if I can save it. I’m almost always re-blooming somebody’s orchid, growing something in my Tower Garden, or sending a guest home with a cutting from one of my plants.
Apparently, I have a hard time giving up on a plant.
Education & Professional Development
More than 200 advanced classes, certifications and professional credentials, and still learning after 51 years in this business.
For more than five decades, I’ve traveled throughout the United States and internationally to continue my education in color, balayage, haircutting, consultation, and salon leadership, learning from some of the most respected educators and companies in our industry. What follows is only a selection of that education.
Balayage & Advanced Color
West Coast Hair Design was the first Jacksonville salon certified by The Business of Balayage. Masters of Balayage hand-painting education beginning in 2018, with continued national training. Completed all five levels of Jamie Sea’s SALT Society balayage education, including advanced technique, color theory, formulation, and Shades EQ. Advanced balayage, dimensional color, painting, and color theory education with Ashlee Norman. Lisa Loves Balayage advanced education and color theory with Lisa Walker. Advanced dimensional brunette education with Mika Rogerson. Ongoing French balayage and painting education through Candy Shaw and the Sunlights team, including advanced training in Atlanta and multiple in-salon education programs for our team.
Gray Coverage & Gray Blending
L’Oréal Professionnel French Gray Blending Certification. Continuing advanced education in modern gray coverage, dimensional gray blending, and transitioning from traditional coverage to lower-maintenance color.
Haircutting & Design
Bumble and bumble University, New York, foundational through advanced scissor and razor cutting, styling, consultation, and salon education. Ongoing Bumble and bumble education in hair pattern, growth direction, cutting, styling, and tool selection. Trained with Jeanne Braa, Paul Mitchell’s stage partner through the 1980s and present at his final haircut in 1989. Advanced haircutting education at Gary Gerard’s International Advanced Haircutting Center in San Francisco. Candy Shaw French Cutting education in Atlanta. Additional education through Vidal Sassoon, Toni & Guy, and Goldwell.
Professional Color
Advanced education through Redken University, New York. Continuing education with L’Oréal Professionnel, Redken, and nationally recognized independent color educators.
Consultation & Communication
Advanced consultation education through Bumble and bumble University. Advanced consultation training with Daniel Mason Jones. More than five decades of continuing education in consultation, formulation, color, cutting, and salon leadership.
