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 began my career in San Diego, where I owned The Hair Connection for nearly 20 years before moving to Jacksonville and opening West Coast Hair Design in 1995. For the past 31 years, I’ve had the privilege of building this salon into what it is today: Jacksonville’s Balayage and Color Experts and a team that takes education very seriously.
I spend less time coloring hair myself these days, but I’m in the salon every day and still very involved in what happens here, from consultations and color formulas to education and the overall guest experience.
Several of our senior colorists began their careers as my assistants, learning consultation, formulation, color, and haircutting before working independently with guests.
One of the things I’m most proud of has very little to do with hair. For 31 years, I’ve had the opportunity to help young women build careers they can be proud of and lives they can support on their own terms. I’ve watched people come into this salon unsure of what was possible for them and go on to build successful careers, support their families, earn six-figure incomes, start businesses of their own, and create the work-life balance that fits their lives.
What I treasure just as much are the relationships with our guests, some who have been part of this salon since the day we opened in 1995. I’ve watched their families grow, been trusted with their hair through every season of their lives, and celebrated milestones right alongside them. That kind of relationship isn’t something any technique can create on its own.
I’ve always wanted the women who work here to understand that this can be a real career with enormous opportunity. How far they take it is ultimately up to them.
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.
Education has always been the foundation of our salon. Our assistants complete a minimum of two years of hands-on training before working independently with guests. During that time, they observe thousands of appointments and learn consultation, formulation, color placement, hand-painted balayage, foil highlighting, modern gray coverage, gray blending, corrective color, haircutting, and guest communication.
After 51 years, I still take classes. Our team still travels for education, brings national educators into our salon, and continues learning together. Hair changes, techniques change, products change, and I never want us relying on what we knew ten or twenty years ago simply because it worked then.
When I’m not thinking about hair, I’m probably thinking about plants. Guests ask for pictures of what’s growing in my Tower Garden, bring me struggling houseplants to revive, and quite often leave the salon with a cutting to take home.
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.
