FYI, Mae has changed her name, and her Instagram. She is now @youvegotmae on Instagram, dropping "Kayla".
I was heartbroken when I received an unexplained cryptic text - not a proper, professional phone call - from the receptionist at Craft Collective on January 6th, 2025 telling me this: "After careful consideration, Mae has expressed that she does not feel confident she can consistently meet your expectations and give you the results you're looking for. Because of this, we believe it's in we may not be the best fit for your hair care needs. We've gone ahead and canceled your upcoming appointment. We appreciate your business and wish you the best."
(Yes, it was grammatically incorrect. I typed it verbatim.)
Shocked, considering the last thing I said to Mae in December 2024 during my every 8-week haircut, was that I'm happy I can always rely on her to do good cuts, I called. Unprofessionally and immaturely, the receptionist ignored my call.
To which I replied: "Hello - I just called. No answer. Called a second time, no answer. Since you are ignoring my calls after this unexpected and strange message, ok, I'll text. This makes zero sense, and is obviously a lie, considering the last time I saw Mae, I specifically complimented her that I love her hair cuts, and consistently rely on her quality, therefore it's something else, which she should've told me in person, and you - as a business - should've, at minimum, called me or answered my calls to have an honest conversation about this. This is highly unprofessional and immature behavior."
I'll then add that I saw the owner posting want ads for stylists on his Instagram.
BREAST CANCER & HAIR COLOR:
The only thing I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt is that the last thing I told Mae was that - after my July 2024 breast cancer diagnosis - my 5 oncologists told me that hair color causes breast cancer. To which Mae replied, "everything causes cancer". No, it does not. For instance, my 5 oncologists said that aluminum deodorant does not. So I find it incredibly curious that after I briefly colored my hair with Mae (she did a decent job, but not as good as my California colorists, of course), once I told her I was stopping hair color, and only seeing her for cuts, she cut me as a client - prioritizing higher revenue services & lower quality / easier balayage, vs. the expert color to which I grew accustomed in San Francisco from my London and NYC and Tokyo trained hair stylists, who were trained with such precision, they did editorial work for Nordstrom, Gap, and other brands.
SKIN CANCER & HAIR STYLING:
Also, she bought a new Dyson hair dryer that was far too hot for the Mohs scar on my forehead, and when I told her it was hurting my May 2024 skin cancer forehead/hairline scar, she was non-empathetic; so much so, that she - taking out her frustration on me - even broke some of the hairs at my Widow's peak, proving - once again - she's not a professional.
It's sad when people are fake gold diggers, violating the trust between a hair stylist - who should be akin to a therapist or friend - and a client, and when they don't even have the backbone to tell the truth to a client's face, or even answer the phone, as a business owner or receptionist.
Needless to say, I've since found a higher quality, higher caliber, California (LA / Beverly Hills / celebrity) trained stylist for my cuts.
And Demi Moore won the Golden Globe for best performance by a female actor in "The Substance" for this *exact scenario*. Too cliche. read more