Crissy Salinas
Crissy Salinas grew up with five siblings. “We always did our hair at home,” she said. When her sister wanted highlights, she turned to Salinas.
That’s where she first realized that she enjoyed doing hair. Now, as the owner of Faded Salon and Barbershop in Stephenville, Salinas gets to do what she loves every day.
Salinas’ father passed away when she was 16. She had just gotten married and had her first child. When Salinas graduated from high school in 2005, she and her husband Dominic started a trucking company.
“After my dad passed away, my mom helped me and my husband buy our first semi truck,” she said. “We hauled grain, feed, milo, corn, cotton. At the time, Amarillo was where trucking was booming, so that’s where we decided to go.”
But Salinas didn’t want to be in the trucking business forever. “My husband knew I loved hair and makeup, and he said, ‘Baby, why don’t you go to cosmetology school here?’” she said.
In 2008 she decided to go to the Milan Institute of Cosmetology in Amarillo, and graduated after a year. She spent the next year working on and off at hair cutting chains. “I worked for Great Clips, just trying to get started,” she said. “It was really hard because my kids were all young. It’s so hard to keep a job when you have little ones.”
But she kept at it, and soon she and her family moved back to the Dublin area, where she was able to take on a full-time job at Baby’s Hair Designz in Stephenville with her cousin Misty. She stayed at Baby’s for two and a half years.
At Baby’s, Salinas discovered her love of barber work. “Baby’s was a salon, but the majority of the clientele that was coming in was guys,” she said. Salinas enjoyed the easygoing atmosphere of cutting mens’ hair.
Misty pushed her to learn the skills she needed to be a barber, and soon Salinas decided to go back to school. “I wanted to further my education in the straight razor and more fades so I decided to go to Mid City Barber College in Grand Prairie,” she said.
While she was going to school, she stopped working full-time at Baby’s and took a part-time job at Wisteria Salon and Barbershop, where she stayed until 2019.
In July of that year, Salinas got a call from Misty at Baby’s Salon. “Misty called me and said, ‘What do you think about taking over the shop?’” Salinas said. “I mean, I couldn’t say no to that.”
Salinas bought Baby’s in August of 2019. Over the next year, she made some changes. “I decided to remodel the shop,” she said. “I gave it a whole new modern look. All the barber shops here in town are your grandpa’s shop, and I didn’t want to go that route. I wanted to be different.”
She also changed the name from Baby’s Hair Designz to Faded Salon and Barbershop. Salinas hopes to draw in Tarleton students, and a variety of locals. She works hard to cultivate a friendly, laid back atmosphere.
“We serve beer and popcorn here,” she said. “We have a fridge with Bud Light, water, soft drinks and wine. People get out of work and come here, and they’re exhausted. I know the feeling.”
Salinas enjoys building rapport with her clients and their families. “When they bring their wives, I include them and talk to them,” she said. “And I ask the wife how she wants it, because at the end of the day, she’s the one that has to stare at him.”
In the year since she took over, the shop has found success in the community. “We’ve seen so many new faces, and it’s great,” Salinas said. “And I was stressed about changing the name, but I’ve gotten great results out of it.”
In fact, Salinas has been nominated as one of the top five best barbers in Erath County right now (voting for the winner took place late last month).
In the future, Salinas plans to keep running the shop for as long as she can. “I really have a passion for it,” she said. “I love my job. There’s days that I can’t wait to go to work.”
Salinas is also grateful for the good fortune she’s had in being able to buy a business and successfully run it throughout the pandemic. “Honestly, I’ve worked hard to be where I’m at, but at the same time, I almost got it handed to me on a pedestal,” she said. “I got an opportunity a lot of people don’t get, and I’m very grateful for that.”
Running her shop takes much of Salinas’ time. “When I’m not working, which is rare, I love cooking,” she said. “Usually Sundays and sometimes Mondays I actually get to cook for my kids.”
Salinas has three children. Her oldest daughter, Alanya, is 17 and a senior at Stephenville High School. Her son Isaac is 16, and her youngest, Annabell, is 12.
Raising her children and pursuing her career at the same time has not been easy for Salinas. “It is the hardest thing to do,” she said. That was a big challenge I thought I’d never overcome or be where I am today.”
Salinas’ mother, Gracie Salinas, still lives in Dublin, as do several of her brothers and sisters. She enjoys throwing parties and events with her extended family. “I’m big on birthdays or barbecues or you know, gettogethers,” she said. “I love doing that.”
Salinas also spends a lot of time with her best friend, Tracy Gonzalez. “Tracy and I see each other on the daily,” she said. “Her kids are my kids and my kids are her kids. We are that close.”
Her family and friends are Salinas’ source of inspiration. “My kids, family and best friend have pushed me to be where I am,” she said. “They inspire me on the daily -- and let’s not forget my clients. I don’t know where I’d be without them; they’ve become like family to me.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other graduates, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.