Meet the Bride Hero, CJ Throckmorton

Updated: Mar 16, 2019

Cary (CJ) Throckmorton, Stylist, and Partner at LaMarca Beauty & Co. has his eye on Bridal. Creating updos and braids with ease, he loves the creativity and challenge in working with brides.

When did you become interested in the hair industry?

I literally stumbled across this when I first met Cassandra, my wife, and partner in LaMarca Beauty Co. A friend hooked us up in 2009, at the time I had a video and surveillance company called Fuel Productions and when the economy took a nose dive, the business took a downturn, so I sold my half of the business. During that time Cassandra was still able to maintain a living and I noticed that only two businesses were surviving; Pizza Delivery and the Beauty Industry. I was impressed that these two industries can sustain through a bad economy.

When did you finally decide to get into the industry?

After I sold my half of the surveillance business, I basically kept going out there trying to get different jobs. I was struggling with a variety of jobs for a number of years, either crawling in attic's or outside digging ditches. I was doing everything I could think of to gain an income, it was really hard. Then Cassandra and I got married and she was pretty much taking care of us financially. I was amazed by the work that Cassandra had done and amazed by the talent out there in this industry and continued to be impressed with how the beauty industry was sustainable.

Cassandra started to tell me she wanted her freedom and independence and have her own business. We were able to obtain a small loan and just go for it on our own. With my experience in construction and installs, I came in here to do the build-out and told her I wish I could help her more, she joked and said “Well you can go to hair school”, I thought about and said well I’ve done a lot of things and this would be just another notch in my belt. I thought that if I could’ve made the money she was making when the economy tanked, I would have done this years ago.

It’s funny because a while back, I went into another profession and had to take classes. One day the Administration came in and said they were having an equal opportunity program from the government and if you stopped what you were doing right now and go into salon and cosmetology you would have your tuition paid for. What did I do? Go along with every other guy in my class. I laughed and said no way. Years later, there I was at the school and paying for it. Lesson learned, never laugh at an opportunity.

How was the hair school experience?

It’s an interesting experience as a male in a female dominated trade. I used to hear women talk about how it was working in video and surveillance, a male-dominated industry and here I am now on the other side getting to experience it. I got a good dose of that for a year and gained a lot of empathy for women. I have a lot of girlfriends now, there was only one other guy in my class. It was an incredible experience and I almost wish I started sooner and took advantage of the free tuition I was offered in the past.

I got to learn how to socialize better with women and I got to learn how to listen better because you have to in order to do consultations and try to understand what someone's trying to convey to you. I also needed to retrain my hands because I was used to using different tools like crimpers and now I’m using a hair dryer, curling iron, and learning how to texturize with scissors, you have to be delicate. My instructor was very patient with me and I was always overly cautious with people in my chair. The girls in class had a jump on me because they had been doing their own hair their entire lives. Just to learn the Marcel curling iron and the techniques of moving through the hair and do everything properly is harder than you think. People don’t realize what's involved, there are special techniques, precision, degrees with a cut, and predicting what the hair is going to do makes it much more complex and in-depth. I was really impressed with all of it. Add color, the chemistry, and timing and you are in a whole other realm of the business.

I want to convey to more guys, that they should dip into something they wouldn’t think to do. There is a lot of technique to this industry and I’m amazed by the amount of talent out there.

Is there something that you loved the most in hair school?

I was behind the curve so I asked my instructor to teach me a basic braid because I had to have a set number of hairstyles accomplished in a period of time. Since I was slow with tools and wasn’t coordinated when I started, I knew I could braid since I had worked with wiring in the past. I learned a basic french braid, then started watching every youtube video I could get my hands on and I was able to excel in braiding and updos. I was able to apply my past experience with wiring which allowed me to catch up with everyone in the class.

Do you want to go the route of bridal and updos in the industry?

Yes, it comes to me naturally and I understand it better. I am still fascinated with hair color, it’s all a science. I love watching Cassandra and other stylists do a hair color correction, but all of that takes time in the industry.

How do you go about working with a bride on her hairstyle?

I do a wedding trial. A bride will come in with a picture and if I don’t how to do it, I will figure it out by the time of the trial. If it’s something crazy or abstract I will figure it out by the time the trial comes or do my best to replicate it or do something close that they will really like. There's a lot of original stuff out there and it’s not always explained, so you have to figure out. It’s really neat with the trials because you get to familiarize yourself with the bride and bridesmaids. It’s nice because when the wedding comes around and everything is hectic, the last thing they have to worry about is their hair.

How’s it been since you started?

It’s interesting because it was go, go, go at school and then your done with school and you are part of a salon and it’s time to reset and re-learn everything. The industry is constantly evolving and my instructor said when you leave school you will probably not use anything they showed you and that’s just how it works. They teach you the fundamentals but encourage you to continue to go to classes and perfect your technique. I’ve been shadowing the stylists here and I was able to assist Cassandra at fashion shows as well.

How was the first haircut you did on a client?

My first at LaMarca was a long time client of Cassandra’s and I was panicking. It was just a standard cut and told her she was very brave. Turned out I knocked it out the park, she was very happy and I’ll cut her hair if Casandra is busy. I have gotten walk-in clients too, I do men's barber cuts and received a 1940’s barber chair as a gift from Cassandras mom.