Some people map out their careers with precision — the right school, the right degree, the right plan. Courtney Davis? Her path looked nothing like that. It was messier, more uncertain, and honestly, a whole lot more interesting. And if you ask her today, she wouldn't change a single detour.
"It was a little spiritual for me," she says, settling into the memory with a smile. After a rough patch that included leaving college and cycling through jobs trying to find her footing, a family member suggested she give hair a try. She didn't overthink it. She just went for it — and something clicked that never clicked anywhere else. "Every door opened when I went for this career route versus college." Where academia felt like a wall she kept running into, cosmetology felt like a wide open hallway with every room welcoming her in.
This October marks ten years at Bob Steele Salon — eleven in the industry altogether. And Courtney will be the first to tell you she's still a little caught off guard by it. "I am still in disbelief," she laughs. "Like, how old am I?" __
The Moment She Realized She Was Capable of More Than She Thought
For a long time, Courtney showed up, did beautiful work, and kept her head down. Education — actually teaching other stylists and students — wasn't something she pictured for herself. It felt like territory that belonged to someone else, someone more polished or more seasoned.
Then she tried it anyway.
Over the last three to five years, Courtney has been a part of Bob Steele Salon's education program, and the experience quietly rewired how she sees herself. The moment that hit hardest? Going back to her own cosmetology school — and others — to teach classes and show students what a career at a salon like Bob Steele could actually look like.
"It was a big circle moment," she says. "I went back to my cosmetology school and taught a class to give them an idea of what we offer as a salon." She pauses, and you can feel the weight of that full-circle realization. "It made me want to venture out into education even more and do platform artistry work at some point."
What started as something she wasn't sure she belonged in became one of the most confidence-shaping experiences of her career. "Doing it gave me more confidence as a stylist and who I am," she reflects. "I feel like it opened up more doors, different opportunities and confidence within myself." The ceiling she had quietly accepted turned out to be something she had built herself — and education helped her tear it down.
She's a Cutter at Heart — and She Has a Signature to Prove It
Ask Courtney what she loves most behind the chair, and the answer comes without a single moment of hesitation.
Cutting.
Not just any cut — the pixie. In all its forms, lengths, and variations, the pixie cut is where Courtney Davis lives. "My signature would be cutting a pixie of any sort. Those are my favorites!" There's a particular kind of artistry that goes into a great pixie — the precision, the framing, the way it has to work with someone's bone structure and personality all at once. Courtney gets that, and her clients feel it.
But her chair has been telling a fuller story lately. Lived-in blondes have been coming in regularly, and a wave of gorgeous redheads has been making their way to her books, too. It's a range that speaks to her versatility — a stylist who leads with cutting but doesn't stop there.
Her Consultations Feel Less Like Appointments and More Like Conversations
Here's something you'll notice the moment you sit in Courtney's chair: she's paying attention to far more than your hair.
She's watching how you walk in. She's noting what you're wearing. She's reading the energy you bring through the door. "I try to feel out who they are, what their personality and personal style is," she explains. "I take a look at how they come in, how they dress, and their attitude towards life and try to give them that back within their hair so they can feel even more like themselves."
That's not a technique she learned from a textbook. It's a philosophy she built through years of working with people — before cosmetology, Courtney held a range of customer service roles that sharpened her instincts for making people feel genuinely comfortable and genuinely heard. Add to that a grandmother who was a hairstylist and ran her own salon, and you start to understand why care and connection are so deeply woven into how she works.
"I treat people how I want to be treated in a chair and just keep that as the tone," she says. Simple. Powerful. And you feel it the second you sit down.
The chair is never a place where Courtney dictates what you need. It's a partnership. A two-way conversation where your voice carries just as much weight as her expertise. "It's their hair and me using my techniques to give them the dream style they always wanted." That balance — between listening and leading — is what makes the experience feel so different.
The Transformation That Tells You Everything About Her
If you want to truly understand who Courtney Davis is as a stylist, she'll tell you about her redhead.
When this client first sat in Courtney's chair, she was fully committed to being blonde. Loyal to it. No interest in straying, no curiosity about anything else. Then, during one appointment, she walked in with something brewing. "I want to be a redhead," she said.
A lot of stylists might pause. Redirect. Manage the expectation. Courtney did none of that. "Instead of me being scared or running away from it, I said, 'let's do it!'" And just like that, a transformation was born.
Today, that same client sits in Courtney's chair as a stunning redhead — a fiery copper money piece framing her face, rich auburn flowing through the rest. She's never looked back. "It looks so good on her!" Courtney says, still visibly lit up by it.
That story is Courtney in a nutshell. She doesn't flinch when a client wants to leap. She leans in. She gets excited. "When clients want to step outside of their normal, it excites me even more and makes me love what I do." The boldest requests don't make her nervous — they make her sharper.
The Woman Behind the Chair
Outside of the salon, Courtney is a full personality.
She's a self-described shopaholic who could lose hours wandering through stores — furniture, plants, jewelry, home décor. It doesn't matter much what it is; the experience of finding something beautiful and bringing it home is its own kind of joy for her.
She also has a green thumb, which she's genuinely proud of. Her houseplants are her babies — tended to, watched, celebrated as they grow. There's something fitting about that. A woman who helps people bloom professionally then goes home to nurture living things.
And then there's the detail that tends to catch people off guard: Courtney paints. She sets up her easel, picks up her brushes, and creates — anime characters specifically. Bleach. Naruto. The classics. "It makes me happy," she says, and that simplicity is everything. It's a reminder that the most creative people rarely keep their artistry in just one place.
Ten Years In — and Still Hungry
What keeps a stylist passionate after a decade in the same industry, the same salon, the same craft?
For Courtney, the answer is her clients.
Specifically, the ones who refuse to stay still. The ones who come in each time with a new idea, a new direction, a new version of themselves, they're trying to step into. "I always have a few clients that are either constantly changing or evolving their style, which makes me want to do more research and figure out what the latest trend is and what looks good right now."
That hunger — to keep learning, keep researching, keep growing alongside the people in her chair — is what separates a good stylist from one who becomes irreplaceable. Courtney found her path in the most unexpected way. She walked through a door she almost didn't open, and on the other side was everything. Ten years later, she's still walking forward. Still curious. Still passionate. Still here. 🤍🩷
Thinking about booking with Courtney? Come experience what it feels like when your stylist truly listens, truly sees you, and truly brings out the best version of you. We'd love to welcome you to the Bob Steele Salon family. 🤍
