Courtney grew up in the beautiful small town of Deer Isle, Maine. Her passion for hair started at an early age when she began coloring her own hair (hot pink in the third grade!), cutting her siblings’ hair, & styling her friends’ hair for school dances. She was drawn to makeup, nail polish, & funky clothes early on as well.
Even though Courtney spent most of junior high & high school preparing to go to college, as she approached her senior year she realized that going to college to become a special education teacher wasn’t what she truly wanted to do. She had her drivers license & a job, & would go to the “big city” of Bangor to get her hair cut at a salon she found online with a hair stylist she immediately loved. This stylist had neon-colored hair, cool clothes, lots of tattoos, fun makeup, & made Courtney feel amazing every time she left her chair. At one of these hair appointments, Courtney told the stylist that she really didn’t want to go to college, & she wasn’t sure what to do about it. Her stylist simply asked, “have you ever thought about doing hair?” That was all it took. Courtney started researching, even interviewed a local hair stylist & created a hair magazine for a school project, broke the news to her family that she would not be going to college, & toured cosmetology schools with her mother. She enrolled in Mr. Bernard’s School of Hair Fashion in the fall after graduation, & got her cosmetology license the following year in 2010, & has been loving her career in the hair industry ever since.
Courtney moved to Midcoast, Maine in early 2011, where she worked diligently to establish herself as a successful, education-driven, passionate hair stylist.
After working as an employee at two different salons in the Rockland area over the course of twelve years, Courtney opened her very own salon in November, 2023, & named it Salon Chrysalis. A chrysalis is what a butterfly emerges from after it’s grown from a caterpillar & is ready to enter the world as a new, beautiful, completely different creature. Salon Chrysalis represents the transformation that Courtney has gone through in her career, & her personal life, & the transformation her guests go through after sitting in her chair.
Courtney believes that ongoing education is the key to being your absolute best, & that there is ALWAYS more to learn. She attends several in-person classes each year, dedicates personal time each week to reading & researching what’s going on in the beauty industry, & has many certifications under her belt. Courtney has attended classes in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Nevada, Chicago, & California. She has studied with nationally-known educators such as Nick Arrojo, Candy Shaw, Tom Dispenza, & Jorge Buccio. She has attended The Arrojo Academy, Arrojo Expo, Sassoon Academy, American Board of Certified Colorists Energizing Summit, Surface Global Forum, Sunlights Balayage Certification Training, The Paul Mitchell Gathering, International Beauty Show, & Coastline Enterprises Color Certification Training…just to name a few.
When she isn’t behind the chair, attending a class, or reading up on the latest trends, you can most likely find Courtney spending time with her family & friends, listening to music, digging in her flower gardens, exploring a new place in this beautiful state, taking photographs, or wandering around a good thrift store. You are sure to find her laughing, & enjoying each day - no matter what she’s doing.
Courtney is also involved with a nonprofit called Finding Our Voices, an organization that gives women, like Courtney, who are survivors of domestic abuse a voice, & helps women get out, & stay out, of abusive situations with support & resources. You may have even seen her on one of the hundreds of Finding Our Voices posters across the state of Maine, or attended an event she’s spoken at.