When Ana was seventeen, she studied to become a nursing assistant. Despite her innate passion for care-taking, however, she enjoyed not at all that particular training and decided to go to beauty school instead ~~ all the while continuing to work part-time at her sister's salon. She completed her cosmetology education and earned her license at age twenty. She then began her official career as a young starlet stylist at a fancy pants downtown Terrassa salon by the name of Formes. The stylists at Formes were extremely professional, and it was there that Ana developed a real vision for the art (in addition to the skill) of what it means to give a beautiful, custom-made haircut, with an emphasis on perfectionism and quality. She worked at Formes for a year, during which time the management there offered many workshops to their employees. Ana received top of the line training with employees trained at Vidal Sassoon and Tony & Guy, along with a few other notable hair dynasties. While her experience at Formes was invaluable in her growth as a serious artist in the hair styling world, Ana found Formes a little high falutin for her more down to earth, funkier sensibility. She moved on to Natural Styles ~~ another bigger downtown Terrassa salon with a more relaxed ambiance. And there our Ana stayed for eleven years, working with amazing professionals, receiving frequent trainings in cut and color. She had the opportunity, there, to participate in hair shows that were produced by the best hair product manufacturers in the world, creating magic on stage in real time. During those years working at Natural Styles, Ana continued to take styling workshops at various headquarters in Barcelona: Wella, Schwartzkopf, Rene Furterer, and L'Oreal, to name a few, until she left Spain to move to San Francisco at the end of 2003. Lucky Us! It seems important to mention here, as testament to Ana's warrior nature, that she landed in San Francisco knowing no one (!) and took BART from the SFO airport to the Mission and 24th Street station, where she proceeded to get lost looking for the hostel where she had arranged to stay. She had $1200.00 to her name, one hundred words of English, and the spirit of an angel. Within twenty days of her U.S. arrival, Ana was working as a hair stylist at a Mission District salon, where she stayed for six and a half years. She built a devoted clientèle there, and learned to speak fluent English. She also continued to pursue her gift as a visual artist, taking classes in art history, drawing (figure, museum and otherwise) and the mono-print. She has participated in several group art exhibitions, Open Studios, and had one solo show at the ATA Gallery on Valencia Street. How did she come to join the ranks of the Pirate Salon in February 2010, you ask? Well, about four years ago, she admired the beautiful hair style of a stranger at a party. Said stranger told her that Tanya Mia was her stylist. A week later, Ana went to Pirate Salon to meet Tanya Mia; and since that fated day, Tanya Mia and Ana have been each other's hair stylists, trading color and cuts. In addition to all this (and more), Ana is a Class A cook, a seasoned traveler, a happily committed Mission District dweller, a pillar among her community of friends and an unofficial comedian, That and she's been sited dancing until dawn on a rather regular basis.) For Ana, it is important that each hair style that she does is custom designed (with love) to the desires and idiosyncrasies of the client. She collaborates with every client to create a look that allows each person to feel uniquely themselves ... their inside worlds expressed outwardly, with freshness and finesse.
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