Sex, Love, and What Else Matters - Lena Reitz: Part 2

Episode Date: July 12, 2024

Episode 119. Welcome to part 2 of Kristen’s conversation with Lena Reitz. In this episode, they reminisce over their early days in Hollywood living in a one-bedroom apartment and making music every day. Kristen and Lena share stories about their residency at Cat Club on Sunset Blvd, a music video they made with Tom Sandoval, and performing for Pink! Lena talks about her experience on Vanderpump Rules and the BTS details of when Tom Schwartz’s hair was dyed blond! They discuss their love for Brene Brown, entrepreneurship, and meeting Sia! Lena is internationally renowned as one of the most skilled and well-rounded extension stylists in the industry. She is also the Creator of the Universal Hair Extension Technique “Skinny Weft” and her work has been seen on key actors in Hollywood’s top TV shows and movies. @hairboss_professional @skinnyweft @myhairadise @thehollywoodhairapist Sponsors: Treat yourself to the best bras and shapewear on the market and save 20% Off at honeylove.com/DOUTE Unlock Jennifer Anniston-approved hair eat lolavie.com. Get an exclusive 15% off your entire order when you use code DOUTE at checkout. Follow us: @kristendoute @luke__broderick Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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You're the man, Sam. Shop deals on electronics, home, and more this Prime Day, July 16 and 17. Hey, I'm dating coach Talia Koren, host of Dating Intentionally, where I help listeners date with confidence and learn to enjoy the process, whether you're new to the dating scene or you've been at it for a while. Tune in every Tuesday and Friday for my no-nonsense advice on using dating apps and navigating

new relationships without letting your anxiety take over. You can find Dating Intention intentionally wherever you get your podcasts. Hi everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Balancing Act. This week we have part two of the Lena Ritz interview. Lena is one of my first friends in LA and my first roommate. We actually lived together twice and once was around the block from Ariana, but we'll get into more of that later. Lena is internationally renowned

as one of the most skilled hair extension stylists in the industry. She's an entrepreneur, creator of the universal hair extension technique Skinnyweft, and owns Hairball Salon in Hollywood. Remember the salon that was featured in the VPR episode where they dye Schwartz's hair blonde? Yeah, that salon.

So I highly recommend going back and listening to part one of this interview from last week if you haven't already. I'm so stoked for you to hear the rest of our convo. Lena will talk all about what it was like being on Banner Pump Rules and how that even came to be. We also talk about our early days in LA where we would play live music together and even had a residency at the Cat Club. Our run-in with Pink, yes, that Pink.

And a music video that Tom Sandoval and I made with Lena. Oh my God. More about all of this in this week's episode. Enjoy. So there's two main people I always are my go-to and for different reasons. So when I feel like I need the spiritual uplift, that's my Wayne Dyer. I go to bed with Wayne Dyer almost every night. I love Wayne Dyer. When my spirit's down, I just throw him on and remember his words.

He says, you are a spiritual being having a human experience. That is so lifting. That's so powerful. It's so powerful because it gives you grace. It allows you to give yourself grace. And we all deserve grace and we should be giving other people grace as well. I think that's very important. And I'm not saying, listen, I'm not that soft, you guys.

Some people are fucking assholes. However, there are very wonderful, kind people who have moments of assholeness, and those are the people that deserve grace. Definitely. And the hardest person I feel like I was on was myself. Was you. Was myself.

I knew you were gonna say it. It's so true. It was like, oh my God. So there was a point where, you know, I knew you were going to say it. It's so true. It was like, oh my God. So there was a point where, you know, I get my business going and I'm just like, here's the thing. When you frontier your own business, like you're the last person to get paid, all the sacrifice, you feel like you're doing this all for, you know, I had staff at the time

and I was just breaking my back and don't expect to be appreciated. There's all these things that I learned. That's a great point too. Let go of the expectation of appreciation. So here's something that started to happen to me is success felt like it happened in a snap with my business because it was like I opened my business and I wanna say it was within three months,

every chair, every stylist was fully booked up. We could hardly go to the bathroom. You couldn't keep up. It felt like a sweat shop. I felt kind of bad for my team because it was a quality problem. These are quality problems to be this busy that we could hardly come up for air. And I really worked hard for this. So it was like a dream come true,

but I couldn't really like, nothing sunk in. And so when people were like giving me compliments and congratulating for me, I was at one point kind of in a miserable dark place for probably about a year where I, my eyes could not even see what I had built and what was happening. I was so just like boggled down with like the stresses

and the adversity and all of the challenges. And oh my God, when you're a brand new owner of a brick and mortar. And there was this point where I felt like all by myself. I felt alone. I didn't feel liked. What happened to me was, you know, I started to get all this dealing with situations like other businesses in the beauty industry were trying to tear me down. So they would go online and they would negatively review me or slander me,

you know, things like that would happen. Everybody had an opinion. Everybody thought that they could do a better job than me. So I would just have all this left and right things like, we could just do this so much better, whatever. All the noise in the head. I was lacking serenity so bad in those moments. And then I discovered Brene Brown. Oh, God bless. Okay. Whether you believe in God, universe,

whatever it is that you believe in, God's my thing. But truly, when I fell upon Brene Brown years ago, it was the biggest shift of my wellbeing I have felt in a very long time. Maybe she doesn't run her social media, but that's probably why she's never responded to me when I talk to her. I felt seen for the first time, I felt heard,

I felt I wasn't alone. I felt this is normal to feel this way and now I can work my way out of feeling this way and be stronger, better for my future self, for my present self. I hope you all fucking listen to Brené Brown. If you listen to my podcast, for fuck future self, for my present self. I hope you all fucking listen to Brené Brown if you listen to my podcast, for fuck's sake, you should. But the magical vulnerability spoke to me so hard.

And what I really love the most as such an emotional psycho, I'm like an emotional little gangster. That's what my Instagram says now, because it's the only way in how to to describe myself. But what made me the happiest was how she spoke about data and research. Oh, yeah. So it's like, here are all the feelings, but I'm talking about the facts of, which is something that my brain had never wrapped itself around. So tell me about your experience with Brene

Brown. Brene Brown. Brene, we fucking love you. We love you. Yeah, at this point, I mean, like I'm reaching successes, but I'm also, there's vices that are trying to claw you down. They're trying to criticize you. Everyone wants to point a finger at you. Funny, weird story, but one of my best clients actually,

how she found me was I was out at a show in my new city and she was with a group of girls and they said, hey, do you know who that is? And they were pointing at me and they said, that's Lena. She moved here from California and she opened Hair Boss. Make sure you don't support them. She's probably a biatch from LA. She probably thinks she's so cool.

You know, so like- Just judgment. Judgment, judgment. Based on nothing. Boycott, like, you know, and they were telling my story. And so this girl actually had been through, walked a mile in my shoes. She used to own her own business.

And she very much saw through that mind, that scarcity mindset of these chicks, mean girl in me. They didn't even know me. They were like, oh, she probably thinks she's so cool. Don't support her. They just assume they see LA, they hear LA, they think Hollywood, they put you in a little box. Yeah.

And that's that. And who does she think she is, you know? And it was that mentality. So funny enough, she actually booked an appointment and came in to my salon because she thought, oh, she's from LA, she's opened her own business. She moved here from afar. So she actually, she's a cool chick. What an angel. She, so she booked in and it's interesting because like,

I like to meet everyone that comes to my salon. I like to introduce myself. I like to like connect with the community. It's a community. And this, this client came in and of course I was like, hey, you know, she was new to the salon. I'm like, how are you? I'm Lena. Like, who are you? You know, like I wanted to get to know her.

So she wasn't even in my chair. She was getting her hair done by someone else, but I would come over and I would chat with her and she was super cool. And we just got to know each other. And eventually I said, I don't really have any friends here and you seem really interesting. Would you ever be interested to hang out outside

of the salon?" And so we became friends. She was super cool. And she then told me that story. She's like, hey, I want to tell you something. Because I was like, how did you find me? And she's like, well. And so she told me that story.

And I was like, I love you this much more. Because there's too many people in this world that want to follow the leader and that want to be like, you know, that want to talk crap. And this is what's leading me to Brene Brown is because so many people want to claw you down, but she had a mind of her own and said, I'm not going to listen to these, my peers, these people. She sounds awesome. And I'm going to go see for herself. And then we're still friends to this day. Brene Brown, I'm going to read this this quote because this is so true for anybody out there that's achieved success and you start to feel these people come out of the woodworks

and their sanity crushers, their serenity crushers, and it can really take away something so beautiful that we should be feeling all this enormous love and gratitude and appreciation and happiness surrounding because here we are in support. We're making our dreams come true, right? So this is a quote from Brene Brown and it says, a lot of cheap seats in the arena are filled with people who will never venture onto the floor. They just hurl mean-spirited criticisms and put downs from a safe distance. The problem is, when we stop caring what people think and stop feeling hurt by cruelty, we

lose our ability to connect. But when we're defined by what people think, we lose the courage to be vulnerable. Therefore, we need to be selective about the feedback we let into our lives. For me, if you're not in the arena getting your ass kicked, I'm not interested in your feedback. Summer is here, which means more social events, more weddings to attend, more nights out on the town, and hopefully more vacations, which is why I am so thankful for today's sponsor,

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So please support our show and tell them we sent you and your hair will thank you. So I have like highlights on my Instagram. It's like my dogs, my dog's number two, my dog's number three. And then I have like note to self. And I think my first note to self, one of you guys ever, I don't know, do we look at anyone's shit like that? I do it for myself. I don't do it for my followers,

but it's like Brene Brown on crack. Like it's just over and over and over and over and over because it is what I, if I listen to that, if I hear her voice, if I read it even, it really does kick my ass back into the arena, if you will. Yes. And to not listen to the people sitting in the cheap seats, it even, it really does kick my ass back into the arena, if you will. Yes. And to not listen to the people sitting in the cheap seats, pointing the finger at you

when you're up on the stage being vulnerable and daring greatly. Right? So, I mean, she says right here, there's a million cheap seats in the world today filled with people who will never be brave with their lives, but who will spend every ounce of energy they have hurling advice and judgment at those who dare greatly. My God. So I have a question for you because like, I mean, I've known you for a long time and I knew you pre-Vanderpump.

Definitely. You know, and there was that little phase in time where you were just a little mixed up, but we circled back around. Yeah. I had my crazy three weeks of being like, I'm so L.A. and Hollywood. And then I was like, wait, no, I'm not. Get it together, Kristen. Back to Kristen.

Here we are. Yeah, and I, like, at first, when I met you, I wasn't really vibing with that person. We're transparent about that, but basically, like, Kristen came back around and, like, she loves music and she loves nature and camping and like earth. Some of our best times together. Totally.

And so she has all this core spirit about her. And we ended up living together again. So let's talk about that. OK. We're going to do a little chronological timeline for you guys. So Lena's here. Lena's doing extensions, Lena bolts off, she goes to London.

Lena comes back and we're in Vanderpump now. You're in Vanderpump now. This is like 2012, I think, right? When you and I moved back in together. Are you talking about when we lived in like Los Feliz area? In Los Feliz. And you were dating Tom. And I was dating Tom Sandoval.

Yeah. We thought you looked like that actor. Josh Hartnett. Josh Hartnett. Yep. 100%. And I later found out actually Ariana lived, that's what I'm talking about, Ariana lived around the block and I bought a twin size mattress to come live in your, like you had

a one bedroom. We shared a one bedroom bungalow. Right. It was a one bedroom, like little house. But honestly, even though as tiny as it was and like kind of shitty as it was, this is when you were making like so much music and you were making music with a band

who some of the people lived in the bungalow behind us. And I got to see you even perform music with Juliette Lewis. Shout out. Oh my God. Yeah, that was cool. I was performing with Juliette and the Licks, but not their band. It was just the band that made up Juliette and the Licks. They had a cover band called Petty Cash. And that was so much fun because I was this little acoustic country singer at the time. And they invited me to perform songs with them and kind of a cool story, but I had no idea what they were asking me to do until I showed up to the night we were performing at the Key Club.

Yeah. And lo and behold, in the front audience was Pink. She was right there, sat like five feet away. My favorite female artist. And I say this as a Swiftie. Pink is, Alicia is my favorite female artist of all time. And this was the moment that blew my mind. Above anything I've ever done in LA, anyone I've ever met in LA, anyone I've ever seen

in LA, that was the most mind-blowing thing. And that you could refer to her as Alicia. I was like, oh my God. Oh my God. I know this is total sidetrack, but what happened that night was basically Petty Cash consisted of the band and they would play Tom Petty and Johnny Cash cover songs and then they would have guest singers come up. And every single singer that would come up and every single singer that would come up was like a celebrity successful singer. I mean, we're talking Avril Lavigne, we're talking Matt Skiba. Yeah, Matt Skiba. Oh my God.

And then, you know, and then Juliette Lewis would come up and sing and the singer to some 41, Derek and all these people would get up and they would be guest singers. And then there was little old me, Lena Marr. And I don't know how, you know, this is just the magic of the universe. And here I am. And in the front row is pink watching the performance. And I was channeling, I was doing a cover of Jackson. So I was channeling my June Carter. And the next thing you know, the performance goes well, the show ends and the guitar player of the band comes over to me and he says, hey, Lena, someone, one of my friends wants to meet you. Do you have a second?

And I was like, yeah, of course. I had no idea who it was. He pulls me over and standing in front of me is Pink. And she wanted to meet me. I'll never forget that. How do I even say it? Like what, oh my God, what a moment in time. I'll never forget that for the rest of my life.

Because I love her as well, and she was the punk rock pop star, and I resonate with that. Yeah, because you were the punk rock girl who wanted to do folky country indie music, but you were so punk rock. You were covered in tattoos at this point. Your hair sometimes was black.

Sometimes it was this color, or cut a certain way. You were just this rad indie chick, if you will. Yeah, thank you. So, you know, so like I didn't really resonate with the Britney Spears as much, you know, as like the pinks of the world. She was just super cool. She just said, hey, I just wanted to tell you,

you were my favorite singer. I love your, my favorite performer tonight. Like, I love your voice. I loved your dance moves. You know, she just wanted to introduce herself. And I was like, are you kidding me right now? This is amazing. Like, Pink wants to meet me?

And yeah. Yeah. And so singing with them went on for years and then she ended up singing at all the shows. So it was really cool to get that opportunity and just so magical. And I still can't believe that that happened to me. Yeah.

And those were some of my favorite times in LA, to be honest. Like, even though I had like the twin mattress in there and it was like a short-lived thing, cause you were basically in between, you got back from London and then you were like, just kidding, we're going to London again. And I was like, wait lived thing, because you were basically in between, you got back from London and then you were like, just kidding, we're going to London again. And I was like, wait, wait a minute, we just got this place together

because I was living at the time, I was living with Tom, Tom and Jax in West Hollywood and Jax and Schwartz were like, Dodie can't live here anymore. Like, we're so over her being here with us dudes. That's when I moved out and I moved in with you. And then once I'd lived with you, you moved to London, they moved out and I moved back in with Tom at that time. But when I was with you, it was like, for me,

it was one of the most magical parts because we just like played guitar, you wrote a lot, like I would try to lend whatever I could writing. I think I was too nervous to like put myself in that way. So if you guys don't know, I mean, when I first moved to LA, I wanted to be in the music business. I play guitar three, four times a day, every single day of my life at that point, from 18 to about 24 when I moved here. And then I was like, oh shit, I moved to LA and I'm like, oh, it's hard. Like it's not, like this is fucking impossible. The music industry is really hard. It was kind of like when I moved to Miami when I was 22 and I was like, I'm a model. I was like, okay, five foot nine brunettes are

like bred here. Like who the fuck am I? So living in LA, I'm like, okay, so foot nine brunettes are like bred here. Like who the fuck am I? So living in LA, I'm like, okay, so I'm not going to be a musician, but maybe I want to work in the music industry. And I worked really, really hard for a year working at Sir and busted my ass harder than I ever have to. I didn't know if I wanted to be a tour manager or work in A&R or like what it is that I wanted to do. But I'm like, I know that I want to be a tour manager or work in A&R or what it is that I wanted to do. But I'm like, I know that I want to be in the music industry.

And the harder I worked at it, the more I realized it started making me hate music. I didn't want to play anymore because I didn't care about the business side. I'm like, this is fucking boring. I want to play, but I'm never going to play professionally. Let's be honest. It wasn't in the cards for me. I admit it. I wasn't going to work hard enough. It wasn't my jam.

I love it. So that was kind of it for me. And so I decided to start acting and I really fell in love with that. But then when you and I moved back in together, it was like the coolest thing ever for me. It was like I was back to my fucking roots. And then you had, I believe it was every Sunday or Monday at Cat Club. So I had a residency. Oh my God.

You have such a good memory. It was a residency. I remember because it was like the best time of my life that I got to play this residency with you every single week at this bar called Cat Club, which if you live in LA now, on the Sunset Strip, and it's now Rock and Riley Club, which if you live in LA now, yeah, on the Sunset Strip and it's now Rockin' Riley's, which is fucking wild. Wow. I got to go in the studio with you.

I got to play the Malibu in with you. And I'm like, I'm living my best, most creative dream life without like, like with doing it with you, which made it more fun for me. Cause it was like, you were the one writing all the songs that I'm like, I get to be a part of this to this day. I think it was like my favorite part of all living in LA, to be honest. And you were in a couple of the music videos

that we shot as well. And we did two music videos. You and Tom. Tom and I both did both music videos. On Vimeo you can find... was that the... Chance to Dance. No, Chance to Dance you can Google. Well, you can Google both of them.

I think that one's on YouTube. Oh, God, that's so embarrassing. Yeah, that one, Chance to Dance is on YouTube. No, but the other one's only on Vimeo. Yeah. So the other one is rated R. Which is so... no, here's the rad-ass thing. Let's talk about, it was a Cha Cha Diva. This was shot at the Red Studio. Got another magical story. This is fucking magic, you guys. Like, this is like unheard of.

When I think back about it now, I'm like, we got to shoot at one of the Red Studios with the brand new Red camera. So if you're not familiar, just fucking Google it. I don't know how to explain it to you. It's a specific type of camera. It's what they make the big feature films with. It's one of the most innovative camera technologies

on the market. And we got to shoot at the REDD studios in Hollywood with the president of REDD and his wife. My brain was blown when you were like, hey, would you and Tom like wanna be like a part of my music video? It's being shot with this brand new Red camera that like hasn't really been used much yet. I'm like, fuck yourself. I'm there already.

Like, I'm going to just like knock myself there in one second. Tom and I were freaking out. It was amazing. I mean, this was an EP that I wrote called Confessions of a Sailor's Muse, and it was based in the earlier 1900s, and we were burlesque dancers in a dressing room. Yeah, with soldiers.

With sailors, remember the sailors. Yeah, so Tom was a sailor, and he was making out with another chick, not you. Totally was. Yeah. And we had some amazing like actual burlesque women there and I got to be part of it. And I still to this day love watching it. At the time I was like a cigarette smoker. So I was like chain smoking like crazy. That's great because we did need smokers in the scene. Yeah, and none of the girls really smoked. So I was like, I got it. But it was one of the most beautiful projects I've ever been a part of.

And I was topless. So my tits are free on the internet. If I could be topless all the time and just wear like boy shorts and no shoes, I'd be the happiest chick ever. But women's boobs are so like sexualized that it's like a thing. But to me, I'm like, tits are tits, like it's all good. Yeah, and you've got a great pair. Thank you so much. You are blessed.

Thank you so much, so do you. But yeah, Lena, our fucking, oh my God. Our lives. We've lived the best life together. Cause I was just gonna say like, speaking of you filming at those studios with me, like, I got to come and be a part of your set, which was the Valley photo shoot and video shoot for... Yeah. So just, yeah. So you guys, I'm sure if you follow me on Instagram, if you don't, you're fucking better. But Lena did my

hair for our Valley like main shoot. And I love you even more for always like taking video footage of that. Because I'm so awful at remembering to take videos or photos. I take photos of other people, my entire photo rolls, like, I don't even know how many thousands, tens of thousands, and it's just like other people looking cool, I'm like, I don't have photos of myself. Well, at least it's not 10,000 selfies of yourself because that would be-

Hell no, hell no. It's like screenshots of the same shit over and over too on Instagram. But you did my hair for that and you logged the whole thing. You created like so many sick videos of that. But how the fuck did you end up on Vanderpump Rules? I just have to ask. How did I end up on Vanderpump Rules?

Because I know how you ended up on The Valley. Oh, well, okay. See, I've been in a lot of tapings of the Vanderpump Rules, but are you talking about when we did- Vanderpump Rules without me. Season 11? So here's the cool thing, you guys. If you haven't been able to tell by now

listening to me, like spirituality, divine alignment, numbers, right? So I was on season 11, episode 11. 11, 11, isn't that cool? Was it really? It was. How about that? Okay. Super cool. I'm not mad anymore. I like it. So of all these moments that I've actually been walking in the background are there for y'all's taping, kind of avoiding the cameras, but there for those moments. Always avoiding the cameras. Always avoiding the cameras. How this came to fruition, doing Tom's hair basically was, well, you introduced me to Jo.

That's fair. Right? I used to come when I lived in Canada, I'd come and stay with Kristin at her house and Jo and her were very close. And so I got to- Jo was always there, guys. She's a great friend. She was a great friend to you. And basically, so we knew each other and then she started getting her hair done by me as

well. So she's also a client of mine. Which I love and appreciate because if I can bring clients to you, phenomenal. Yeah. And even after you guys went your separate ways, I do appreciate that you are a big enough, mature enough person to not dictate my relationships with other people. Yeah. So maybe let me just let all of you guys know.

I have never told Lena like, fuck that girl. How dare you? You're my friend. Never. You're an adult and yes, you're allowed to have your own friends and you're allowed to have your own clients and you are such, as you guys have learned throughout this podcast, have such a strong head on your shoulders and such empathy. I trust and know you'll handle it all with grace.

Absolutely. That's that. You guys, Kristen, she's the real deal. She's a very, very loyal, very good friend and no amount of success or being on a television show has changed that relationship. And in fact, gosh, I wanted to ask her, like how has she, and you know what? People may see you on the show and I just, you know,

I am busy. I have not watched the show. I've watched a few episodes and that is not me not being supportive. No, also not everyone fucking wants to watch it. No offense, like I have a ton of friends on other Bravo shows on Summer House, on Southern Charm and I love them to pieces, but I've not watched a single episode. And I don't know if I should even say that because like, listen, I am a very, very, very

supportive friend. I just never had a TV for a long time in my life. And I also would never want to watch something and then it taint, not that it would towards you. Or just for you to have like actual emotional feelings where you're not watching entertainment. You know, and like for the moments that I have seen it, I was on an airplane one time and they had Vanderpump.

I was like, oh, this is my friend's show. I gotta watch an episode. This is cool. I have the moment, the space, the time, and there it is, you know? And so I watched it and I was literally like, I wanted to fight the battle. And I was like filled with so much,

like I got to stick up for my friend. And then, you know, anytime I would see comments on the internet talking about Kristen, because they don't know, you know, they don't know you. They know a perception of a television show, but they don't know you the way that I know you. And I would never have a bad thing to say about Kristen. And I've known her for almost 20 years.

And you're the same old G. If anything, I commend you for like getting better and better and better than you already were. But like you're a solid human being and like, man, even the stuff you went through back in the day, like none of that for one second would cloud my judgment But you're a solid human being and man, even the stuff you went through back in the day, none of that for one second would cloud my judgment of who I know who you are. Thank you for that.

I love you so much. I love you too. Did you feel, I don't want to harp on more of Ann Arpublica, just because I feel like this might be a question people would have. Did you feel like you were more involved than you wanted to be because of the Joe and Tom like storyline of the Vanderpump? Did you feel like kind of roped in where you were like,

okay, like you've known Tom Schwartz for a very long time, like probably 14, 15 years since he moved here, pretty much. Yeah, pretty much. Pretty much. And because like that's your buddy and you've known Tom Sandoval the same amount of time. And then Joe's like your new friend and she's a licensed stylist who's doing hair.

Luckily they got to use your salon because you're an owner, which was wonderful for the salon. But obviously with their storyline, there was a negative storyline that sort of, did it make you feel like you had to be involved or did you feel like, I just hope people leave me out of this because all they did was use my salon. It was kind of a mix of emotions.

Like when the opportunity first presented itself, I said, oh, maybe we can allow them to use the space, but just keep the salon name out of it, and it'll just be an anonymous space. That was my first thought, and that was the first thing that I told the producers. I also worried about like what you would think, and I wanted to talk with you first,

and we did, we had a conversation. I said, hey, this is... Could it be spun a certain way? Because you're not a reality cast member. So you're like, what could happen? Well, yeah. And also, I was aware of that there was a dilemma between you and Joe.

And I didn't want you to feel like I'm taking a side or whatever. And so Kristen and I had a conversation about it. You were seriously... I was like, bitch, get your fucking... Get your hair boss Hollywood in LA on TV. You were so supportive. Like I honestly, like I was nervous to bring it up

and I probably would have been like, whatever you say, cause you know, you're my long time good friend and if it bothered you or rubbed you the wrong way, we could do without, we don't have to do this. So you were super supportive and Kristen left all her personal stuff, like you really didn't bring that into it. So you gave me the green light and you said,

yeah, no, this would be actually really good for you to do. Yeah, I hoped that Vanderpump rules shooting at Hair Boss would give you the utmost respect and visibility. And that was it. And if it wasn't that, maybe it wouldn't air. And nothing, there would never be a negative connotation that was like connected to you. And I knew that from my time being on the show. That's what I assumed.

So I was like, there's no bad way this could go for you. Yeah, no, totally. Even though at the time I could not fucking stand Jo and I was really fucking irritated that she was on my show. But Kristen maintained being, you know, but basically how it came to fruition is Jo is a client of mine and she's also somebody I know, a friend through Kristen. And I do know Tom from back in the day. And I do accept, by the way, you guys, I do accept that I've introduced Joe to a lot of my friends.

And if they have friendships with her because of that, I don't get to go, wait, no, no, no, no. You got to stop now. You don't get to be friends with her anymore. That's not an easy thing to do to be the bigger person and to allow people to like... It sucks. It's so dumb. It's hard. It's hard. I get it. But I like it. It only makes us bigger people. And when we tap into our highest selves, I know your highest self is a good, great person at the core.

So, yeah, so they... Joe being a friend of mine and a client and Tom, I love Tom. I've always loved Tom. Any opportunity we can have to like be around Schwartz's energy. We love Schwartz so much. Like Schwartz has now turned into my favorite travel partner. Of course, I travel with Brittany pretty often. She's wonderful. I like traveling with Zach, but Schwartz is my A number one.

We meet at LAX and he's like, Doty, you know where to meet me, right? And I know exactly, I'm not going to tell you guys where it is. But I'm not going to tell you which bar, but I know exactly what bar to meet him at. I know which seat to sit in. And I know that we're going to gossip between the two of us,

but it's never going to leave those bar stools. And it's like, that's my fucking homie. Like I met that kid getting out of his Honda Civic with Ninja Turtles and like a metal rooster and like a stuffed toad with like two boxes of clothing. He was wearing Adidas pants and a suede button down shirt. His hair was down to his chin with a beanie and one ear sticking out. It was like, hey guys, I'm Tom. Like, you look like a turtle.

And I'm like, I love you so much. I love Tom from the moment I met him. And I still see him the same way, even though he like dresses cooler and he like has better hair and like he knows himself a bit better now, but he was 26 years old then. My first impression of Tom, when I met him back at y'all's apartment, like he knows himself a bit better now, but he was 26 years old then.

My first impression of Tom when I met him back at y'all's apartment. Yeah. Good old 551. He's this guy who doesn't know his greatness. Like he's this undiscovered gem. He really is. He's so adorable.

And like, he's such a good looking, like handsome guy, but looking handsome guy, but he almost doesn't know it or see it. He's just so quirky and kind and genuine. Humble, very humble. There you go. I know he was pursuing acting and maybe modeling, so he must know that he has that aesthetic about him, but that's not at the forefront of him. That's like just icing on the cake

because he's Mr. Personality. All right, so all in all, you never did Vanderpump with me, but how was your experience? Like, would you ever maybe make a cameo again because you do my hair? Would you like do my hair in the valley this season or film with me?

Of course. Okay, good. And we did shoot some stuff for the valley. It just didn't air. We did. We were in your apartment doing your hair before Brittany's party. Yeah, Janet's birthday. Yeah. Yeah.

You did, you did my, it was at Brittany's house though. Yeah, and that was gonna be the first episode of the season, but they cut that clip out. Yep. And then you did my, it was at Brittany's house though. Yeah, and that was gonna be the first episode of the season, but they cut that clip out. Yep. And then you did my hair. Oh yeah, and then we said you did it for the valley thing. And then the James May, and then the tattooed, and I was there.

Yeah, so you guys, Lena's husband actually came in like a fucking genius and did all the tattoos at my James May party, which were definitely aired. And I have one of my favorite tattoos, which is my James May logo. And what else did you do? No, you did. Oh, and wait, there's another one.

I'm missing one. I mean, we did the wine. Remember the, which is a WeHo release of the Rose? Oh my God, back in the day, like 2018 or something. Yeah, and not too many. Girl, you've been around. Okay, cool. Amazing. Yeah, I'm not fazed by it.

Look, I shied away from the cameras for the longest time because I don't know, I didn't need to be front and center or in the background of the cameras whatsoever. So when I got asked to tape at the salon, I'm all for it now. I'm living back in Hollywood. I love Tom. I love Joe. You know, the, yes, of course. You love me more.

I love you more. But yeah, like I was, I was like, absolutely. Let's, let's film. Let's do this. Let's make them blonde. This sounds fun. It was fun. It was great.

And you have such a great space. Like obviously I never was lucky enough to see your Canada hair boss, but when you opened it in LA, it was just the most beautiful space. And I would love to throw an event there, whether it's on a show or not on a show. You just have the most beautiful space to throw a little event at and do hair. And I want to do, I don't know, a wine thing with a braid bar with you.

Absolutely. No, I would love that. like a braid bar with you. Absolutely. No, I would like that. Like in real life, show or no show. Lena, fucking Beena, Lena, Lena, Lena, you're a jack of all trades. You are to me someone that I look up to wholeheartedly, which means a lot to me, being someone that I'm actually friends with and someone that I know and seeing you do all of these things because I do lose like my faith at times and being like, can I do this? Like, do I quit?

Like there have been times, I'm not joking, not dating Luke, but like in other boyfriends in the past where I'm like, do I have to give up and move back home to Michigan? Am I fucked? I got canceled, I got fired. I loathed my ex-boyfriend. Like, maybe this is like the universe telling me to give up. And then I realized it's the universe telling me

the exact opposite. Don't fucking give up. Bust your ass. Take a breath. And what I always tell my friends when you're going through hard shit is like, allow yourself a moment, truly you guys, I'm not being like some like preacher, but like allow yourself a minute to just feel shitty for yourself. You're allowed to cry, you're allowed to lay in bed, you're allowed to eat fucking Cheetos and order pizza and watch rom-coms all day long

or whatever it is that you love. Then it's like my mom told me, she used to say 48 hours, but when I got fired, it was like I was allowed two weeks. And then after two weeks, though, my mom was like, pick yourself up. You got to fucking work. Your life's not over. And I feel like you are the epitome of, of all of that. And I hope all people, humans that are listening to this podcast, and especially women that want to be small business

owners, entrepreneurs, and make your small businesses fucking massive. I look up to Sarah Blakely so much. She's the founder of Spanx, and I follow her on Instagram, and I think she's one of the most brilliant women entrepreneurs of our time, and I look up to her the same way I look up to you. Wow. So thank you for coming on this podcast. Thank you for being brutally honest and so vulnerable. And also we're so fucking fun. And I'm just so proud of you from like growing up in Texas and being this little punk rock

princess and then doing hair and then following your dreams as a musician and like traveling all over the fucking world, like across the ocean and then opening a salon in Canada, getting turned down 40 million times. You made it happen. And then you went, you know what? I'm going to go back to California and I'm gonna fucking open one there. How about that?

How about that? Man, I needed to have a salon here. This is where I got my start as a hairstylist. I know I'm kind of the queen of putting more on my plate than I should. Well, and then you opened up your hair extension. Retail store. Own retail store like brick and mortar,

like in Hollywood as well. Like, y'all, that shit ain't cheap. It is not cheap to do. Like it is, it's a, it's a venture in its own to do it. And you are doing it, you're pulling it off. You're killing it. You have so many amazing clients, like not to be like, oh my God, it's celebrities, but like you have me.

Number one. But like you guys, I can say her name, right? Like the main, main. Yeah. Sia. Sia. Sia is Lena's flipping client. And do you know how famous Sia is on Vanderpump Rolls? How famous? She's so fucking famous.

Are you kidding me right now? Have you never seen the scene where Tom Sandoval is dressed in drag and he's wearing a black and white wig? Oh my God, I heard about that. That's so funny. And I was dating Carter and Carter goes, you know what, Tom? You know who you, they're wasted. He's like, you know who you grew up to be?

You grew up to be Sia. Oh my God, I love that. And Sando Ball's response was like, Sia, really? Like that's something along the lines of like, that's a real dig there, man. Seriously. That's a huge compliment. Oh my god. I mean, like dude, you could only wish. You wish you were Sia. But it's like she has this presence in Vanderbump Rules where she's like so I mean, she's the most one of the most brilliant vocalists of our time, hands

down. But she has this presence on Vanderbump Rules because of that. And it's just wild to me. So I feel like our listeners would find that super entertaining. But the fact that you do her hair and you do my hair, I feel like I'm two degrees from Sia. So there's that. Sia and I are basically best friends is what I'm trying to say. I mean, she likes your shows.

Sometimes we browse them while doing your hair. Sia and I are sisters. So there's that. Guys, she's my best friend. Just kidding. Oh, man, she is super cool. Guys, she's my best friend. Just kidding. Oh, man. She is super cool. It is such an honor to do her hair.

I met her, gosh, 14 years ago, maybe. She came into my salon and she was telling me she wrote Shine Bright Like a Diamond. And I was like, oh, wow, you know, this chick's a songwriter. But it turns out she lived way closer to me than what my salon was. So she's like, just come over to my house and do my hair. So I went over there a couple of times back in the day. You know, she would, you mentioned things like how she's played Coachella. And I was like, you know, mental note, like I'm such a space cadet, but I was like, I

need to, I need to check her music out, you know, just to be supportive of my clients and stuff. So it was like on my mind, check out this artist Sia, but I kept forgetting. And so like, you know, I didn't do it. And then one day I'm sitting in the car and a song comes on and it was breathe me. And I just thought, Oh God, this is the most beautiful song. It like touched me to the core. And I said, I pressed the button to see who the artist was and low. And I did, I died. I was like, oh my God, this is the chick's hair that I've been doing for like months now

that I had no idea. I had no idea. You guys, cause I live under a rock kind of. I'm sort of like, I never know what's going on in the world, in the modern world. Like in the pop culture world. Yeah, I'm not very looped into the pop culture. So I was like, oh, that is so cool.

I want to tell her this song that I just so moved by was hers. And fast forward, it's been well over a decade now and I'm still doing her hair. And she is just the coolest chick. She is the coolest human being. I am so in awe by what an incredible person she is. Yeah, no, I know that and you go to her house, you do her hair there, but it's like what, like what a fucking thing to have on your, I don't see your resume, like your repertoire. Yeah, I mean, because not only is she one of the most brilliant, like I said, vocalist of our time,

I don't think she's one of the most brilliant, like I said, vocalists of our time. She's known for her hair and her wigs and her, like that's kind of her jam, you know what I mean? So hats off. Yeah, it's true, it's true. End of story, you guys, Lena's the tits. She's an amazing musician. I'm gonna play some of her fucking music on my Instagram.

And also, if you want extensions, you want your hair colored, you want your hair cut, whatever it is, Hair Boss Hollywood, it's on La Brea, just off of Melrose in WeHo. If you come to town and you're like, oh my God, I'm gonna do my like Vanderpump crawl, I'm gonna go to Tom Tom and Sir, before you come to the Valley,

go get your hair done at Hair Boss, but you have to like call first and make an appointment because they're really busy. And you can just come in for a blowout, like come in and get your hair styled for your Vanderpump curl. Oh, that is such a good idea because I do go in and just get my hair like curled

and blown out. Yeah. And it's like really fun. That is a good idea. So like, because I've heard of this, I've actually been hit up for this, like people are gonna come into town. I bet people don't realize they can just get their hair blown out.

Yeah. Like we're a full service salon. So you can come in and get your hair washed, curled. You can come get a trim. You can get a color, but we're also really great at extensions. I mean like extra great, extra great extensions. Like literally the best ever. Like the best in the business, hands down.

Handsome. Yeah. And if you're a hairstylist out there that's super passionate about extensions hit me up I always love meeting other hair artists. It never gets old to me after 23 years I still love it and hair and I says something that I created to supply Really good top shelf like the best of the best human hair on the market And you can buy it whether you're a hairstylist or not. So it's professional grade. It's typically the stuff that you can only get with a hair license, but I wanted to make it available to everybody because everybody deserves to have great hair

like Kristen. No, which I totally agree. And like, obviously mine, I have the skinny weft like in my head, because you guys always tell me, at least my Instagram people always tell me how much they love my hair. But Lena has also made me like clip ins from the hair that I can like put it just pop in for like something I want to do that's cute whether it's like an event in LA or like I'm going to a wedding and I'm like I don't know I'm just going to my friend's wedding and I

want to like pop these in because it makes me feel like a little cuter today. I call it length at your leisure. Ooh la la. Oh my god, Lean Bean, I love you so much. And you guys, please follow all of our stuff. I post it like 24 seven, but Lena, do you want to tell them all of your awesome social media handles? I will also have these listed at the bottom of the podcast. So we'll have all of Lena's handles.

But if you're listening while you're driving... Be safe. And... Okay, so my hair salon, Hair Boss, it can be found on Instagram. Hair Boss underscore professional. We have my signature trademark extension technique. It's called Skinny Weft, so that can be found at Skinny Weft and then we have the new retail hair store which is Hair-a-Dice. This is also e-commerce so you can go online to myhairadice.com or you can visit the

Instagram at myhairadice and then if you want to follow my personal journey which incorporates all of the fun hair stuff that I do and a little bit of my personal life, you can find me at The Hollywood Hair-a-Pist. Yeah, girl. Yeah, girl. You guys, thank you so much for listening. I love you guys. Bye.

Make sure to follow us on social media. You can follow me on all platforms at Kristen Doty and follow Luke on Instagram at Luke double underscore Broderick. Be sure to click the subscribe button so you can stay up to date with new episodes. Thanks for listening. See you next week. I'm looking for a mom friend that wants to talk about motherhood, parenting, mental health, marriage, friendships, and more. Unfiltered, of course. A mom friend that wants to feel less alone in all of her seasons of life.

If this is you, let's be friends. Come on over and listen to Mama Knows wherever you get your podcasts.