behind the chair

Hey, I'm Kaz!

My full name is Kazakiyah Jose Hardy. I am 31 years old and I was born in Marseille, France. My parents met young and were excited to live a fulfilling life, so we travelled all over the world during my childhood. So needless to say, I have stories for days.

Jumping ahead into my college days, I attended for computer science and multimedia web design. You could say my brain is bit technical at times.

I have a beautiful daughter, she's eleven. I learn new things about myself every day through every conversation with her. I am very proud of who she is becoming and the bond that we continue to build. I am very much looking forward to seeing how bright her light shines.

My three amazing and dynamic siblings challenge me to be the best version of myself every day. Being the eldest I wouldn't have it any other way. I enjoy doing almost anything active, especially rock climbing. I'll always be a forever student continuing to attend classes from marketing and business to haircut and color classes. I am an open book, so feel free to stop into the studio anytime and ask me anything!

This might come as a surprise to most of you, but hair was not always one of my passions. I did not grow up playing with hair, dolls or anything of the sort. I dropped out of high school at 17 to pursue my dreams of living my best life. In that pursuit of happiness, I returned home and began working with my mother.

During the process of helping my mother develop the systems she needed to operate a profitable business, I got a real taste of what it means to run a business, more specifically a hair salon. In the hopes of doing it better than anyone has ever done, I chose to attend cosmetology school with the idea of learning from the inside out.

Being a straight guy in this industry meant I had to work harder to achieve even the smallest piece of success. Being very competitive, I took the opportunity to learn something new and put myself way outside my comfort zone.

Fast forward a few years later, through countless mistakes and classes, I was able to amass a good sized clientele. Leaving my mother's salon to pursue my own goals gave me a huge realization; the only way to truly accomplish the things I have envisioned was to acquire a space that allowed me to bring my ideas to fruition. Kazakiyah's Hair Studio was born!

MEET THE GUY BEHIND THE CHAIR