Cosmetology Student Success Story: Sara Scholz

About Sara Scholz

In 2024, Sara Scholz packed up her life in Alaska and moved to Washington with her husband. She was six months pregnant at the time. It was a big move in every sense: a new state, a new chapter, and a growing family all at once. In a life full of change, it turned out to be exactly right for Sara. Not long after settling in, Sara welcomed her daughter Devin into the world. She will tell you that right around that same season of change, at 31 years old, something else shifted too. She finally figured out what she wants to be when she grows up.

Haircut by Sara Scholz

Sara spent years in the service industry, serving, bartending, and event planning. She is good with people, quick on her feet, and genuinely loves being in a room where something is happening. But beauty has been a thread running through all of it. She has changed her own hair more times than she can count. She notices it, loves it, and feels something light up in her when a look comes together. “I have ALWAYS had a passion for beauty,” she says, and when Sara says always, she means it.

What pushed her to finally turn that passion into a career was something deeper than just loving hair. It was a belief. “I love making other women feel and look beautiful because we live in a world where we are told what we should look like,” she says. “And we should look like whatever the heck we want.” Sara wants to be the person in the room when that realization hits a client. The moment someone looks in the mirror and sees exactly who they want to see. That is what she is training for. “Following your dreams does not have an expiration date,” she says, “and neither should feeling beautiful.”

Why EBC

Choosing the right school came down to one very real factor: Sara’s life is full. She is a mom. She works full time. She is also now in cosmetology school. For that to actually work, the schedule had to work too.

EBC’s Olympia campus made it possible. The momentum learning pathway let Sara get her hours in without losing the rest of her day. The online coursework gave her flexibility to study around nap times, work shifts, and everything in between. She did not have to choose between being present for Devin and showing up for her education. She gets to do both. “I do all this and still have time to spend with my family,” she says. For a lot of people, a flexible schedule sounds like a nice perk. For Sara, it was the whole reason this was possible in the first place.

The Evergreen Experience

Sara’s favorite thing to do in the salon is foils, and she talks about it the way someone talks about a craft they were born for. There is something about dimensional blonde and brunette work that brings out what she calls “all the artsy fartsy-ness” in her. She knows it is hard. Blondes especially. But the challenge is exactly the point. When the toner is rinsed, the blow dry is done, and it looks exactly the way she pictured it, she says it best herself: “Chef’s kiss. It’s magic.”

Trim by Sara Scholz

The community at EBC has meant just as much as the technical training, maybe more. Moving across the country means leaving behind your people — the friends you call, the coworkers you trust, the familiar faces that make a place feel like home. Starting over in a new state is exciting and disorienting all at once, and having a community to land in makes a real difference. At EBC, Sara found exactly that. From Phase 1 to Phase 2, she has been surrounded by instructors who genuinely invest in their students and classmates who show up for each other. “I have made some of the greatest friends at EBC,” she says. “Friends I know will be a part of my life forever.” For someone building a new life in a new place, that is not something she takes lightly.

Her friends will tell you she is funny. She once briefly considered comedy as a backup plan. Stage fright put an end to that conversation. What clients actually get is someone warm, caring, and completely at ease in a service setting. Years of bartending and event planning will do that for you. “My clients can expect a stress-free service with a few laughs,” she says, and there is a lot of lived experience behind that promise.

The Next Step

After graduation, Sara plans to start her career in a salon setting, working alongside a team and building her skills through real daily experience. She is excited to keep learning and growing in a collaborative environment before eventually branching out on her own.

Updo by Sara Scholz

And when she does branch out, the vision is a beautiful one. Five to ten years down the line, Sara pictures having property with a detached salon suite where she can do hair on her own terms, right alongside acreage for a wedding venue complete with small farm animals. A space that is creative, personal, and entirely hers. A life where her work and her home and the things she loves most are all in the same place. It is the kind of dream that is specific enough to feel real, and Sara is the kind of person who makes real things happen.

Her advice to anyone thinking about enrolling is simple and from the heart: “Just do it. This has been the most incredible experience.” She also wants prospective students to know that EBC is not just a school. It is a community. “We are a big family. We want to see each other succeed and we have each other’s backs.” And if you have questions before you take the leap, Sara means it when she says she is always a DM away.

Sara Scholz is expected to graduate from EBC’s Olympia campus in April 2027. Follow her work on Instagram at @hairbysararene, on TikTok at @hairbysararene, and on Facebook at Hair by Sara Rene. We cannot wait to see that salon suite built!

If you are interested in pursuing a career in the beauty industry, check out our Cosmetology program or Schedule a Virtual Tour at one of our campuses: Bellingham, Mount Vernon, Everett, North Seattle, Renton, Olympia, and Yakima.