Meet Donavan Duelas: Artist & Hairstylist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Donavan Duelas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Donavan, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Before I officially started my own business doing hair, I was employed as a graphic designer. As I became unhappy with my situation, I started thinking of it in the form of a metaphor. Even though I was making good money for my age, I looked at my situation as a step stool; I took a few steps up, but that’s as high as a step stool goes. There wasn’t really anymore room for me to grow. I decided that I’d rather step down off of the stool, build my own staircase, and build it as high as I want.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I work with a few different artistic mediums, but my main one is hair. Hair is an expression and representation of who we are as people. It says so much about you, whether you realize it or not. Being a hairstylist is not just a job to me, and I take my craft very seriously. I constantly invest time, money, and energy into improving my skills so that I can provide my clients with the best hairstyles they’ve ever had.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
One of the great things about LA is how big it is. There’s so much to do spanning from one end of the county to the other. I’m a food guy, so when I travel, good food is a destination in it of itself. So when people come into my town, my go to is to always take them to all the food spots. Here in downtown, we have so many awesome places, my favorites being Grand Central Market and Little Sister. Back home where I grew up in the South Bay Area, we have so many local favorites like Louis Burger, TNT’s Aloha Cafe, Big Nicks, Eatalian, Gangnam KBBQ, and so much more. Whatever you’re craving, LA has it.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Of course the support from my family and friends have always played a huge part in my growth, and without them I’d be nowhere. I also owe a ton of credit and gratitude to my mentor Leche (@hey.leche) who took me under his wing and introduced me to the possibilities and opportunities that i could achieve in life, and who I now work side by side with everyday, constantly pushing me to be better.

Instagram: @dnvnduelas

Yelp: https://yelp.to/dEtNGXdcHfb

Image Credits
Donavan Duelas