Meet Moriah (@hosfordhair), a 26-year-old licensed hairstylist from Franklin, MA. In her circle, she goes by Ri, Riley, or Riah. As a dedicated PRO Educator, Moriah wholeheartedly shares her passion for Pallure haircare and the importance of continuing education.
Since graduating in 2016, she's been committed to expanding her knowledge through various educational courses. Moriah specializes in creating those lived-in blond looks that are all the rage. She's a firm believer in never giving up on your dreams and encourages everyone to keep pushing forward. When she's not behind the chair creating her hair crowns, you'll catch her indulging in a self-care day that includes pampering her hair, skincare routine, and winding down with a warm cup of tea!
Q & A With Moriah
Get to know Moriah as she shares her journey of becoming a licensed hairstylist, her rise on social media, and her tips for success.
Fun Facts About Moriah
Q: What is your full name? Age? Reside in?
A: Moriah Lee Hosford, 26, Franklin, MA
Q: When and where were you born? Where have you lived?
A: March 29, 1997 in Norwood, MA. I have only lived in Franklin, MA!
Q: What is your zodiac sign?
A: Aries
Q: What is your name and nickname?
A: Moriah is my full name, nicknames include Ri, Riley, and Riah (mostly my nephews and friends’ kids call me Riah)
Q: What did you want to be when you grew up?
A: I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be either a hairdresser or a nurse! Definitely happy with the path I chose :)
Q: What is an interesting/fun fact about you?
A: I have lived in the same house for my entire life- fun fact, my mom grew up in our house too and I plan to buy the house from my parents in the near future.
Q: What is your favorite activity or hobby?
A: I like to be creative outside of hair. When it comes to special events I love to create a theme and be crafty. For a brief period of time I was making metal stamped jewelry which was very fun. I'd like to find more time for this again.
Q: Favorite candy, treat, or guilty pleasure?
A: I’m not much of a candy person but I LOVE salty snacks. My guilty pleasure is Goldfish or Cheez-Its.
Q: What is your favorite self care routine?
A: I love to take an “everything shower” (hair wash day, exfoliate, shave) followed by a full skin care routine and climb into bed with a hot tea!
Time At Cosmetology School
Q: What year did you start Cosmetology School?
A: 2015
Q: What was your biggest obstacle and how did you overcome it?
A: My biggest obstacle was facing my anxiety. I struggled with generalized anxiety throughout all of elementary, middle and highschool. When I got to cosmetology school, I still struggled but was able to find coping mechanisms that helped me along the way. It also helped that I was learning something that I was already so passionate about.
Q: What advice do you have for current cosmetologist students?
A: DO NOT GIVE UP! I know it sounds cliche, but I knew many people in my class who either didn’t make it to graduation, or gave up shortly after. It is such an amazing and rewarding career and with time and patience, it all pays off.
Q: Have you continued your education and if yes why do you think it is important?
A: As of recently I have made it a priority of mine to take continuing education classes. This year in particular has been a year filled with education. I have taken a social media/balayage class, an extension certification class, and a color class. It is so important to continue learning because this industry is continuously changing and in order to stay successful it is so important to stay up with the trends.
Social Media Journey
Q: How important of a role has social media played in your professional career?
A: I started my social media platform immediately when I got out of hair school in 2016. It started as a portfolio for my work which brought in a decent amount of clientele, though my page was not growing much. Fast forward to December 2022, I had a video go viral which significantly grew my socials. I have since shifted my page to be more educational for other stylists, while still keeping a balance of photos for clients to see.
Q: Which platform has been most impactful to you?
A: Instagram and Tiktok.
Q: What advice do you have for someone starting out as a stylist and trying to get their name out on Social Media?
A: Stay consistent and post things that could be valuable to other people including tutorials, FAQs, formulas, etc.
Life As A Hairstylist
Q: What's your specialty service you offer? Blonding? Color? Color Correction?
A: My main service that I do is lived-in blonding.
Q: What salon do you work in?
A: I rent a salon suite and work by myself at Hosford Hair.
Q: What do you find most rewarding about being a stylist?
A: Making people feel beautiful walking out of my salon.
Q: What do you enjoy most about working in your salon?
A: Being one on one with my clients and creating a safe place for people to feel comfortable while creating the hair of their dreams.
Q: What advice do you have for your fellow stylist, followers, and people you inspire?
A: Be unapologetically you and you will attract the clientele that you dream of.
Q: Is there anything you would like to share?
A: Dream big and know that one day you will achieve anything you set your mind to!
The Passion
Q: Who inspires you?
A: Honestly anybody who is truly happy to work everyday doing something that they love. I live by the mottos “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life” & “you should work to live, not live to work” because a healthy work/life balance is crucial, no matter how much you love your job.
Q: Who is someone you admire, and why?
A: I admire Taylor Dellatorre @taylordidmyhair because I have personally heard her story of overcoming her anxiety and now she has built an amazing educational platform and has become very successful in a relatively short period of time.
Q: What is a cause you are passionate about?
A: I am very passionate about taking care of yourself and your mental health. I think that finding a career that you are happy with and where you can thrive in a healthy environment is so so so important in that a majority of your life is spent working.
Q: What inspired you to become a hairstylist?
A: I love the technical side of doing hair but mostly I love making someone feel transformed physically but also emotionally because I’m a firm believer that “when you look good, you feel good”.
A Positive Impact
Q: What mark or impact do you want to make in this industry?
A: I want to make it more socially acceptable to wear casual, comfortable clothing and shoes every day behind the chair. I personally do not have a desire to get up and put together a fashionable, high end, uncomfortable outfit to stand on my feet for 10+ hours a day. I was once sent home from work at a previous salon for wearing Converse. What I was wearing did not affect my quality of work in the slightest. I would love to go back in time to 18 year old me and show her how far I've come and that my clients respect me and my work even when I'm wearing sneakers, sweatpants, or comfortable baggy clothing.
Q: What do you love most about this industry?
A: I love that the industry is shifting in a way that stylists are finally getting paid what they deserve and have a very good chance at making a great living off of what we do.
Q: What legacy do you want to leave behind?
A: I want to leave behind the idea that there is not one way to succeed. There are so many ways to be successful in this industry. You truly just have to find what you love and never stop doing it.
Q: Short term goal you would like to achieve?
A: I would like to have some paid brand deals within the next year or so working with products that I wholeheartedly love and believe in. I put a lot of time and effort into my socials and being paid for doing that is a dream of mine.
Q: Long term goal. Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years?
A: I would love to continue to see my page grow in the next 3-5 years and continue to help educate others. I’d also love to have some form of official education to offer to other stylists, whether it be online or in person such as shadowing days or small classes.
Words Of Advice
Q: What is one thing that you like to share with your followers? One is one piece of advice you can share that will help them grow personally and professionally?
A: Be patient with yourself. I was just about to give up entirely on social media right before my page “blew up”. I was putting so much time and effort into posts that it was mentally draining to see that my hard work did not pay off. I decided to post ‘once more’ and now that post is up to 7.2 million views. Since then I have gained 33k followers on Tiktok and 20.2k followers on instagram. You never know what is going to make your page take off, so if social media is a goal or yours and something you enjoy doing, keep doing it and I promise you one day it will pay off!
See some of Moriah's amazing hair works!