When he was a teenager, Jacob Khan discovered his interest in hair through punk music, a fortunate twist of fate. Today, the hairstylist has 350k Instagram followers, owns an eponymous salon and serves as national educator on the CosmoProf Artistic Team—but he’s hungry for more.
Aha Moment
I was in the punk music scene and we all wanted to have really fun, funky hair, but no one had the money to get it done. I kind of became the resident hairdresser for the kids I hung out with and realized I really enjoyed it.
Training Days
My initial training came from Paul Mitchell The School Atlanta, and then I worked at a salon for four years before landing an apprenticeship under Wayne Lee—he’s a Beverly Hills-based hairdresser and previous Vidal Sassoon educator. That’s where my training really took off.
Claim to Fame
I branched out in 2016 and opened my own salon, Jacob K Hair. It’s grown from a 120-square-foot studio to a 3,000-square-foot salon.
Social Butterfly
My personal Instagram is @jacobhkhan and @jacobkhair is my salon’s.
Words To Live By
“Learn the form but seek the formless.”—The Silent Monk from The Forbidden Kingdom
Secret Weapons
BaBylissPRO tools—irons, clippers and blow-dryers—are my go-tos.
My Mentors
Wayne Lee has been my biggest mentor. I was lucky enough to work with him early on in my career, and he was hard on me—he gave me the harsh critiques I needed to hear. I think that’s something that’s missing in our industry today. There’s sort of an “everyone gets a trophy” attitude, which makes it much more difficult to succeed.
Bright Future
I want to expand my salon’s education network and offer classes internationally. I’d also like to open a full-time academy in Georgia that offers classes year-round.