Episode Details

What does a celebrity hairstylist know about communication that most executives don't? More than you'd think.

Alex Pardoe has done hair for Paris Hilton at 3am, worked red carpets and film sets with some of the most recognizable names in Hollywood, and built his LA career from scratch after leaving a successful salon in Michigan with no clients and a three-month trial period. He's worked with Lindsay Lohan, Camila Cabello, and a roster of A-listers he mostly can't talk about. Five years into his LA chapter, he's one of the most sought-after hairstylists in the industry and the founder of hair extension brand The Anti Co.

But the reason we brought Alex on Well Said is because he thrives in high-stakes and fast moving communication environments. He just happens to work with hair.

In this conversation, Alex breaks down the philosophy that's driven his entire career: that he's not in the hair business, he's in the relationship business. Everything flows from that. How he asks questions before he ever picks up the scissors. How he reads a room under pressure. How he shows up in one of the most intimate settings imaginable, someone's home, their most vulnerable state, and makes every single person feel like the only person in the room. There's more practical communication wisdom in this episode than in most leadership books we've read.

In this episode:

- Why the hair industry is really the relationship business, and what that means for anyone whose job involves people

- The 50-question consultation method, and why Alex would rather spend 20 minutes asking than five minutes assuming

- How to stay grounded and calm when everything around you is chaotic

- What it means to walk into a room blind and still show up prepared

- How Alex thinks about fame, access, and keeping perspective around people he genuinely admires

- The transparency shift happening across beauty and media, and why the industry's dirty little secret is becoming a selling point

- What betting on yourself actually looks like when you've left everything behind to do it

- Why Alex believes nothing is really that serious, and how that belief makes him better at his job

If this episode resonates, please subscribe and leave us a review. And share this one with someone who needs a reminder that communication is always, at its core, about making people feel seen.