A.W. Beattie, Hampton alum opens studio salon 3 years after graduation

Becca Miller has fond memories of every day life in A.W. Beattie Career Center. 

It’s where she met her boyfriend – now fiancé – Jacob Fitzpatrick. It’s where she met mentors like Ms. Cazin. And it’s also where she discovered her passion for Cosmetology. 

“Actually, I didn’t predict I would stay in Cosmetology,” Miller said. “I was going to do Cosmetology for one year before switching to Pastry Arts in my second year here. Day one, I knew. I’ve always liked helping people, and in Cosmetology there’s so many ways you can do that. It drew me in from day one, and I knew it was what I was going to do.” 

Fast forward about six years later and Becca, a 2017 Hampton Township graduate, is one of the newest business owners in the region with a studio salon, Beauty By Bec, at 181 Wexford Bayne Road. 

She opened it in August following weeks of COVID-19 restrictions, which meant she was only able to work for two days per week for her former employer. 

“I worked at an amazing salon, but I always knew I wanted to experiment, maybe even on my own to become a business owner,” she said. “I just never thought, one, it would happen so early on, and two, how things have grown in the beauty industry, which has allowed me to be able to do that at such a young age.” 

The nerves that come with opening up the studio salon each day have subsided over time.

“It’s scary when you go into it for yourself, because you don’t know what the outcome will be,” Becca said. “You can’t say for sure if you’ll fail or if you’ll succeed, and during COVID-19 you can’t really know if hair is something people will spend their money on. I feel really lucky. I was worried about whether my clients would come, but all of them have, so I feel a lot more relief now than I did at the very beginning. It's nice to look in the mirror and be proud.”

Her advice to current students would be to put in as much work as possible in their program.

“Take it seriously,” Becca said. “I put in so much work from the day I got (to Beattie) until the day I left. The biggest thing I want students to know is if you put the work in you’ll get the success that comes with it. If you want it, if you want it really bad, you’ve got to do it first in these rooms.”

Becca doesn’t just look back on her time at Beattie, she also makes time to visit.

“I know where I’m at today wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for the school and the teachers,” Becca said. “There were so many exciting things I went through here, and now there are so many things I go through in life be it career or not, and I like to share that connection as much as I can. Day one, I felt so supported, and years later I still feel that support, and I try to repay that as much as I can.”

Becca’s Instagram business page can be found at becca_790, and her website is https://rebeccamiller.glossgenius.com.