Rachel Badgley

Meet Rachel! Originally from a small town in Indiana, Rachel moved to Nashville at 18 and has called it home for the past 11 years. She was originally drawn to makeup artistry, which led her to beauty school. She started at Aveda in 2017, graduated in March 2018, and was behind the chair full-time by 2019. For a while she balanced hair with makeup work for photo shoots and weddings, but eventually fell in love with hair alone and slowly stepped away from makeup to focus fully on her craft.

Rachel specializes in color, especially blondes, lived-in blondes, brunettes, and redheads, alongside a love for cutting everything from bobs and shags to longer, layered styles. She describes a real turning point a few years into her career, when the mistakes, the lessons, and continued education all clicked into place and gave her the confidence that she was exactly where she was meant to be. One of the most impactful classes she's ever taken was taught by her best friend, an experience she calls the most educational haircutting class she's attended, one that made a lot of technique finally click for her.

Rachel wants her chair to be a safe, comfortable place, one where clients feel free to speak up if something isn't quite right, without fear of judgment. She knows many clients are hesitant to voice preferences, and her goal is to make that easier, so everyone leaves feeling better than when they arrived. Blunt but kind, caring, and funny, Rachel is someone clients feel they can bring anything to.

Outside the salon, Rachel's world revolves around her cats, her family, her friends, and her boyfriend, along with traveling and keeping a healthy work-life balance.

What does "come as you are" mean to you?: "Show up as you are. You don't need to change or alter yourself in hopes to 'fit in.' You have a place in my chair just as you are."