Ann Bray is a Huntsville, Alabama–based hair educator and salon founder who’s spent decades turning hairdressing into something closer to performance art—without losing the behind-the-chair practicality. She’s best known for helping hairdressers build structure, control, and polish (the kind that reads from the back row and holds up under a camera lens).

Her origin story starts far from glamour: she’s spoken about working in a shirt factory before a scholarship competition opened the door to cosmetology school. That early grind shows up in her teaching—disciplined, detail-driven, and allergic to shortcuts that don’t serve the result.

Ann co-founded The Masters Salon in 1973 with a simple, slightly radical promise for the time: don’t just style clients—teach them how to style themselves. From there, her career went global: winning the World Championship of Hairdressing, coaching championship teams, and continuing to educate through the salon and industry platforms (including Aquage education).

If you want mentorship that treats technique like craft—and craft like legacy—Ann’s work is an invitation to go deeper.