The Career Path at Lee Graves Salon
Six named levels, from Apprentice to Master Stylist, and six cross-team tracks you can move into alongside your column. This is the ladder, written out.
Most salons will tell you they have a career path. Ours is published, and so is the price list attached to it — you can read what each level charges before you ever fill out an application.
You Can Check This One Yourself
Here is the part almost no salon does: our Level 1 through Level 5 pricing is published publicly on our pricing page, open to anyone with a browser. Every haircut, every color service, every level, in a table.
That means the ladder on this page is not an internal promise you have to take on faith. You can open the price list in another tab and read exactly what a Level 2 charges for a full highlight, what a Level 4 charges for the same service, and what changes between them. A career path tied to a published price list is verifiable in a way that a laminated poster in a break room never is.
We would rather you check than wonder.
The Six Levels
Apprentice, Hybrid Level 1 Stylist, Level 2 Stylist, Level 3 Senior Stylist, Level 4 Senior Lead Stylist, Level 5 Master Stylist.
Apprentice
The apprentice rung is where a licensed stylist learns our way of working before taking a full column. Apprentices train alongside our senior team in advanced color, cutting, and extension technique, and they build clientele in a supportive environment rather than being handed an empty chair and a phone number. Continuing education is paid for by the salon and delivered in-house by our Education Director, so the training is not something you fund yourself on your days off. Izzy came up through our apprenticeship and is now a Level 1 stylist — that path is not theoretical here.
Hybrid Level 1 Stylist
Hybrid Level 1 is the first rung with Level 1 pricing on our published menu, and it is the rung where the guaranteed paycheck matters most. New stylists at this stage receive a guaranteed paycheck while they build their book, and the salon advertises and brings in new clients for stylists who are building. You are working with the same color, the same support staff, and the same education budget as everyone else on the floor — the salon supplies all color regardless of level.
Level 2 Stylist
Level 2 is the rung where a stylist is established behind the chair with a book of their own. Level 2 pricing sits one step above Level 1 on our published menu, and the difference is visible to anyone who looks — including you, before you ever apply. Concierge staff at the front and support staff in the back keep the day moving, which is what makes a full column workable rather than exhausting.
Level 3 Senior Stylist
Senior Stylist is the first of the senior rungs. Crystal, who has been behind the chair for over a decade and works on our Something Blue bridal team, is a Level 3 stylist — a good picture of what this rung tends to look like: a strong specialty, a loyal book, and a role in the wider salon beyond the chair. Senior stylists often carry one or more of the cross-team tracks below alongside their column.
Level 4 Senior Lead Stylist
Senior Lead Stylist adds a leadership dimension to the senior rung. Grace is a Level 4 stylist and our Onboarding Manager — she is behind the chair for her own guests and she is the person new team members learn the salon from. Level 4 pricing is published on our menu alongside every other level, so a stylist considering this rung can see exactly what the work is priced at.
Level 5 Master Stylist
Master Stylist is the top rung of the ladder and the top column on our published price list — the level our pricing page describes as our most experienced and in-demand professionals. It is the rung a stylist builds toward over a career, and because the pricing is public, it is a target with a number attached rather than a title on a break-room poster.
Every level works with the same three product lines — Aveda, Schwarzkopf, and Iles Formula — and the salon supplies all color at every level. Continuing education is paid for by the salon at every level too.
Six Cross-Team Tracks
The ladder is vertical. These are lateral. They run alongside your column rather than replacing it, and stylists at different levels carry them — several of our team members hold one of these roles in their title today.
Bridal Travel Team
Something Blue by Lee Graves is our bridal division, and the travel team is the group that goes on location — hotel suites, venues, and getting-ready rooms across North Texas on wedding mornings. It is a different rhythm from salon days and it suits stylists who like the pace and the pressure of a wedding timeline. The bridal team works on contract, which is the one exception to our no-booth-rental model, and we state it plainly rather than burying it.
Bridal Coordinating Team
Behind every wedding morning is a schedule that has to survive contact with reality. The bridal coordinating team manages inquiries, trials, timelines, and the logistics of getting the right artists to the right room at the right hour. Leah and Macey both carry Wedding Coordinator in their titles today. If you are organized and you like weddings but you do not want to spend every Saturday morning on location, this is the track.
Party & Social Planning Team
The salon runs events, and someone has to make them good. The party and social planning team handles the in-salon events and the team gatherings — the things that make a workplace feel like somewhere you want to be rather than somewhere you clock in. It is a real track, not a volunteer committee, and it is open to stylists at any rung on the ladder.
Social Media & Marketing Team
The salon advertises and brings in new clients for stylists who are building, and the social media and marketing team is part of how that happens. If you are the stylist who is already shooting your work properly, writing captions that sound like a person, and thinking about what a client actually searches for, this track turns that instinct into part of your role instead of an unpaid hobby.
Onboarding & Mentoring Team
New stylists do not figure out a salon by osmosis. The onboarding and mentoring team is the group that brings people in properly — the systems, the standards, the color room, the unwritten things. Grace, a Level 4 Senior Lead Stylist, is our Onboarding Manager. This track is the natural home for stylists who find themselves teaching whether or not anyone asked them to.
Aveda Educator
Aveda is one of our three product lines, and Aveda educator is a track for stylists who want to teach. Brianna carries Aveda Ambassador in her title today. Education runs deep here — our Education Director, Dawn, has been a Schwarzkopf instructor for 15 years and teaches classes in our salon on everything from extensions to color and blonding — so a stylist who wants to move toward educating is not doing it alone or from scratch.
You can see how these tracks show up in practice on our team page — the titles there are real roles, not decoration.
What Holds the Whole Ladder Up
A career path is only worth reading if the day-to-day underneath it works. Ours runs on weekly pay, no booth rental (our bridal team is on contract), a guaranteed paycheck for new stylists while they build a book, a 401(k), and Aflac supplemental insurance. Stylists and their families get discounts on products and services.
Full-time concierge staff work the front of the salon and support staff work the back, so you stay behind the chair. The salon supplies all color. Continuing education is paid for by the salon and taught in-house by our Education Director, Dawn, a Schwarzkopf instructor for 15 years with more than 30 years in the industry.
And if a client is aggressive or rude to you, we handle it. Our stylists are not expected to absorb that to keep a booking on the schedule — at any level on this ladder.
Find Your Rung
Tell us where you are on the ladder today and where you want to be. Apply online, or call (972) 378-0091 and ask for a tour.
New to the industry? Start with our apprentice program. Already licensed and looking locally? See hair stylist jobs in Plano.