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Aurilla Goldsmith, a 2010 graduate of PCI Academy’s cosmetology program, has created a career that includes personal work as a cosmetologist, as a photo session stylist and with Martin Parsons, a Canadian known for training stylists in high fashion hairstyling.

A graduate of Corning High School, Corning Iowa in 2007, Aurilla continued her education at ISU for a year and a half. She wasn’t finding her future there. She noticed a bus sign on Cy-Ride advertising PCI Academy (then known as TSPA). Everyone had always told her she should do hair so she called and signed up for cosmetology.

After graduating from PCI in April 2010 she worked at The Salon in Ames when they first opened. It was there she worked on photo shoots for Trend magazine with photographer Mark Peterson. She did the hair for his sessions. Then she moved to a Des Moines area salon, New Impressions which became Salon Bliss.

At the same time she also worked with modelmayhem.com in Des Moines with Kari Shannon, Fels Photo and Retouch. Kari had been a model and decided to buy a camera and start doing her own photos. Aurilla did the hair.

They did a lot of TFP (trade for print) work meaning they did free work to get a reputation as published stylist and photographer.

For some time Aurilla continued at work at Bliss and in Corning at Hair Designers. Hair Designers has served Corning for 36 years and recently the ownership has changed but the founder is still there. Aurilla works behind the chair Wednesday through Saturday and travels to do trade shows for Martin Parsons the rest of the week. The busy show times are spring and fall.

She loves coming to her home in the timbers but being able to hop on a plane and go anywhere to do show work. She really enjoys teaching stylists.

Her work made the cover of DSM magazine’s cover holiday issue in 2012.

She had been contacting Martin Parsons and was asked to work a show in Chicago for free so he could see her work. She became the assistant to his US show assistant. She was promoted in 2014 to Martin’s US show assistant. She works shows with him and takes his classes whenever he is in the Midwest.

Aurilla got into doing the cover of Inspire (a salon style book) volume 84 after meeting its editor at that first show working with Martin.

She is currently reading Ken Paves’ “You Are Beautiful” the story of the stylist’s life making women feel beautiful. She found it inspiring and encouraging to her desire “to push the boundaries and step out on a limb to achieve your dreams.”

She admits to a love/hate relationship with NYC. She loves being there but wouldn’t want to live there. If she had to pick a city to relocate to it would be Nashville Tennessee because it has so many creative people.

When asked her goals for the future she responded, “I don’t know, but I want to do more work for publications outside the US.”

She will celebrate an unveiling party of her work called Au’Riginal Allure, a collection of sophisticated updos) being published in American Salon’s June issue 2014 (4 pages). To be held at Hair Designers, 708 Davis Avenue, Corning, Iowa, Friday, June 13 5-7 pm.

Aurilla says, “My inspiration for this piece is the rolling hills and flat planes of the Midwest. It’s important to her to look back on where I was raised – my roots. I grew up on a family farm. It has instilled in me at a young age to work hard for what you want, and to always be kind, always.”

Reprinted by permission from Facets Magazine, a publication of Stephens Media Iowa.