JULIA COX
There’s no stronger bond than that of a woman and her hairstylist.
For proof, look no further than the dynamic duo that is Hayley Williams and Brian O’Connor. Williams, the fierce frontwoman of the Grammy-award-winning band Paramore is known for her powerhouse vocals, vibrant stage presence, and signature bold hair colors and cuts. O’Connor is a 20-year cosmetology vet who has worked with the likes of Sheryl Crow, Fall Out Boy, and even Vice President Al Gore.
The two met in 2006 when Williams went to have her hair done by then-up-and-coming stylist O’Connor. At the time Paramore hadn’t yet become global superstars, so when Williams stepped into the Pink Mullet in Franklin to see a rising apprentice, he had no clue who she was professionally.
“Hayley and Paramore weren’t what they are today. She was like, ‘I do music. I’m in a band.’ I was like, ‘OK, so does everybody in this town.’ And then I was quickly choking down those words,” he laughs. “He had done my hair a couple of times and we really connected. I loved it because he wasn’t afraid to chop into it,” Williams says. “Touring is always a boys’ club, but especially in the scene we were part of there was this tension of, ‘I don’t want people to think I tried too hard,’ so I always wanted to look different and feel different.”
Williams says O’Connor’s fearless styles not only helped change her outlook about being a woman in the rock scene, but also cemented their friendship.
“Brian has helped so much to see that femininity doesn’t have to be a bad thing, because touring will try to beat it out of you,” she says. “And when someone is chopping into your hair and razoring it—the trust that instills in a relationship is like none other.”
Their relationship moved out of the salon when O’Connor started working with Williams on music video shoots. The first was in 2007 when he styled her for “Misery Business,” a song—and video—that arguably put Paramore on the map (and remains one of their biggest hits to date). Williams asked O’Connor to make her look like an anime character or something out of Fruits (a Japanese street fashion magazine). Not only did he get the reference, he nailed the look.
“Our friendship was really just about hair and beauty for a while,” says Williams. “Then there was this turning point where it became ride or die. We’re in this together and we’re going to make shit together. We’re going to take on the world. When you find your people like that, you hold onto them.”
JULIA COX
That trust became even more important as Hayley took stock of her mental health.
“Even before I was diagnosed with anything—PTSD and depression mainly—I had really hard days I couldn’t explain,” she says. “Brian’s job behind the chair with anyone at some point he’s going to feel like a therapist. But with us the type of relationship we have and the belief we have in each other, even when Iwasatmyworst,Iwasabletostayonthe surface because we have this friendship that’s honest, and you can really talk out your shit. On top of that, I’ve had the benefit of knowing him my entire hair journey and I know the impact that has on me. When I’ve been in my worst moments in my life and I’ve felt like I just need to see something different in the mirror or I need a change, I know that makes a difference. We’ve both been through a lot of shit and weirdly, a lot of similar shit—both married and divorced. And honestly, that’s when Good Dye Young really took off.”
While on tour in Australia (with O’Connor on location to style Williams for shows) the two dreamed up Good Dye Young, their semi-permanent hair color line. In 2016 the brand launched with five core shades and a lightening kit—all of which pay homage to the bold color choices Williams and O’Connor had made together over the years. Since then, the brand has grown to include more colors, more products, and more retailers.
“It’s a great example of how sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith toward something that’s good for you and liberating,” Williams says of finding new success during a difficult emotional time. “You have to take care of yourself first before you can do anything impactful. We had to put the steps in to take care of ourselves and then we had the energy to do this amazing thing that’s life giving, it’s not soulsucking.”
The experience was, in fact, so fulfilling that they decided to tackle another business endeavor together: a hair salon.In 2020 they purchased the space, situated in the then-up-and-coming Wedgewood- Houston district (just down the street from the property that would become Soho House). At the time, the neighborhood hadn’t undergone the glam makeover that would make it the “it neighborhood” of today.
“I tried Eighth Avenue towards downtown and then I looked on the east side and I was like, ‘I don’t know why that doesn’t feel like the place for us.’ I liked the local businesses that are [in Wedgewood-Houston].There are Nashville folks here,” she says. “Hair can sometimes be expensive, but we are for way more than just a bougie lady to come get a blowout. We’re for everything. Everybody. We have the skill level here amongst our team—everyone’s capable of the type of beautiful shiny, perfectly blended hair that we’ve all come to know. But we also want to have weird, structured cuts and wild color patterns and things that we’re inspired by from Japanese magazines like Fruits, which is part of our story—it’s why we named the business that.”
JULIA COX
Years before Williams bought the building it housed a punk rock label called Infinity Cat—a coincidence that felt like a sign. “That just feels like Kismet,”she says.“The spirit is here; the energy is here. Now we just need to keep nurturing that and invite more people into the party.” Creating that sense of community and an open-door mentality is important to Williams and O’Connor.
“As long as I’ve lived here, I’ve never seen a salon like this,” says O’Connor. “What I hope is that someone walks in here and just is like, well, this isn’t what I expected at all. And not only that, like Hayley said, we want this to be for everybody, whether you’re looking to spend $40 for a cut or a $400 color.”
“That’s my passion,” he says. “And not just because we have Good Dye Young. I want people to see that you don’t have to just look one way because we live in the south.”