Coming from a town of 30,000 people on the Mississippi River, having 'Queer Eye' in 2003 through 2007 when I was in high school was really important.

I wanted long hair my whole life. When I was a little kid, my mom would be like, 'We get our hair cut once a month.' So I just always got my hair cut.

I'm obsessed with gymnastics. It's like my football. And I like to watch women's gymnastics a little bit more than men's because I live for balance beam.

Typically, you're not gonna find me out at night; I don't go to industry parties. Like, I will go sometimes if I'm invited, but usually, I'm, like, home by 11.

I was someone who wore bright purple sweatsuits with tall Doc Martens boots. I would iron Hanson decals on my sweatshirt. I was extremely flamboyant as a child.

From the extreme political polarization that is everywhere - there's so much suffering going on - so many people are really thirsty to feel good about something.

I love changing hair color. I love doing hair shape. I love the social aspect of salons. I love clients, and because of doing hair, I've heard so many life stories.

Leaving your hair down to sleep causes friction on your ends between your body heat and the pillow case. Securing the ends away from your body helps preserve your ends.

I think I've been in a lot of really uncomfortable situations, and I think when you're in uncomfortable situations, it kind of polishes you up a little. It shines you up.

When I moved to L.A. in my early twenties, I was growing my hair. Then, when I was 25, I cut it off and was like, 'Oh no, I think I'm a long hair person until I go bald!'

I was really, really, really feminine and really into cheerleading and really into figure skating and really into gymnastics. Really into everything that other boys weren't.

Blotting pads are great in case you get sweaty or oily. But don't rub. It's a slow, methodical blot: set the pad on your skin and let it absorb, then move it to the next location.

In yoga, we say that everyone has a magnet on them, and you're either positively or negatively charged. So if you're liking how you're looking, you're gonna be more positively charged.

It's nice to have a safe place to have a conversation going; whether it's a friend or family member, you can use 'Queer Eye' as an entry point to have a conversation that's meaningful.

I think my ability to joke and laugh about things is because I'm forced to. I've been through a lot of things in my life that, if I didn't make light of it, I would literally keel over.

People who fundamentally disagree with you politically or socially are not bad people. I can't expect that other side to have compassion for me if I can't put myself in their shoes, too.

I've been an Amy Winehouse fan since her first album, 'Frank.' I always listen to her music when there's a lot going on and I want to be a bit grounded. It's like my musical warm fuzzy blanket.

I want people to fall in love with themselves and to be really proud and full of joy for the space they take up. If someone else appreciates the space you take up, then that's icing on the cake.

Getting married is a good time to revaluate all of your relationships. Have you had the same haircut since seventh grade? Have you found products that work for your skin? You need time to experiment.

Podcasts are hard! I mean, you gotta get the microphones and all these things... there's a lot going on there. I never really realized how much goes into producing things till I did 'Gay of Thrones.'

If my energy was fake, then I would feel pressured, because I gotta, like, keep this up. I thank God it's just how I am. But I find myself wanting to work on being more comfortable in the silence with people.

Self-care is the non-negotiable. That's the thing that you have to do. And beauty is the thing that can be the benefit of the self-care. Beauty is not the point. Beauty is just a cute side-effect from self-care.

Think about how your jeans would look if you washed and dried them every single day. That's like our hair, and you can't change your hair as often as your pants, so cutting down on washing cuts down on long-term damage.

Even though I'm a hairdresser and I love doing hair, I feel like I don't look like a groomer. When I think of how a groomer would look in relation to the first version of 'Queer Eye,' I feel like I don't fit in that box.

Probably the advice I could follow more is the self-love sort of advice. I think, four out of every five days, I'm good at that, but certain situations can trigger self-doubt or cloudiness around how I feel about myself.

I'm really big on the gym and yoga. I'm at the gym at least six days. That is just getting there and creating those endorphins and sweating. And that routine also keeps me grounded in spite of whatever my life looks like.

I wish I had more of a game plan of how I'm going to, like, take down toxic masculinity. But I think that game plan is just going to reveal itself if we keep going. I think I need to keep plugging along, and it'll happen.

Since I have psoriasis, I buy anything that feels good against my skin. I tend to wear really, really soft hoodies by the brand Velvet. Even if I don't have a flare-up, I'm still like: Oh. My. God. This nice thing feels so good.

There are times when you should listen to what people say about you, but also a lot of times you just don't need to listen so much. Don't worry so much and just go. Unless you're, like, in danger, and then don't. And then run, girl.

Whenever anyone says I've taught them things by me being myself, I'm always like, 'Really? I just thought that was like, Wednesday for me. I was just wearing a kilt and a sleeveless top in a Rotary Club, it wasn't that big of a deal.'

I think, for a lot of people, men or women, it's easy to have things not affect you because, it doesn't affect you. So to be a better ally, you have to look at it as if it's someone you know instead of this abstract person you've never met.

I went from being pretty fit to 230 lbs., which isn't, like, the biggest for being 6-feet-tall, but I had been 165 lbs. just three months prior. That taught me a lot about how people treat you differently when you're fit and when you're bigger.

Loneliness is, like, when you wish someone else was there, and solitude is when you enjoy being alone. I don't always wanna be alone, but I definitely like pockets of solitude to recharge and come back to myself. I think that's so important for everyone.

Be able to see people's humanity. I think the way that you do that and see people for more than their surface value is, say, you're reading something in the news: the gender pay gap, or gay adoption, anything that involves a group of people being marginalized.

I think that I'm, like, an introverted extrovert. At the end of the day, when I get done doing hair at the salon or shooting a day of 'Queer Eye' or whatever, I definitely want to come home and, like, order pasta and sit with my cat or just one person or no people.

I think that because I struggled and did get very bullied, that definitely made me learn how to be funny and let things roll off and be able to laugh, and I think that has definitely helped me when it comes to being in the public eye with 'Gay of Thrones' and 'Queer Eye.'

The second you're bleaching hair more than three or four levels on a consistent basis and want it long, and then you're heat styling it and living in the world - it's just impossible. You can get it there for a moment, and then you might get a couple re-touches out of it.

I think that the ideal of men's physiques in general, gay or straight, is one of the most under-talked-about things ever. Ninety-five percent of these bodies that we're seeing, that we're striving so hard to look like, are genetically engineered - like, let's be very clear.

I used to be pretty hard on myself, like, if I didn't like a haircut I did on someone, I would think about it a lot and second-guess myself. But after therapy and a lot of work, I know how to dust myself off a lot faster, and those things don't knock me down as much as they used to.

For keeping hair long and healthy, I like to use silk pillowcases; they conduct less heat and keep your ends less frayed. Also, I sleep with my hair in a very loose top bun to keep my ends away from my body heat. This also keeps your hair from getting tangled at the nape of your neck.

As a kid growing up, I really hated being alone. I was always that kid that was like, 'Do you want to hang out? Let's go to the mall. Let's go to the movies. Let's go to the park.' I would call people and call people and call people. If I was alone when I wasn't at school, then there was something wrong.

I'm just waiting for the first #MeToo moment to happen from a salon because the culture of how assistants are treated, especially in salons in L.A. and New York, is, like, truly unbelievable. You're expected to clock out for lunch and never get paid. You're expected to be there an hour early, stay two hours late.

If I could only have one grooming tool, it would be floss. I don't want to have broken Cheetos in my teeth. To protect myself from the sun, I can find shade under a tree. To moisturize my skin, I could get really sweaty and then just rub it on myself. But how are you going to clean between your teeth without floss?

I always wanted to play with people's hair. I was really into 'The Golden Girls' and how big their hair was. I always had Barbies and Ken dolls, whose hair I wanted to play with and was always styling. I was very lucky - I never had to wonder what I was passionate about. I've always known that I'm really, really passionate about grooming.

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