Erin started her journey in the beauty industry at the age of 17, apprenticing for a stylist and salon owner in her home town in Colorado. From there, she moved to Portland, Oregon and attended school at International Beauty School whilst also pursuing college studies at Portland State University. She moved to Los Angeles in 2006 and subsequently fulfilled the requirements to apply for a full cosmetology license in the state of California via enrollment and training at world renowned Vidal Sassoon Hair Academy in Santa Monica. She then apprenticed once again under three Vidal Sassoon trained stylists and salon owners at Helmet Salon in West Hollywood, before graduating to a role as a junior stylist at Harrion Salon in Hollywood (owned and operated by industry mogul, Janine Jarman). There, she completed advanced trainings in precision cutting, coloring, and extension work, along with participating in on-set styling work for editorial and commercial projects. It was at this salon that she submitted and became a finalist for a Young Talent award with international hair color company Wella, in 2011. After a brief residency at Fur Hair Gallery in Silverlake, Erin decided to establish herself as an independent artist, opening Erin Athey Hair in 2012 in a small private studio at Salon Republic Weho. In 2021, Erin moved the studio to its current location in the converted salon and gathering space in the front of her home in Beverly Grove.
