Jennifer Klotz
CMN 625
Dr. Ron Bishop
Paper #3


Fame Interrupted (or Avoided)

For this paper I got to call two of my best friends in the world. Antonio Mondragon, who I have known for nine years and his wife, Gina King Mondragon, who I’ve known for 4 years. They got married last year and work together at Salon Mör in Chicago, IL. Gina actually owns and started the salon in 2001 before she met Tony.
I met Tony, years ago when he first started cutting hair. Mine was some of the first locks he ever trimmed in his professional days! To this day, no one, and I mean absolutely NO ONE cuts my hair but Tony. If I am not in Chicago, than I just wait until I get a chance to go home. We grew up in the same area and realized years later, talking one day while he was cutting my hair, that we had more mutual friends than we had originally thought. Well, through the years, Tony moved from salon to salon and I moved right along with him. Each time he started at a new salon, increased pay and benefits were included for him. Finally he came to Salon Mör and the rest is salon history…
Gina King Mondragon, is a nationally recognized hair stylist and corrective-color specialist as well as the owner and creative force of Salon Mör, the first haute design salon based in Chicago. With over 13 years in the salon industry, King opened Salon Mör, a full service salon specializing in corrective coloring and beauty makeovers, at 49 E. Oak St., in November 2001. King, who has earned a great deal of media attention, has also worked as a contributing artist for Modern Salon/Process Magazine and was the inspiration for the "Color Lab" section, which highlights artistic collections and color design stories. Additionally, she has performed as a platform artist in numerous shows and collection launches throughout the country.
From 1997 to 2000, she appeared biweekly on KTVK-TV in Arizona demonstrating color makeovers, corrections and updates. She also taught large, "hands on" labs of creative color to other well-established salons and their teams throughout the Western United States. While in Arizona, King was employed as chemical director for several upscale salons, such as Taglio and Tony & Guy.
It was King's love of Chicago (where she attended the Art Institute some 13 years ago) that brought her back to the city. She immediately accepted a position as the creative director for the chemical department at Heidi's, one of Chicago's largest salon companies. Her responsibilities included developing the fall to spring color collections, workshops and special events as well as managing junior staff and maintaining her own clientele.
Prior to Arizona, King was building a foundation for her career at the Vidal Sassoon Academy in Los Angeles and their salon in Beverly Hills. She went on to do an intensive three-year chemical apprenticeship at Vidal Sassoon in Scottsdale, AZ, which included advanced training with regional and international color directors, including world-renowned colorist, Annie Humphries.
Antonio Mondragon, a nationally acclaimed hair cutter and stylist at Salon Mör, has been a professional stylist for nine years. Mondragon, of Oakbrook, IL, was featured in the fall 2000 issue of Allure magazine as the "Best Hair Dresser in Chicago" and was also named "2002's Best Women's Hair Dresser" by Today's Chicago Woman magazine. Mondragon has cut and styled for fashion shows and photo shoots for today's top fashion designers such as Escada, Anne Klein and Kate Spade. He has also done makeovers on the Oprah Winfrey show as well as on the Jenny Jones show. Mondragon favors cuts that are soft, edgy and compliment the client's individuality. "My philosophy is to customize cuts to each client's face and lifestyle, so that they can recreate the look at home with ease," says Mondragon. Mondragon trained at Tony & Guy in Dallas and Redken in New York.
Numerous times the possibility of being more famous has come up over the years. However, Tony and Gina both agreed that fame was not something they were that interested in. “Sure, being recognized for being exceptional at something you love doing that also happens to be your job is always nice,” Tony said. “But I have never gone out with the sole intention to become famous. Positive notoriety in your field really has no down side. On the other hand, fame does have a down side. With fame brings people who want a piece of you only because it will directly benefit them some how. Now, I there are people that do that to every person they know regardless of whether or not they are famous, but fame tends to have a special way of really bringing the true crazies out. Which in the end can make you crazy as well! I don’t need or want that and quite honestly, I really enjoy my life the way it currently is.”
While I was going to talk to Gina, after that I knew she felt the same way as Tony had so eloquently just stated, which is one of the many reasons they work so well together, so we said our good-byes and made a time to check in with each other for the next week. Thinking over what Tony has said, I honestly had to wonder how he always states what he feels so perfectly. I would have had a hard time describing why I left fame alone and opting for a more personal and private life. I would have known exactly why, but I have serious doubts as to my ability to verbalize it as precisely as Tony had.