It may be that Patty Clarke was destined to cut hair. After all, 37 members of her family are either currently working as stylists or did so in the past.
But it may also be that her career began as a way to dodge classes. Clarke says she started going to beauty school as a teenager after discovering that it would allow her to take a half-day high school schedule.
Either way, it worked out nicely. She has operated Sunset Salon & Tanning Center in Seaside for 30 years.
Clarke grew up in Stockton, but had a connection to the Peninsula. Her mother’s family moved to Monterey from Arkansas during the Depression to find work in the canneries. As an adult, Clarke’s mother moved away, returning to the area in later years.
“One weekend I came to visit and I discovered my home,” Clarke says.
Despite her hair-styling roots, Clarke first worked in restaurants on Cannery Row. Then the owner of an established tanning salon that Clarke frequented offered her a job.
As to the rest?
“Thirty years has gone by so fast,” she says.
Weekly: So you came by this career path naturally.
Clarke: It’s just in the blood. My mom’s great-uncle was a barber. It’s trickled down through the generations. I don’t think I had to learn, but it took me a long time to get my license. I was young. I’d go to school and quit, go back to school and quit. I was 27 when I finally finished. There’s nothing worse than beauty school.
What’s so bad about beauty school?
It’s boring. You don’t get to be creative. It’s about the rules, the law, sanitation. It’s boring, it really is. Like I said, I was young.
But you’ve done well.
It’s not a job. This is a wonderful career. I’ve been really blessed. I had $100 in the bank when I bought the place. I borrowed the money from my mother. I was living at home with my mom, so I didn’t have bills. This was a tanning salon. It didn’t have hair clientele. But it was a busy tanning salon.
You know, I still have the very first person who came in for a haircut. She still comes in every other Thursday. She’s family.
I have clients who want me to do their hair when they die. You can never quit. What will probably happen is I’ll stop taking new clients.
Wait – you’ve done hair for people who died?
No! I’ve never done it. I tried to do my mom’s hair – the funeral home did a terrible job – but I couldn’t. Fortunately for me, most people get cremated nowadays.
Have things changed over the years?
They have, but hairstyles come back around. Usually people find something that works for them and they stick with it. Styles change, but the fundamentals of cutting hair are the same.
Is it hard for hair stylists to find a stylist for themselves?
Yes, yes, yes. My person – I saw a woman in Marshall’s and her hair was perfect. You could tell it was done well. I shoulder-tapped her and asked who did it and she told me.
My last person fired me. I’m really picky.
Do clients tell stylists everything?
People tell me a lot of stuff. It’s funny. I know things about people I’ve never met before. Rita here [points to a client] – I know her family, I know a lot about her life. You get to be friends with clients. You get to know them and care about them.
Let’s talk about tanning.
I don’t [have beds] any longer. I had to decide if I wanted to stay in it or not. Tanning is not a lucrative business anymore. Back in the ’80s – or in ’93 when I started – I would do 100 tans a day. The last five years I was doing 15. It’s not a trend anymore.
But I feel it’s better for you to get a monitored amount. With the sun, you can’t control it. Back in the ’70s, you know you’d get those burns where your skin blistered and peeled. Since I started tanning, I’ve never had that. I think it’s healthier than the real sun, but nobody wants to hear that.
Well, you’ve been a successful small business owner.
I’m a horrible business owner – the worst ever. I want to work, I don’t want to do the books. I don’t want to do the adulting. I drive my accountant crazy. Back in the day, I’d put money in the bank and write checks and hope everything was covered. [Laughs.] I’ve gotten better over the years.