“I’m just a boy in pumps,” these are the humble words of Atlanta’s Derek J. A stylist for over ten years he has tamed tresses for music videos, hair competitions and celebrities including the ladies of The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

How did you get started?

I’ve been doing hair now for ten years and my aunt used to do hair out of her house so I used to watch her. I liked the transformation of women, you would see a woman come in and she was having a bad day and then they would get their hair done and feel so much better. With a woman when they have a physical change they can have an emotional change and I really liked that about it. My mom didn’t want me to go to hair school because she said it wasn’t a real job, so I snuck and went to hair school. I got my license, moved to Atlanta and then everything went crazy once I moved to Atlanta and it was pretty quickly. I went from doing hair for music videos to magazines to do doing hair for celebrities and now owning a shop.

What’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened while working?

It’s so much crazy stuff that happens around here every day in general that I’m seriously going out and buying a camcorder tomorrow. There’s not one crazy thing, every time the door opens there something more ridiculous than the time before that.

You are known for your personal style, where would you say your inspiration for your style comes from?

I’m a real just do what I want to do person. If I want to come to work with some booty shorts on and have an off the shoulder top with some thigh high boots that’s what I’m going to do. When I first started being more stylish than most, I was kind of reserved. When I first started wearing heels I would wear them with a dress slack so you couldn’t really tell I had a heel on. Then it moved into I can wear skinny leg jeans and I used to say I will never wear my toes out and then I put on a peep toe. It’s about pushing the envelope and seeing how people respond. It’s weird sometimes even if I go into a heterosexual environment and then men will say “Yo! You that dude that wear heels all the time. You’re doing your thing,” which can be weird sometimes. To see people’s reactions and their acceptance makes me strive to do more. I’ll have women come up to me and say they didn’t wear heels and after they saw me they went out and got a few and started dressing up more. I’ve realized that me doing what I want to do is encouraging other people to do what they want to do, so I can’t stop now.

What do you think distinguishes you the most from other hair stylists?

I know my role as a hairstylist. I know what I can do and I do what I do well. I don’t try to do nothing else. I have a fabulous team of hair stylist that pick up where I leave off and I pick up where they leave off. If there’s something I can’t do, someone in my shop can do it. We as a team don’t mind doing that with our clients. It’s not about me trying to make all the money, and my clients appreciate that. They appreciate my honesty and they know that I’m not going to steer them wrong.

What is the experience of competing in hair competitions like?

Hair show competitions in general are very political; you have to tread lightly because your peers are the people that are judging you. You have to keep that respect with them even though your peers. My resume might read better than their resume yet their judging me. The problem is that they don’t just judge on what their looking at, they judge the person, they say oh that’s Derek J and if it’s a conservative person that’s a judge they say “oh my god he’s on the stage with heels on.” I don’t want to brag or anything but show wise I put on a better show than anybody else. I’m not a big prop person and so because of that I give you straight show it’s just me three models and eight dancers and we will show you up all day long. Some people rely more on their costumes, their props their makeup and all the tricks and smoke and mirrors. When it comes to the shows I’m one of the hardest working people.

You’ve been on Tears, Shears and Beauty on BETJ, how was the experience filming?

Tears, Shears and Beauty was an experience because it was a very low budget , very thrown together situation and all I was just me and I didn’t think that I was that interesting. I didn’t know that as many people that watched it that did. I was on a hair tour in LA and people would come up to me recognizing me from the show. People would have salon parties and watch it. People were really inspired by the show. I enjoyed the experience and I met really great people and I didn’t know that I had the capacity to do stuff like that. I would definitely do it all over.

What do you think are some of the preconceived notions people have of you?

The biggest one is that they think I’m some kind of flaming faggot that’s just an over-the –top queenie type of a person and I’m really not. I have a shirt that says I’m just a boy in pumps and that’s really all it is. Another one is that people think I don’t work, I work 7 days a week 24 hours a day I am on call. They think I’m a bitch or that I’m stuck-up or materialistic. The truth is I don’t own any labels. All of my shoes are Nine West my highest end shoe are some Stuart Weitzman’s it’s just not that serious to me. If you have style then it doesn’t really matter what you put on. I like to be like that because I can relate to the regular man or woman.

Is there a specific celebrity hair style that you are most into right now?

No because everybody is kind of just whack right now. RIhanna was doing her thing but then they don’t ever put relaxer on the sides of her head for some reason. I would just say my clients.

What is the most common mistake women make with their hair?

Over processing is the most common mistake. Women want to get a relaxer or color and they want to do it every week. On top of that they try to use chemicals themselves which you really shouldn’t because you’re not trained to do that kind of stuff.

You have styled a few of the Real Housewives of Atlanta’s tresses. Whose hair dos are you responsible for?

I’m responsible for NeNe cutting her hair short and you’ll see on the new season that Kim’s wig is a lot better, but you can see on the show that it goes in and out so when it looks bad she did it herself but when she’s doing an interview or something I most likely did it. I used to do Kandi’s hair but I haven’t done her hair for over a year now, but we are still friends. I’ve worked with Lisa from time to time, I haven’t worked with Sheree that much.

Who is the man behind the hair?

Well Derek J and then Derek my legal name are two different people. Once I step out of all of my fabulousness I’m a homebody, I lay on my bed, I go to sleep. My television stays on Cartoon Network at all times. I’m a good friend, I’m a good brother to my sister and I just chill. I wear tennis shoes, shorts, t-shirts I just flip into a whole other mode.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)