MERIDEN — When she moved to New York City in 1994, Senia Martínez would have never thought of opening her own hair salon. The original plan was to pursue a career as a police officer, but now Martínez has 24 years of hair styling experience and is the owner of a Dominican hair salon, Senias Hair Salon Boutique & Spa, in downtown Meriden. 

Born and raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Martínez, 53, spent three years working toward the goal of becoming a police officer in New York City. She got her security guard license. Prior to that, she studied nursing in Santo Domingo. 

“Then, all of a sudden, I felt as though something was telling me to do hair,” she said. “I told myself I would never do hair, but that quickly changed.”

In 1997, she enrolled at a cosmetology school in New York and graduated in 1999. Afterward, she started working at different salons throughout the city. 

When starting her career, Martínez had to learn how to work with different types of hair. 

“In school, I was taught how to work with textured hair, but watching and learning on the job was different,” she said. “I had to learn how to color and style all hair types.”

Read the full story by the Record-Journal’s Latino Communities Lab at:

www.myrecordjournal.com/latino-news 

Publisher’s Note: CTLatinoNews partners with the Latino Communities Reporting Lab in best serving the Hispanic-Latino communities of Connecticut.