The start of Molly Carter's career in beauty 15 years ago was marked not by big dreams, but by curiosity.
The 17-year-old entered a California salon seeking an apprenticeship, not wanting to commit to beauty school until she'd gained actual experience working with real clients.
That decision taught Carter far more than she’d ever expected. The salon offered services for all hair textures, but stylists there either worked with textured or straight hair — not both.
Not only did that experience develop Carter's perception of true expertise in hair styling, but “it showed me the extreme divisions within our industry,” she says.
Today, Carter is an educator, product developer, and owner of Salon Thirty Seven in Pinole, CA. She represents the new guard in the beauty industry, rejecting the constraints of classification and division along hair types.
“You can be successful in beauty,” she says, “while maintaining both specialization and inclusivity.”
Innovation Rooted in Equity
Carter had noted early on that few stylists were mastering all textures of hair. She saw an opportunity there, and over the next 15 years developed a diverse client base who sported hair of all types and textures.
Her education at San Francisco's Aveda Institute had reinforced what she'd learned on the salon floor: that technique, not texture, is what determines success.
“When stylists work with straight hair, they often feel intimidated by textured hair, and vice versa,” she says. “But excellent technique should work for everyone."
That philosophy stayed at the forefront as Carter worked to specialize in color and extensions. She earned certifications in seven different extension methods, never quite satisfied with how any of them met the needs of her texture clients. “So I created something that did.”
Enter her breakthrough innovation: the Figure 8 Method, which Carter introduced in 2019.
The method differs from traditional hand-tied extension techniques by implementing silicone beads in dual layouts. It builds a secure, structured foundation that’s comfortable and flexible, and works well for textured hair.
The Figure-8 Method was put to the real test during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Carter’s extension clients couldn’t come back to the salon for months. It proved as durable as she had predicted, with one client going five months with a healthy, minimal grow-out.
Carter next turned her attention to the extensions themselves. “The majority of hair extensions prioritize silky straight textures,” she says.
“Clients who desire volume extension options without losing their natural hair texture need more attention. That's where we saw a massive gap."
This year at the International Beauty Show in Las Vegas, Carter is launching her new Line 1/03 Hair Extensions.
Named in honor of her father’s Jan. 3 birthday, the line is “both exclusive and inclusive!” she says.
Created from premium human hair across all textures — including rare curl patterns —Line 1/03 extensions are sourced from donors in the Ukraine who benefit from the extra income.
Empowering Stylists to Serve Every Strand
It’s Carter’s first time at the International Beauty Show, and she’s coming on full force, both exhibiting her extensions line and tools on the show floor and teaching three different extensions classes.
Among them is her advanced Chromatic Harmony class, which teaches how to use extensions to master dimensional color.
“This methodology addresses the three critical failure points in extension installation: improper color selection, placement, and texture matching,” she says.
“The goal here is to work smarter, not harder. True specialist work stands apart because it employs pre-colored hair instead of toning extensions,” she says, “and installs each color found in the client's natural hair.”
Carter’s classes are meant to supplement stylists’ extensions knowledge, not replace it, she says. “Stylists can broaden their expertise to include all hair types without losing their current professional proficiency.”
Carter’s classes are designed to develop attendees’ confidence in serving any client who sits in their chair: “I aim for their revenue to grow quickly while their self-assurance reaches new heights,” she says. “Within six months!”
And she doesn’t want her students to stop there. Carter is hoping they’ll leave her class motivated to become instructors themselves, “who will spread inclusive educational practices throughout the industry.”
Molly Carter will be teaching “Seamless Extensions & Texture Integration,” “Become a Six-Figure Extension Artist – Guaranteed,” and “Chromatic Harmony: Mastering Dimensional Color Using Extensions” at the International Beauty Show-Las Vegas from June 21-23, 2025. Register here.