Rarely can someone mix life goals and #squadgoals with the ease and purpose of Ursula Stephen. But as a female business owner and a go-to stylist for major celebrities, the Brooklyn native can zoom from mentoring trainees at her own salon to cutting Rihanna's hair in a secret hotel penthouse, all in a day's work.

Besides being a hair expert, Stephen is also a brand ambassador for Motions, which puts her in the unique position of sharing products long beloved by the African American beauty community with a wider audience. "There's an enduring idea that black beauty products and white ones are separate," Stephen says, "but the reality is, there's a lot in our bathroom cabinets that we can share."

We spoke with the hair pro, who also works with Kerry Washington and Emma Watson, just before she flew off to Australia for yet another photo shoot, this time with Iggy Azalea.

When you first opened your Brooklyn salon in 2013, you said it shouldn't be a black salon or a white salonit should just be a great salon. Why is a salon like that still rare?

Because it takes time—people understanding how to treat all different types of hair, and that they should know how to treat all different types of hair, it's a matter of time. It's like the evolution of products. When we first started doing weaves in 1980, it's so far from what we're doing now. It's a matter of developing and understanding hair. Black hair is more difficult than white hair. It's only now that not only white people, but black people too, are understanding that hair better.

What's a common misunderstanding about black hair?

It's very fragile. And not only do I want white women to understand that, but I want men to understand that. It's not a stereotype. The reality is that we don't have the kind of hair that recovers easily, that grows long and straight without help or time, or extensions. It's very fragile! It requires great technique and care.

And how's the salon going?

It's going amazingly. Everything I put out there into the universe that I wanted is actually happening. You can walk into my salon any time of the week and see a black girl, a white girl, a man. When I first started, I was the girl who could come on set and do anyone's hair—black models, white models, I can do their hair, too. And that's what I try to teach others coming into the industry. You can't ignore how diverse our country is, and how diverse our beauty is. It works well with the salon especially because we're in a diverse neighborhood [Fort Greene, Brooklyn]. We're very successful at embracing global beauty because we have a great mix of clientele coming in here.

You created Rihanna's iconic bob. But what if she wants something that's a bad idea? How do say no to a celebrity?

The same as you tell anybody else when they ask for something that's not going to work. You have to be strong with them. It's not about being rude or shutting down what anybody wants. You just have to be honest with them, because you're the one who's putting their look on the red carpet, and if they get a negative response, you want to troubleshoot that. And in the end, they don't have to listen—I've had clients that won't listen. They may want to change their look because they think their rival is doing something, which means they have to do something, and you have to talk them down from that place of fear and reaction, and be very honest. I find a lot of my clients want honesty, because they want the best possible outcome—and because they want to trust you. And you want to trust them. That means honesty.

The VMAs are coming up. Can you walk us through the typical prep process for someone like Rihanna or Iggy, who's required to be the red carpet?

With somebody that's not crazy and high maintenance, you start three to four hours before red carpet. But some clients require a lot—hair, nails, a wax—and then you need to be there six hours before the red carpet. Then there are some artists and they want a fitting with their stylist, me, and sometimes even the clothing designer. They want to know what hair works best with the outfit.

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Hellin Kay
Rihanna at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards

And what's your prep process like?

The type of business we're in, I'm often called 24 to 48 hours before an event. A lot of things depend on scheduling, if someone's in the studio, if they're shooting a film or a music video, if they get out early, if something gets delayed. So right now, I'm not going to the VMAs, because as far as I know, my regular girls aren't going. But will they go? And will I go? I never say no and I never say yes. Not until I'm on the plane.

Speaking of being on the plane, what's the best thing to pack to keep your hair tame mid-flight?

Personally, I don't care how I look on a plane. I always have a big paddle brush, and I brush my hair through and pull it up. The rest really depends on what style I'm wearing at the time. If I have natural short hair, I'll bring a curl lotion to get the texture and shape back where it needs to be. If I'm wearing it long with extensions, I'll bring a flat iron and some dry shampoo.

I have frizzy hair. Can you please help me?

You can help yourself by embracing it. Please embrace it. You can't fight Mother Nature. A lot of times you get so caught up in wanting a look that isn't what your natural hair is doing, and summer is the opportunity to go with what you have, and love it. If you have frizz-prone hair, your months to have highly styled, perfectly frizz-free straight hair are October to March. After that, the humidity is going to haunt you. If you want perfect—not actually perfect, but 'perfect'—hair every day, then get a weave. Get extensions. That's the only way!

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Hellin Kay

May I ask what you think of Kylie Jenner's cornrows, and the Internet fury about them?

Yes, of course. If we don't talk openly about race and beauty and all those things, how will we ever get anywhere?

If Kylie Jenner called you up and said, 'Ursula, I need you to put cornrows in my hair,' would you do it? 

Yes, I would do it. I'm a hairstylist. I'm not here to judge you, or to have an opinion on how you want to live your life. I can understand that some black stylists are upset, but I'm an open-minded person, and I get that people use hairstyles to express themselves. Black women like me are using weaves and straight hair to get some styles that don't come, initially, from our culture. So why can't a white girl do a style that a black girl would do? But I would tell Kylie, or any woman wanting braids who doesn't come from our culture, that it's not a new thing. You're not inventing anything or being a trailblazer. Bo Derek did braids decades ago, and they were amazing.

So Kylie is a non-issue?

In terms of her being a white girl getting braids? Yes, I think we have to let that go. But what I would love is for white girls to respect and pay homage to black women and black beauty culture, and not act like you thought of putting braids in your hair to look chic or strong. You didn't think of that. Please give respect where it's due. It's the same in Paris, in Milan, even in New York. At Fashion Week, at Couture Week, you see runway styles that come from black culture, but the big-name stylists doing it aren't giving credit to their heritage or the culture. They'll say they were inspired by fabric, or a rainstorm, or something. And it's like, 'That's beautiful, but you didn't start that. And you should talk about where it came from.' And I think that's one way that beauty can become even stronger and more important in the world.