Natalie Ruzgis

When Natalie was 5 years old, her mom took her to the salon and was allowed to get her hair cut and styled any way she wanted. For Natalie, it wasn’t just the end result that made the experience so special, it’s how the hairdresser made her feel: valued, respected, heard and, ultimately, beautiful.

These same feelings are what Natalie evokes each day with each guest who sits in her chair.  

Although she tried on a few hats in her early 20s—a stint as a flight attendant, another as a field reporter—she always found her way back to beauty, even teaching herself to cut hair in her college dorm room.

As a kid she’d pore through fashion and hair magazines, studying the elaborate updos and intricate styling.

It’s no surprise that early in her career she pursued special-occasion styling. A master of time management, Natalie handles bridal parties seamlessly, merging contemporary looks with classic hairdressing techniques so guests look and feel their best on their big day.

With nearly two decades of extension experience under her belt, she serves as a leading resource in the professional beauty industry for sharing hair extension education, trends and maintenance techniques for tape-in, sew-in weft and strand-by-strand methods. 

Her eye for seamless blending goes beyond hair extensions—masterfully using color placement to enhance her guests’ features. Although well-known for her balayage and blonding, Natalie loves to enrich brunettes with sun-kissed dimension.  

Even with major career highlights including crafting high-fashion hair looks backstage at New York Fashion Week, and being named a MODERN SALON 100 game-changing stylist—her proudest achievement is co-founding Thrive Hair Collective and creating a culture that fosters authenticity, creativity and collaboration.

Natalie is an active board member and volunteer for One Tail at a Time dog rescue. When not at the salon you can find Natalie surrounded by friends in the West Loop brunching with her dog Ruby, and spending time in Florida with her family, nieces and nephews.