After nearly 50 years behind the chair, local hairstylist calls it a career
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POCATELLO — For nearly 50 years, Natalie Houver has cut, colored, permed and styled the hair of generations of local residents. Now, the longtime hairstylist is calling it a career.
Houver closed the doors of Natalie’s Hair Design for the last time Saturday, bringing to a close a chapter of her life that began when she was just 19 years old.
Raised in Salmon, Houver moved to Pocatello after graduating from high school to attend Idaho State University’s cosmetology school, a choice that came naturally to her.
“I’ve always loved doing hair,” Houver said. “As a little girl, I was always dinking around with dolls and doing their hair.”
Houver attended night classes and logged more than 2,000 hours of training. Before she had even finished school, she had a job waiting for her at Capri Beauty Salon on Jefferson Avenue.
At Capri, Houver experienced one of the craziest moments of her career. A man walked into the salon and began gyrating and stripping all the way down to a G-string. Houver and the others initially assumed someone had hired the unexpected entertainer, but nobody had.
“We eventually had to call the police on the guy,” Houver said. “And he wasn’t even a good dancer.”
Over the years, she built a loyal clientele that included men, women and children, often styling the hair of multiple generations of the same families.
Houver went on to open her own shop, Natalie’s Hair Design by KFC and Subway on Yellowstone Avenue, where she has spent the past 28 years.
“I love this location because it’s by food,” she said.
But what kept Houver behind the chair all those years wasn’t the location. It was the people sitting in it.
“My clients are my people. They’re like my family,” she said. “I treat them with respect, greet them when they walk in the door, listen to them and make them feel important.”
Houver said her clientele has included people from many professions and all walks of life, and she has learned plenty from them along the way.
“I’ve learned so much from my clients, many who are professionals in different things, from lawn care to construction,” she said. “I appreciate all the wonderful, nice people who have helped me and taught me things.”
Houver has seen plenty of hair trends come and go, but one of the most surprising has been the popularity of brightly colored hair over the past 10 to 15 years. Purple, pink and blue hair that once turned heads has become commonplace.
“More recently, I’ve had people bringing in AI-generated pictures of themselves with a certain hairstyle that they want,” she said. “That’s been different.”
Through all those changing trends, Houver developed some favorites of her own.
“I love doing highlights,” she said. “I also love creating the classic bleach-blonde Marilyn Monroe look and helping women sparkle.”
Houver has also made continuing education a priority throughout her career, regularly attending hair shows to keep up with new styles, products and techniques. Even after nearly 50 years in the business, she attended a hair show in Las Vegas just two months ago.
She believes hairstylists should never stop learning and should be willing to help those just starting out in the profession.
At the recent show, Houver was told, “If you stay in this business a long time, you’re never going to look old.”
“I’m going to go with that,” she laughed. “It’s been nice to be in a profession this long.”
After spending much of the past half-century on her feet and working around salon chemicals, Houver said the demands of the profession have begun catching up with her. Rather than wait until she could no longer enjoy the things she wants to do, she decided it was time to retire.
“For years, family members and friends from other states have come to see me,” she said. “Now, it’s my turn.”
And after 50 years, thousands of haircuts and countless hours of conversations from behind the chair, there is one thing she already knows she will miss most.
“I’m going to miss my people,” she said. “I appreciate all the business and wonderful people who have supported me through the years.”