Gretchen started her career in beauty in 1980. A former salon owner, she then went on to write her first book, The Business of Bridal Beauty for Milady in 1996. In 1998 she tore her ACL. This led her to dream up Weddinghair.com in 1998 which sold thousands of step by step wedding hairstyle “kits” to brides and stylists all over the world until 2008, even winning an award from Brides magazine!
Gretchen’s work and articles have been published in numerous beauty and wedding magazines as well as various hairstyling books. She has been a platform artist, educator, writer, and speaker in both the Wedding and Beauty industry. Her second book, The Morning of Your Wedding was written for the bride in 2008 and has been updated in 2018 as Wedding Morning Success.
As a certified clarity coach she administers her Updo and Hairstyle Education Facebook page and group serving 50k followers over her various platforms. She teaches updos remotely for cosmetology schools and salontraining.com as well as in person at DiGrigoli Academy in Springfield, MA.
Gretchen enjoys creating online courses for various platforms and her website updosystem.com is now linked to her YouTube channel. She has also been recognized by Facebook/Meta as a leader in her field.
She still serves brides on location and at her in-home studio in Chaplin, CT. She is involved in her local art community and makes time for her art and upcycling projects. She and her husband Fritz love redoing old houses and live in a historic 1930s Grange Hall in CT.