Local hairstylist Laurabeth Cabott has risen to celebrity hair status in just a few years—now, she has her own salon in the River Market

Laurabeth Cabott grew up around her grandmother, a hairdresser who ran her own beauty salon out of her house while young Cabott played in the salon. In 2013, inspired by her grandmother and hoping to follow in her footsteps, Cabott went to beauty school. 

Cabott started her career as a hairstylist at Ulta after graduating from beauty school in 2014. She took all the clients she could outside of Ulta, and she snapped photos of her work to post on social media, which helped her gain significant traction.  From there, Cabott began building her empire from a solo suite to a two-chair suite. After more exposure and a lot of hustle, Cabott found space for her own salon in the River Market at the end of 2020.

Now, Cabott runs her salon Artistry by LB while traveling back and forth from KC to LA to do hair for celebrities like Madison Beer and Bethenny Frankel. She’s even assisted on Iggy Azalea’s team and Cardi B’s team for styling at the Grammys.

We caught up with Cabott in her new salon, which is soon to partner with Indigo MedSpa and Recreating Rays for botox and sunless tanning services, making Artistry by LB a space for collaborative beauty and your one-stop beauty shop. We talked to Cabott about her success, the current hair trends and her favorite spots around the city. 

Your rise to success happened pretty quickly, right? How did you achieve so much in just a few years? I tell my stylists that social media has been a huge vehicle for my success. Instagram and word of mouth quickly brought in more clients. Before I knew it, I was styling for just random photoshoots in the area. I also love to connect and build relationships with other local businesses. Those connections can bring clients, too. 

What do you envision as the big hair trends for the rest of 2022? I personally think the ’90s and 2000s are back and here to stay. You see all these bold colors, and everyone’s excited to try anything. The big blowouts are back, and the Dyson Airwrap has been huge. I love it—I’m very into big hair. 

What was it like signing a lease for your own salon in 2020 in the midst of pandemic shutdowns? When I first walked in, it looked like a fraternity. It was completely abandoned. People just left their food and coffee mugs. Anyone would have walked in and thought it was disgusting, but I walked in and saw a hair salon. So I signed into a five-year lease, which was very scary, especially with Covid and so much being unknown—but you never know unless you try. 

You just celebrated Artistry by LB’s one-year anniversary in February. What has it been like opening and running the salon? It’s been quite a year, and I’m very fortunate that my mother is a designer. She really helped build what I had envisioned. I gave her my Pinterest page, and she made it happen.

I wanted the space to be different from every traditional salon. I think every salon, every Instagram page is starting to look the same—I don’t mean that in a rude way. I always tell my stylists to be themselves, to post what they want and to dress how they want. I want them to feel comfortable and love who they are. We have vivid colors, we have extensions, we have a curl specialist. I think we have such a variety of women, and I love it. I want people to know they can come here for whatever they need.  

Favorite Spots

 Farina: “Any time my husband and I are in Kansas City and we’re celebrating, we go to Farina. It’s delicious, and the service is unreal.”

 The Monarch Bar: “I feel like everyone says Monarch, but they’re good. We do love Monarch.”

 Etiquette Boutique and Luxxe Apparel: “The first is in Prairie Village and the other is in Lee’s Summit. As far as shopping goes, those are two boutiques here that I love.”