Despite being a self-proclaimed "small-town girl" — "my small town is just LA," he says — Hawkins now works with some of the biggest up-and-coming celebrities in the game, like Olivia Rodrigo, Dove Cameron, and Maddie Ziegler.
He usually knows within five minutes of meeting if there's a connection. "Time is so precious — I'm going to give so much of myself that we have to mutually vibe," he says. "Dove, Olivia, Jenna, Melissa Barrera: many of my girls that I work with regularly, I met them on a random shoot a few years ago, and within the day, I was like, 'Oh yeah, this is my girl. We're friends.'"
Forming loyal, lasting relationships with his clients is important because Hawkins's first instinct is always to put work first. "I work 29 days out of the month, by choice," Hawkins says. "You build relationships with your girls, and you want to be there for them — you can't just leave them hanging."
Saying "yes" to all opportunities has travelled him all around the world, including to the White House alongside Rodrigo. "It was such a moment in time," he says. "Trying to get people to take vaccines in this moment in history where you have the biggest pop star of that year going to the White House to meet the president — that is a moment of history."
Regardless of what's going on in Hawkins's life, his main focus always goes back to one thing. "I'm thinking about the hair I'm going to do tomorrow, the hair I'm going to do on Sunday, the hair I did yesterday," he says. "The passion is there. This is my life. I live, breathe, and die hair."