Meet Kate

“I try to make all of my styles wearable and flattering. They can be everyday or something special, both pretty and easy,” says Kate Bryan, 26, the Raleigh, North Carolina, hairstylist who is the creator of The Small Things Blog. Started in early 2011, the blog has grown into a destination for 300,000 readers monthly, who come for Bryan’s down-to-earth voice and—most especially—her wildly popular hair tutorials. “I think women are just grateful that someone shows them how to do the basics,” says Bryan, who began doing her videos to give customers hairstyling tips. “I want women to feel good; I know what it’s like to have a bad hair day. And I have found that my tutorials have helped.” As for the styles she creates (and has been since middle school: “I thought everyone spent 25 to 30 minutes on their hair as an 11-year-old!”), her focus, she says, “is on not making them overly complicated, breaking them down into very easy, small steps so they are achievable.” Take a look at the three she created (and models in this story) for us.