BET.com’s THE GLAM GAP is a weekly video series spotlighting Black entrepreneurs and influencers in the beauty, fashion and lifestyle space.

Celebrity hairstylist Ray Christopher is most likely responsible for a hairstyle you’ve seen and wanted to copy. 

“I never thought I would be in the hair industry,” Christopher tells BET Digital. “It was never something I wanted to do. I honestly thought I was going to be a singer but I started considering the statistics of how many Ushers and Chris Browns there are. And I said, you know what? I could actually do well doing something else creatively.” 

After giving up his crooner dreams, Christopher fell into hair completely unexpectedly. 

“I stumbled into hair because of my best friend,” he says. “She wanted her hair done, but her hairstylist actually canceled her appointment. She asked me to come do her hair and said she would tell me what to do. I'm creative, so I knew I could figure it out. The hair turned out amazing and she never went to anyone else after that. So I decided to go to cosmetology school where I met my mentor, Kim Berry — she had been doing Prince’s hair for 18 years at that point. She told me if I went to school, then I would be able to work with her on set. A week later I was on set with Prince.”

And after working with such an icon, Christopher’s own personal celebrity clientele began to blossom.

“My first personal celebrity client was actually Adrienne Bailon, now Adrienne Houghton. She needed a hairstylist for the X-Factor and heard about me through a friend. We met up and I did her hair and she loved it. We’ve been going strong for almost nine years.” From there, the list only continued to grow. “Some of the impactful women I’ve worked with in my career are Mariah Carey, Zendaya, Kelly Rowland, Niecy Nash, Tiffany Haddish, Jhene Aiko, Normani, Cynthia Bailey, Marlo Hampton, the list goes on. I've done so many people who have been so impactful in my life.” 

But with star-studded events coming to a sudden halt during quarantine, Christopher’s interactions with his clients has had to shift. However, the creativity continues. 

“Quarantine life is still very creative for me,” he says. “I have a lot of clients who call me and want to discuss either looks that we're going to do when we do get out of quarantine or things that we can do creatively now. There was also a brief stint where they let us out of quarantine so literally all of my clients did photoshoots that week. We have content for like weeks and weeks and months to come.” 

Most notably, he worked with Normani for a recent virtual photoshoot.

“Normani did a virtual shoot where I came to her home — masked completely in the full armor of God, of course — and we did her glam for a virtual photoshoot for a photographer who wasn’t even there. We did it all on the phone. I think that this quarantine has helped everybody get more creative and find other ways to do the things we need to get done.”

And in the midst of learning how to navigate the new way of life, Christopher has a new title under his belt: Emmy winner. 

“I had been nominated three times before, so this time was no different than the others, I was still as nervous,” he shares. “It was a complete honor and shock that we actually won this year. I work on The Real, the daytime television show, with Adrienne Houghton and this was our first win.” 

He credits manifestation for this year’s win. Around this time last year, Christopher took a picture with Adrienne’s Emmy and told her that he would be next. This year announcing his win, he posted that photo.

“Manifestation has been a key part of my success,” he says. “I was always raised that if you don't see it before you see it, you'll never see it, and that has stuck with me my entire life. What's for you is for you.”  

Follow Ray Christopher on Instagram @Hair4Kicks.